No Cow Pie

I've mentioned my housemate, Sophie, on this blog before, she's one of those people I always feel so, so sorry for- she cant eat dairy OR wheat! She can never enjoy  a smooth and silky Dairy Milk chocolate bar, or a bacon sandwich with fresh, white crustry bread or a camembert cheese that's been left out in the sun to go gloriously gooey - the main things that practically make life worth living!

It also means that she has never been able to enjoy any of the treats I've made since starting this hobby and this blog. So, in celebration of her birthday I decided to tackle the giant that is, a gluten free cake. For my birthday, Sophie and my other housemate Sammy, bought me a baking book - which had a recipe in it for gluten free chocolate cake.

When reading the recipe, I was a little sceptical as to how the cake would turn out; it didnt include any type of gluten-free flour, like rice flour or ground almonds, as I was expecting, but instead was made from cocoa powder and melted dark chocolate (which Sophie can have, as it doesn't contain cow juice!) Luckily, (and somewhat bizarrely) she can have butter though. Without any flour or baking powder - the only ingredient that would make the cake rise, were the eggs, and I wasn't convinced those little guys could do it all on their own.

So with equal measures of anticipation and trepidation, I made up the batter and popped it in the oven. Thirty minutes or so later I returned to see a cake that had actually risen! Although, the rise didnt stay around long after I had taken it out if the oven. It wasn't much to look at but, as always, the proof is in the tasting.
My boyfriend, Sammy, Sophie and I sat down to taste the fruit of my labour together - there was a sense of anticipation probably larger than the one surrounding how London will cope with the Olympics.**Personally I didn't much care for it, although I think mainly that was because I really don't like dark chocolate and there was a large amount in the recipe and not too much sugar to offset the bitterness. It went down better with the others though, both Dave and Sammy said they enjoyed it, and Sophie- whose opinion mattered to me most - said that it was one of the best gluten free cakes she'd ever had. Not bad for a first attempt.
The finished product was more like the texture of a brownie than a cake - so maybe next time I'll cut up the cake and pass them off as brownies instead. Ironically, it probably would have tasted really nice served with a blob of cream or ice cream - although maybe I will have to get my hands on some goats milk ice cream instead.

While, the experiement was interesting and the one person who I wanted to enjoy it, did enjoy it, I think I still believe that if you want to make a cake that looks and tastes great you need a field full of wheat - and maybe a cow.

**Apparently it's impossible to write anything at the moment and not mention the games, so I thought I'd keep this blog topical, or jump on the bandwagon, whichever way you want to look at it.