Ube got me through one of the weirdest days of 2020. Now, I know what you’re thinking: what day WASN’T a weird day in 2020. Touché. But the 9th of September 2020 was a particularly bad day. The 8th of September, a fire started at the north end of Ashland, Oregon, where Kendra (the other half of SSG), my parents, my grandmother, dear friends, and a few aunts and uncles and cousins all live, and tore through most of the Rogue Valley like, you guessed it, wildfire, demolishing thousands of homes in its path. From 10am to 10pm that day, I was getting Twitter updates to track the fire’s spread,…
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Gluten Free Pineapple Cake
This is a brand new cake for me – thanks to special requests from colleagues for socially-distant birthdays for family members! I’ve always been a fan of pineapple upside down cake – the caramelized slices of fruit saturating the rest of the cake with deep summer sweetness. So this cake peaked my interest, and after a lot of recipe research, I landed on this creation: a sponge similar to an angel food or chiffon cake, with LOTS of eggs (not just egg whites!), not too much sugar, and cooled upside down to preserve the lightness of the risen layers. The secret addition (not so secret anymore)? Powdered freeze dried pineapple…
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Gluten Free Snickers Tart
WhenI first was diagnosed with Celiac – even before, actually – I thought I’d never eat a candy bar again. In 6th grade, we embarked on a “what’s wrong with Amelia” crusade that involved thesis-worthy research into the myriad syndromes, allergies, or intolerances that could possibly stop me from growing or gaining any weight at age 11 or that could be the culprit for the seemingly endless number of quotidian digestive issues I faced. It was a fun year y’all, let me tell you. Though my mother was the real hero – not taking “I don’t know” for an answer from any doctor, always demanding we take the test or…
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Gluten Free Coconut Lime Lamingtons
These insanely delicate, perfectly-sized cubes of coconut cake, filled with homemade lime curd and coated in silky white chocolate and more desiccated coconut are a gorgeous blend of treats from two very different countries! Lamingtons, as we all know (maybe), are a classic Aussie treat, especially around Australia Day, which is fast-approaching! (January 26th, everyone, get your “g’days” and bbqs ready!). The coconut + lime combo harkens back to one of THE best drinks (non-alcoholic, though very easily the opposite!) I’ve ever had in my life: the creamiest, dreamiest limonada de coco in Colombia. I was with the ever-impressive Laura Jimenez – a former colleague and dear friend – in…
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Gluten Free Caramel Apple Inauguration Day Cake
This gluten free caramel apple cake was made with inspiration from the stereotype of the USA, which is the apple pie. For the momentous occasion of the Inauguration Day today – which was a great sigh of relief for us – I decided to make a small cake as something sweet to eat. As the cake is smaller than the standard, being only 6 inches across, it’s perfect for a dessert for only a few people which works well in this pandemic world. Today of all days, We are proud to call ourselves Americans and to say that we voted and look eagerly forward to the coming changes. The cake…
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Gluten Free Pink Lemonade Bars
Today is the inauguration of Joseph R. Biden Jr. and of Kamala Devi Harris – both titans in their own right, and people who will put the needs and hopes of a country before their own. It’s been a long four years, an even longer four years for those who do not look like me – I’m one of the lucky ones, despite Trump’s (and the entire GOP, let’s be honest) attempts to disenfranchise and demean women wholeheartedly. Today is a new day, one that will not mark immediate change, but one that will put us on a path to righting so many of the egregious wrongs that have occured,…
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Gluten Free Vietnamese Pandan Honeycomb Cake – Bánh Bò Nướng
This cake is one of my new favorites, and has me asking “why have we never been to Vietnam?!” because there are so many naturally gluten free desserts that are absolute dream boats of buttery, gorgeous, flavors and textures. Let’s back up. My dear friend and former roomie, Leslie Nguyen-Okwu (who happens to be an incredible journalist, speech writer, and all around amazing human – check her out here) sent me a recipe for Vietnamese Pandan Honeycomb Cake ages ago because it’s one of her favorites (her mother is Vietnamese and her grandmother still makes this occasionally) and because, lo and behold, it only requires tapioca starch which, as you…
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Gluten Free Black and White Cupcakes
Racism is baked into the bones of America. Even after perceived progress due to the courage, tirelessness, and perseverance of so many, including Dr. King, racism persists in the very systems that this country is built on. In all the ugliness of 2020, thousands marched for the same injustices, the same changes that Dr. King wrote and spoke about over five decades ago. Because racism never left; it’s been twisted and reformed to fit into what we think are socially acceptable channels today. The saying, “they tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds” applies to racism and racists as much as it applies to those who are…
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Gluten Free Strawberry Layer Cake with Cream Cheese Buttercream
There’s something about cream cheese frosting. For all of you lactose/dairy-free folk out there, I feel your pain – as a weird and twisted side effect of Celiac disease, I also lost the ability to digest lactose for years before and after diagnosis, so I’m quiiiiite familiar with the array of nut, rice, and soy mylks and cheeses out there, and Kendra, the younger taller sister of Sisters Sans Gluten, is still dairy free to this day! (she makes a mean dairy free cheesecake too). This cake, however, is definitely heavy on the dairy. Gotta love swoops of silky, slightly-tangy cream cheese buttercream wrapped around summery strawberry cake layers, billowy…
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Best Gluten Free Canelés
The first time I ever saw a canelé was on the menu of Dominique Crenn’s new upscale wine bar in Cow Hollow. San Francisco has a number of fantastic wine bars, but this one was particularly special because Dominique Crenn is a local, and now global, celebrity. After wowing restaurant-goers at her original Atelier Crenn, she graced the screen in an episode of Chef’s Table with her ethereal and utterly perfect dishes of ginger foam and lobster tartar, caviar with cream sauce and the tiniest slivers of pickled pearl onions, seared abalone under a crackling shell of seaweed and so many others, she opened a second stunning locale, and a…
