Nicole Spiridakis - Flourless. Recipes for Naturally Gluten-Free Desserts

To flourless bakers everywhere.
...........
And to my family.

Text copyright 2014 by Nicole Spiridakis.
Photographs copyright 2014 by John Lee.

All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form without written
permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication
Data available.

ISBN 978-1-4521-1955-7 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4521-3043-9 (epub, mobi)

Designed by River Jukes-Hudson
Food styling by Jeffrey Larsen
Prop styling by Ethel Brennan
Food styling assistance by Alexa Hyman
and Anne-Christina Milne

Chronicle Books LLC
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San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com

Sometimes I dream in cake. I wake up with my fingertips tingling with the memory of assembling freshly baked pavlovas layered with whipped cream and berries, towering angel food cakes infused with citrus zest and sprinkled with poppy seeds, polenta cakes made just slightly tart by the addition of sour cream, strawberry-rhubarb cakes sweetened with maple syrup. I yawn my way into the kitchen and turn on the oven, still in a dream state, to make honeyed cornmeal- blueberry cakes for breakfast while sipping coffee to prop open my eyelids.

I wind a scarf around my shoulders to counter the inevitable morning chill that descends upon San Francisco even in summer and plot my day: a flourless chocolate cake with salted caramel sauce for a dinner party, a hazelnut cake draped with chocolate glaze for a birthday celebration. I clutch at the vague recollection of the dreamscape and come up with interesting flavor combinations for future projectsa Mexican hot chocolateinspired chocolate cake made with ground oats and nutty flax seeds, its slight fire tamed by a cool swath of chocolate-buttermilk frosting, and to be made as soon as possible. I will wash a lot of dishes.

San Francisco, where I live, is a city of sea air and ships, salt and sourdough bread. During the more than half a decade Ive called it home, Ive come to embrace the fog that winds through my neighborhood each July without fail. To counter that summer coolness and to indulge my penchant for baked goods, I bake a lot. I bake for pleasure and for friends and family, but always to experiment. The idea for this cookbook came after dinner on a frigid night in Maine while I was visiting my brother and sister-in-law. As Kurt did the washing up, Emily and I sat around the kitchen table with a plate of flourless almond cookies and tea, their cat, Fotis, begging for crumbs at our feet. The conversation turned to food and then to flourless baking specifically because Emily keeps to a gluten- free diet. As we talked, we explored the idea that its often a bit easier to make desserts that did not call for any wheat flour at all compared to those that incorporated a gluten-free flour substitute. Thus the idea of naturally flourlessmeaning desserts that are naturally wheat flourfree and unequivocally, objectively delicious regardlesswas born.

When I returned home to my tiny California kitchen, I became quietly obsessed. I sought out cake recipes that were based on ground nuts, egg whites, a small amount of cornstarch. I roasted fruit and piled a delicious mixture of rolled oats and brown sugar atop berries. I baked creamy egg custards infused with bright citrus zest and a revelatory chocolate cake that contained not a teaspoon of all-purpose flour (and which was impossible to stop eating).

As I worked, I realized that there are so many flourless desserts that can be put together with easily accessible and inexpensive ingredients plus a fairly simple technique. I was also struck with a pang for all of those who dont have the option of easily obtaining sweets because of dietary restrictions or allergies (on my forays around town I will admit to often blithely picking up a sweet treat here and there with nary a qualm). If you cant have gluten, going into a bakery can be a frustrating experience in denial. Likewise, baking at home can be fraught with complicated, expensive, or hard-to-obtain components.

This is the crux of Flourless.recipes for unqualifiedly great desserts that do not call for hard- to-find ingredients and that also happen to be gluten-freethe naturally flourless concept made real. In this volume you will not find complicated gluten-free flour mixes or recipes calling for additional binders such as xanthan or guar gum. Instead, you will find instructions for naturally wheat flourfree desserts that will tempt even the most skeptical.

Flourless baking may seem daunting, but it neednt be. The main thing to keep in mind when creating flourless desserts is to not see them as substitutions for more traditional sweets (along the lines of: its almost as good as x, y, or z). These desserts are delicious in their own right, regardless of whether or not they call for wheat flour.

Nuts, egg whites (and yolks, too), fresh fruit, and good chocolate are your allies here. Reliance on unfussy, straightforward flavors and those that work well together is your game plan. Think plums and pistachios, apples and cornmeal, chocolate and hazelnuts, coconut and lemon.

Dont be intimidated! Sure, we may be stepping a bit outside our comfort zone when avoiding recipes that call for wheat flour, but that doesnt mean we cant be bold. Embrace the grit of cornmeal. Experiment with walnuts. Become enamored of the magic that is whipped egg whites.

Here, you will not find any recipes calling for all-purpose flour but you will find recipes for a (delectable, rich but not too) milk chocolate pudding, lemon cream pie with a coconut-almond crust, meringue cookies, citrus-spiked flan, a myriad of simple candies, and so much more.

I hold myself to a high standard when baking and creating desserts; and when I do so without gluten, my intention is no different.

I firmly believe that all good things are enjoyed best in moderation, and dessert is no exception. I also firmly believe in sharing dessertsespecially the sort that are creamy and delicious and of which you really only need to eat just one piece. So you will find butter in this cookbook, and whole eggs, too, in addition to a decent amount of sugar.

At the same time, Ive tried to provide some recipes that incorporate natural sweeteners such as maple syrup, honey, and fruit, as well as for some desserts that are generally a little on the lighter side. In short, I have aimed for balanceas essential in cooking as it is in life. There are also some simple substitutions to tailor these desserts for those who cant have dairy or eggs.

Substitute the equivalent amount of nondairy margarine (such as Earth Balance) for butter in cookie recipes, particularly when it must be creamed. The same goes for cakes that call for butter; an oil of choice (such as coconut, olive, or vegetable oil) often is fine as well. Note that vegetable is a neutral oil, while coconut and olive have distinct flavors; all will work in these recipes, but you may want to choose your oil based on taste preferences.