Gluten-Free For All!

I wrote last week about my (admittedly limited) experience in gluten-free baking from scratch, and in general I like to do all of my baking from scratch. Of course, there are plenty of reasons why that isn’t always feasible.  Fantasy kitchens of total devotion to scratch baking like Chez Panisse (where I spent a few months as a pastry minion) can be few and far between. In any food service setting, there are limitations on things like labor, production space, storage space, budget, and any number of other variables that can force a kitchen to turn to convenience products. I’m no longer in a professional kitchen every day, but in my home kitchen that variable showed up around 18 months ago, and instead of “Chef” my variable calls me “Mama.”  

Toddlers make great excuses for a lot of things, and last weekend my family and I used our toddlers as an excuse for a last minute party. A Saturday cook-out was planned on Friday afternoon, and I was on the hook for a dessert. With my inventory of homemade frozen cookie dough depleted back home, I turned to the AUI pantry for inspiration for a quick, convenient, and delicious crowd-pleasing dessert.  

Does anybody know what would make these decadent gluten-free cheesecake brownies even better? Keep reading for the answer! Hint: The answer starts with a “passion fruit” and ends with a “curd.”

I did what any loving sister/daughter/cousin would do, and I decided to mess with my family a little bit. They all have pretty discerning tastes, and they’re not afraid to tell me to my face when something I make doesn’t live up to their expectations. With my from scratch gluten-free chocolate wedding cake on my mind, I thought I would give a shot to AUI’s gluten-free chocolate cake mix. Would my family notice that it wasn’t my usual foolproof chocolate cake recipe? Would they even have time to notice while we all chased after a gaggle of little boys? 

On Saturday morning, I busted out two pans of gluten-free chocolate cupcakes faster than you could say “Please don’t tell Alice Waters.” Saving time with the mix meant I had a few minutes to add something a little extra special to the cupcakes, so I quickly cooled them in the freezer before gutting the cupcakes with a paring knife.  My new addiction, passion fruit curd in a bag, made a lightning fast and crazy delicious filling. (Seriously: pipe it into brownie batter; pipe it into doughnuts; pipe it into hand pies; pipe that passion fruit curd onto everything you make.  You’ll thank me later.) American buttercream might be silly, but everybody loves butter and 10x, so who am I to say it’s wrong? A few drops of coconut extract went in the frosting and I quickly piped it onto the cupcakes before finishing with a sprinkle of toasted coconut. I’d made an adorable and delicious dessert start-to-finish before my adorable and delicious variable woke up from his nap.

The finished cupcakes, ready to party.

But, did the family and friends at the party notice anything amiss? Of course not! They were tender, moist, chocolatey cupcakes with a surprise passion fruit filling and a buttery coconut frosting! What could possibly have been amiss? When I told them they were gluten-free, they really couldn’t believe it. My gluten-sensitive sister dove in to the cupcakes with gusto, and stashed a few extras in her purse. The next morning she sent me a message reading simply, “Eating gf cupcake for breakfast. This cupcake mix is bomb.”  

Maybe we were all a little high on passion fruit curd, or maybe it was the home-brewed beer and family bonding, but the consensus was that the gluten-free dessert was a smashing success. What a relief to know that whipping up a convenient, crowd-pleasing dessert doesn’t have to mean compromising on quality. But, if you see her, please don’t tell Alice Waters.

Blog post complements of Carolyn Crow, AUI Event Manager & Pastry Chef.

We invite comments and questions to pastryteam@auifinefoods.com.