Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Youngins

Kids always crack me up, but the GF kids at the Market have REALLY been cracking me up!  They see the Gluten Free sign & practically bumrush the table.  Especially after they spot the Caramel & Chocolate Brownies....yummmmm.  One little 10 year old darling has me especially impressed.  She came by last Sunday- by herself (her mom is a vendor)- and she GRILLED me on GF ingredients and products.  Not only is she gluten intolerant, she cannot eat soy or eggs.  I showed her the items she could eat and we chatted away.  I loved how knowledgeable she was about different foods and her health.  Then we talked about her new school, friends, her mom's business, on & on...She was an absolute doll! It made me think about my nieces, who both have Celiac. They are also very careful about what they eat. They ask questions to make sure they are only eating GF products.  I hope they can meet "the darling" soon, they would all get a kick out of one another!  Question: Is "the darling" ridiculously smart beyond her years or is it just easy for me to relate to a 10 year old mind?? Hum, something to ponder at a later date.


We had 2 new items at the Market:
Strawberry Shortcake Scones
French Vanilla Mini Bundt Cake with Raspberry/Marion berry Jam Filling


The scones were inspired by Texas Stawberries, a quick dessert Mother has made since childhood.  A bowl of brown sugar, bowl of sour cream, bowl of strawberries- that's it.  Pick up a strawberry, dip it into the cream, then the sugar.  Can it get any easier?
So for the scones, I switched the white sugar for brown sugar, and used sour cream for the oil.  Mom had brought some AMAZING strawberries from Spooner Farms in Oly.  Voila! 
As for the bundt cake, we needed an elegant dessert that one could enjoy for themselves or take as a hostess gift for a dinner party.  So I szooshed \joojed\ my normal vanilla cake recipe with some pudding and vanilla beans.  The cakes rose & closed off what would normally leave a through hole in the bundt.  After they cooled & I turned them out, how could I possibly not fill the void with Mom's Raspberry/Marion berry jam, then drizzle with vanilla bean royal icing & finish with a tap of powdered sugar???  Let me say that these little gems were GORGEOUS & equally de-lish!  I think I have mentioned before that I call myself the Ironic Baker because I would much rather cook than bake.  The reasons are because I don't like it when a recipe fails & I like to add, remove, sub, ingreds without having to think too much about the science behind it.  Whereas baking IS a science.  And I have had some doozie failures! The silver lining comes when experiments like the scones & bundts turn out better than I could have hoped & people really enjoy them. 
So Amy & I will continue to experiment as we go along.  Please feel free to tell me about the GF baked goodies you have made!


Happy GF eating!
Kara