Saturday, November 30, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Our First Tasting!
This past Sunday Kevin and I held our first tasting for a group of select testers. Each tester was hand selected based on a character trait that I knew would be key in providing us with an unbiased opinion of our items. Testers included -
A former Las Vegas restaurant manager
And a plethora of ages, genders, so on and so forth of people.
I admit it, readers - I was incredibly nervous. With confidence in my two recipes - my pumpkin and my chocolate cupcakes, I also tested out two other recipes that I was very unsure of. I'm a perfectionist and sometimes a bit too hard on myself, but I figured I'd throw caution to the wind.
One of my dear friends managed to snap a picture of our spread since I had completely forgotten to do that. Fortunately, she let me steal the picture and put it up here:
From top to bottom are our new chocolate chip cookies (these had caramels), my chocolate cupcake turned brownie disaster (I'll get to THAT story momentarily), and our chocolate cupcakes. The pumpkin ones were not quite ready to put out yet. We sprinkled the cupcakes with blue sprinkles since we were also revealing our baby's gender to our friends that day. (Hint...it's not a girl....)
The results came back overwhelmingly positive. Sparkles' hubby later arrived and snarfed at least two or three of each cupcake and told me that it was so nice to be able to trust a baker when they say 'yes, these really are gluten-free'. One of the issues I run into when going to bakeries is that while they offer a gluten free cupcake, it is an 'option' and baked on the same machinery that the other items are baked on. This = cross-contamination...and that's not good for those of us that are super sensitive.
The critiques were mostly on our frosting flavorings - the pumpkin pie cupcake's whipped cream could have been slightly sweeter (I agreed) and the brownie's cream cheese frosting needed a touch more vanilla...or better yet - change it to buttercream. Unfortunately my marshmallow topping for my hot cocoa cupcakes didn't set well, but my photographer of the day found the batch in my fridge and ate it with a spoon. I hear it was still delicious. I promised her that next time we would serve it and that I would pay better attention when making it. There was also one comment on adding a bit more spice to our pumpkin cupcake.
The compliments - readers, I hope you're as excited as I am about this - none of our items contained any of that 'grit' that you feel when eating a gluten free sweet. You know what I'm talking about...the dry, chug a gallon of milk to swallow, sandy feeling in your teeth you get when eating something gluten free? Gone. We have officially mastered the texture of a regular cupcake, all without sacrificing taste, density, and moistness that is known in the cupcake. Even our cookies provided a bit of crunch and chew in them, so both sides of the cookie debate were satisfied. I am pleased as punch!
Our next tasting will be held in late January/early February. We are offering the hot cocoa cupcake with its marshmallow topping, and I'm currently testing a few other recipes in my kitchen. I promise there will be better pictures next time!
So...let's talk about the brownies before we close out this post.
A few weeks ago I found a gorgeous chocolate cake recipe that I knew I could easily convert and reproduce with my own spin on things. We don't believe in copying other baker's recipes and using them as our own here at The Gluteny Bakery, kids. We start with a base and off we go!
And off I went. And here's what I got:
A former Las Vegas restaurant manager
A wife that cooks gluten-free specifically for her husband (you can meet her here)
An oil worker, his wife and their 4 year old daughter - all three are novices to baking and completely unaware of the gluten free world. The picky 4 year old was just a bonus for me to taste the flavors. I mean...if a kiddo won't eat it, why bake it?And a plethora of ages, genders, so on and so forth of people.
I admit it, readers - I was incredibly nervous. With confidence in my two recipes - my pumpkin and my chocolate cupcakes, I also tested out two other recipes that I was very unsure of. I'm a perfectionist and sometimes a bit too hard on myself, but I figured I'd throw caution to the wind.
One of my dear friends managed to snap a picture of our spread since I had completely forgotten to do that. Fortunately, she let me steal the picture and put it up here:
From top to bottom are our new chocolate chip cookies (these had caramels), my chocolate cupcake turned brownie disaster (I'll get to THAT story momentarily), and our chocolate cupcakes. The pumpkin ones were not quite ready to put out yet. We sprinkled the cupcakes with blue sprinkles since we were also revealing our baby's gender to our friends that day. (Hint...it's not a girl....)
The results came back overwhelmingly positive. Sparkles' hubby later arrived and snarfed at least two or three of each cupcake and told me that it was so nice to be able to trust a baker when they say 'yes, these really are gluten-free'. One of the issues I run into when going to bakeries is that while they offer a gluten free cupcake, it is an 'option' and baked on the same machinery that the other items are baked on. This = cross-contamination...and that's not good for those of us that are super sensitive.
The critiques were mostly on our frosting flavorings - the pumpkin pie cupcake's whipped cream could have been slightly sweeter (I agreed) and the brownie's cream cheese frosting needed a touch more vanilla...or better yet - change it to buttercream. Unfortunately my marshmallow topping for my hot cocoa cupcakes didn't set well, but my photographer of the day found the batch in my fridge and ate it with a spoon. I hear it was still delicious. I promised her that next time we would serve it and that I would pay better attention when making it. There was also one comment on adding a bit more spice to our pumpkin cupcake.
The compliments - readers, I hope you're as excited as I am about this - none of our items contained any of that 'grit' that you feel when eating a gluten free sweet. You know what I'm talking about...the dry, chug a gallon of milk to swallow, sandy feeling in your teeth you get when eating something gluten free? Gone. We have officially mastered the texture of a regular cupcake, all without sacrificing taste, density, and moistness that is known in the cupcake. Even our cookies provided a bit of crunch and chew in them, so both sides of the cookie debate were satisfied. I am pleased as punch!
Our next tasting will be held in late January/early February. We are offering the hot cocoa cupcake with its marshmallow topping, and I'm currently testing a few other recipes in my kitchen. I promise there will be better pictures next time!
So...let's talk about the brownies before we close out this post.
A few weeks ago I found a gorgeous chocolate cake recipe that I knew I could easily convert and reproduce with my own spin on things. We don't believe in copying other baker's recipes and using them as our own here at The Gluteny Bakery, kids. We start with a base and off we go!
And off I went. And here's what I got:
I had a George Takei moment - "Oh my..." but pulled off the good parts and tasted my creation.
Heaven help me, these were the most amazing brownies ever! There was no way I could put this into a cupcake tin and serve it. This batter needed to be formed into a cakey, gooey brownie that you dunk in a glass of milk and stuff your face with.
But the same thing happened in the brownie attempt (I was too angry to take a picture at this point) when the brownies completely caved in on themselves, so I scrapped the whole project for the night.
The next morning I researched my issue with my falling brownies and had no luck. In gluten free baking, the rules change, so what might be a mixing issue to you could have been a flour issue for me. So...I asked around. I contacted a gluten free bakery up north with my recipe and told them my exact process. I also asked a popular gluten free blogger for her thoughts. The first bakery read my message but did not reply. The blogger? She told me she didn't bother 'with other people's recipes'. I was obviously on my own. Frustrated, I went head first back into the batter on Saturday morning, with lots of minor changes that I was unsure would make a difference. And guess what happened?
You guessed it....we had brownies. Chewy brownies with a light and sweet crust soon entered my kitchen from my oven. I experimented with different densities - a lighter, thinner brownie and a cakier (I have an English and Writing degree and today "cakier" is most definitely a word) brownie. Both were equally delicious, though I wasn't as stuffed after the thinner brownie.
So what did I do? Well....
- I purchased fresh baking soda and baking powder.
- I gently whisked my eggs before adding them to the batter.
- I reduced the amount of baking soda.
- I changed my flour brands.
- I hand mixed the entire way.
Plus I did a few other things, but you'll just have to taste them and guess what I did.
We are still working hard at our logo, new site, Facebook page, and a new recipe. However, Kevin and I are both a little 'cupcaked-out' this week and are instead enjoying this lovely Fall weather. Oh...and I have to plan my menu for Thanksgiving. Did I mention that I'm hosting 19 people in my house? Off to Costco for 15 pounds of potatoes!
Monday, November 4, 2013
New Flavor, New Happenings!
Lots of new things are taking place at my home this past week. We are undergoing some renovations with our newly purchased house and I am slowly stocking up my supply cabinet. This week my new whipped cream dispenser arrived, along with 50 replacement chargers. I may have already wasted one in my attempts to test it out, but no worries, 49 are left and ready for me to use!
We are also working on designing our logo and perhaps even a slogan. We sent off our request the other night and are anxiously waiting to see what the artist rendered for us. Hopefully by January we will be able to obtain our licenses and purchase our own site domain, instead of hiding in a blog. :)
Starting a business can be frightening and overwhelming, especially if you aren't sure what to do or where to start. I'm fortunate that my mom owned two successful businesses, one during the economic recession that still stayed afloat until she retired to be a full time grandma (and one of my favorite taste-testers). The experience has been eye opening and is the reason why Kevin and I decided to start this little bakery out of our home/online until we get a good feel of the market.
Okay...enough small talk. Let's discuss our newest flavor: Hot Cocoa!
With the time change comes the cooler weather. This weekend I opened all of the windows in my house and pulled out my favorite throw blankets to snuggle up with. I love the clean Fall air, the holiday commercials on TV, and rummaging through the Sunday paper looking for Christmas gift ideas.
I also love hot cocoa. Hot chocolatey goodness with a pile of marshmallows overflowing the cup and warming my insides (and making Baby #2 happy) always helps me unwind and remember to enjoy the cool nights, because Houston summers with their 110 degree temps are always around the corner.
This feeling inspired a new idea - why not a hot cocoa cupcake? Why not a marshmallow topping? This should be pretty easy, right?
As is the case with all gluten free baking, not so much. I lost an entire batter after an experiment went awry (my resources tell me to adjust the baking soda for my next attempt).
Back to the drawing board. On Saturday night, after much research, calculating, and measuring...and maybe a few mishaps with our homemade marshmallow frosting, here we are:
This little gem is the perfect sweet treat on a 'not cold enough for hot cocoa' type of night. It is a chocolate cupcake with a pillow of our homemade marshmallow frosting, which can be served 'toasted' or as the picture shows. I found a few candied snowflakes for garnish and voila! Both the cupcake and frosting are obviously gluten free, otherwise I wouldn't have already eaten 4 of them.
The other recipe I tried has a different direction that I'm going to attempt to steer it in this week, and if it works out, I promise to post it here.
So now we have two flavors, a pan that I'm still scraping residue off of, and a logo in the works! I hope everyone is getting as excited as I am!
Jeanne
We are also working on designing our logo and perhaps even a slogan. We sent off our request the other night and are anxiously waiting to see what the artist rendered for us. Hopefully by January we will be able to obtain our licenses and purchase our own site domain, instead of hiding in a blog. :)
Starting a business can be frightening and overwhelming, especially if you aren't sure what to do or where to start. I'm fortunate that my mom owned two successful businesses, one during the economic recession that still stayed afloat until she retired to be a full time grandma (and one of my favorite taste-testers). The experience has been eye opening and is the reason why Kevin and I decided to start this little bakery out of our home/online until we get a good feel of the market.
Okay...enough small talk. Let's discuss our newest flavor: Hot Cocoa!
With the time change comes the cooler weather. This weekend I opened all of the windows in my house and pulled out my favorite throw blankets to snuggle up with. I love the clean Fall air, the holiday commercials on TV, and rummaging through the Sunday paper looking for Christmas gift ideas.
I also love hot cocoa. Hot chocolatey goodness with a pile of marshmallows overflowing the cup and warming my insides (and making Baby #2 happy) always helps me unwind and remember to enjoy the cool nights, because Houston summers with their 110 degree temps are always around the corner.
This feeling inspired a new idea - why not a hot cocoa cupcake? Why not a marshmallow topping? This should be pretty easy, right?
As is the case with all gluten free baking, not so much. I lost an entire batter after an experiment went awry (my resources tell me to adjust the baking soda for my next attempt).
Back to the drawing board. On Saturday night, after much research, calculating, and measuring...and maybe a few mishaps with our homemade marshmallow frosting, here we are:
This little gem is the perfect sweet treat on a 'not cold enough for hot cocoa' type of night. It is a chocolate cupcake with a pillow of our homemade marshmallow frosting, which can be served 'toasted' or as the picture shows. I found a few candied snowflakes for garnish and voila! Both the cupcake and frosting are obviously gluten free, otherwise I wouldn't have already eaten 4 of them.
The other recipe I tried has a different direction that I'm going to attempt to steer it in this week, and if it works out, I promise to post it here.
So now we have two flavors, a pan that I'm still scraping residue off of, and a logo in the works! I hope everyone is getting as excited as I am!
Jeanne
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