Gluten-Free Chiffon Cake!

The gluten-free syndrome is real. It may well be the result of our digestive systems time immersed in processed food too often, perhaps in a toxic environment, too. Funny how glucose-fructose is eerily included in some of these so-called healthy foods labelled 'natural', homemade with no preservatives or colours added. Upon closer inspection, the truth is revealed!

The other day I made a gluten free chiffon cake without a recipe.... (Gluten interferes with thyroid's function - my daily problem)... I'd always loved the taste and texture of this unusually light cake, no butter or milk included. This time I concocted the recipe while researching the cake's unique properties. Though sugar is a must in this sweet confection, I move its position into the egg white department to strengthen the whites, around 8-10, as they billowed into a mound of leaven heaven. No fat permitted, here. Lemon juice is included to replace cream of tarter to help stabilize the whites. ('Anna', the Canadian pastry chef, said to do this).

The glistening stiff whites were moved to another bowl as the yolks were beaten in the 'clean' bowl just vacated. A few tablespoons of sugar, to lighten the yolk batter and strengthen its structure and give more taste came next. (Salt lessens the amount of sugar required in a recipe, I have discovered). Vanilla extract is added, too. A few tablespoons of grape seed oil is added to the yolk mixture for moisture, tenderness and taste. (Fat is important as it aids in the absorption of Vitamins A, D, K, E. Nutrition can happen anywhere).

After a few minutes of beating the yolk mixture to the desired stage, the flour mixture was added slowly. Water was added, too. I used some all-purpose gluten-free mix along with brown rice flour and millet to make the 1 cup of sifted 'flour' needed to make the cake. I did not use baking powder. I was experimenting. Thought I'd wait and see what happens.The beaten egg whites are then folded in to the yolk/oil mixture  and poured into an ungreased tube pan in a 350 degree oven for about an hour. Turn pan upside down to cool to help lengthen the strands of protein in the cake. Remove when cooled. Serve with organic whipping cream, fruit or chocolate ganache icing.

(The other day I used potato starch to make a cobbler topping. Big mistake! Never again. Crumbled too much with little flavour. A crunchy apple would have been a better choice.) Potato starch was substituted for wheat flour in a brownie recipe, found recently in a copy of Woman's World from 2018. I could not believe the results. Neither could my guests.

Remaking recipes to reflect current health status does not take courage. It simply requires the will to do. What are cookbooks but a collection of recipes someone concocted, revised, over and over again, till the results were acceptable? Letting others create gluten free products/mixes is silly. Let's do it ourselves. Once we understand the behavioural properties of ingredients or mixes is the beginning of homemade experimentation. Sometimes, we are successful, sometimes, not. What do we have to lose? Never be afraid to bake without a recipe. Just a have plan in mind.

The sponge/ chiffon cake is my go to cake, with its minimal sugar. There's no point to dessert unless it is low in sugar and high in other benefits. Excessive amounts of sugar sounds the death knell for any dessert for me. Because sugar is not a requirement to a healthy diet, only to dessert, its use must be curtailed. I use Canadian maple syrup known for its 57 health benefits to add sweetness wherever possible. Sugar, if invented today, might be classed as a poison, I read, many years ago. I use it sparingly and never in my teas: green, white, oolong, rooibos, lemongrass and others.

Personalize the mixes you make and the recipes you create. This unknown path just might surprise you. I know I have been, many many times. My daughter-in-law would happily agree.