Apple-berry crisp - Gluten Free and Vegan!

My sister made this fantastic crisp for a dinner party, and being a good sister, she made it gluten-free and dairy-free for me!

It was so fantastic,  I had to make it myself. My sister is quite the baker, (check out her blog here), and she simply made up the recipe herself, to accomodate my dietary needs. Here are the directions she gave me, noting that they were all approximate:

1 bag frozen mixed berries (no strawberries because they are too watery)
1 cup oats
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
Pinch of salt
about 1/3 cup of sweetener
cinnamon

The topping mix should be dry. Cook at 350F until the fruit is bubbling and condensed, and the topping is browned, about 40 minutes to an hour.

Being an improvisor myself, this is what I did:

1 bag Trader Joe's cherry berries
2 small apples, diced into small/medium pieces
1/2 cup certified gluten-free quick oats (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/2 cup certified gluten-free almond meal (I used Bob's Red Mill)
2 Tablespoons safflower oil (I was out of coconut oil)
a couple grinds of Himalayan sea salt
1/3 cup of sweetener dehydrated maple syrup granules
a few dashes of cinnamon
a few dashes of cardamom
Tablespoon of vanilla extract

I accidentally baked it 450F for the first 25 minutes, and then had to take it out, to go do something. 2 hours later, I baked it for another 30 minutes on 350F. It came out fantastic! 

The cardamon and the vanilla added amazing dimensions to the tart-sweet flavor. I highly recommend using these spices - I use them in pretty much all of my desserts these days!

Variations to try:

• Use ghee! This is not vegan, but you can get ghee that is lactose and casein free. 
• I might try it with a bag each of blackberries and raspberries. I am not the biggest fan of the cherries and blueberries. 
• Add a little more topping. 
• Bake in individual Pyrex dishes in order to easily pack for lunch! 
• Use peaches in the summer, instead of apples. 
•  Try palm sugar, 1/2 a cup, for the sweetener. 

If you try it, please let me know how yours worked out in the comment section!

Cherrybrook Kitchen Cake Mix

Some day soon, I'll make a grand comparison of the different gluten-free baking mix brands. For now, I've got to try them out one at a time. This week I tried Cherrybrook Kitchen's cake mix and frosting.

I found this brand, which is new to me, at Target! I was stocked, and especially stoked to find gluten free frosting that wasn't fully of hydrogenated oils.

One of the great things about this brand is that, as you can see on the label above, their products are made in a dedicated gluten-free facility. Most "gluten-free" baking products do not say this on their label.

I set out to whip up this mix, with excitement, and of course some apprehension. In my new gluten-free life, I've been disappointed often. My last cake mix was very disappointing.

Making this mix was super easy. Just measure out the oil, water and vanilla. Then mix with the contents in the box and Voila! I chose to make cupcakes, since they are way more fun than cake. I poured each cupcake holder about 2/3 way full for 12 cupcakes. That's all the mix there was. Since no eggs were required, and their was no egg-like ingredient in the mix, I was worried that this wasn't going to be enough batter to make a nicely filled cupcake.

I was pleasantly surprised to see this:

This cupcake had a very pleasant, slightly fluffy, moist consistency. The chocolate flavor was that of a dark chocolate - nicely bittersweet. I was very pleased! It's been a long time since I ate a real cupcake, but as far as I can tell, this is nearly normal.

The frosting on the other hand was very disappointing. It had a strange, hard gooey consistency and tasted like sugary wax. Unfortunately, I won't be buying that again (I ended up running out and getting horribly processed Betty Crocker frosting). I wish I took a picture of the frosting for you to see, but I didn't get around to it before trying it and consequently was not interested in ruining another cupcake with this icky icing.

On a final note, while the frosting was no good, this was a really nice cake mix. The ingredients are simple and relatively pure. The flavor has a nice grown up, not too sweet taste. The consistency is pretty great for a gluten-free, vegan cake!