Local Flour for a Local Cake!

I don't know why I feared it; I have gone through re-learning how to cook oodles of times with every move to a new country.  And yet when my family decided to go gluten and dairy-free, I was intimidated.  It is one thing to look for new ingredients that can be put in place of particular ingredients in familiar recipes. It is a whole other thing to relearn the chemistry behind baking from a new angle that requires new recipes never tried.  Then I came upon gluten free all-purpose flour.  And life has never been the same.

I am pretty sure if I were trying the dairy free gluten-free thing thirty years ago, I would be pulling my hair out and running to twenty stores to find food necessities.  But one of the amazing things about living in 2015 is the easy access to alternative foods that has literally gotten ten times easier in just the last five years.  Today I am featuring two well known flour companies, both of which have alternative gluten-free options right on my average-run-of-the-mill local grocery store shelves just down the road.

Arrowhead Mills, a company manufacturing gluten-free flour in Lake Success, New York*, has been a pioneer of organic food products for over fifty years.  Started under the premise that chemicals like herbicides and pesticides pollute the food chain, Arrowhead Mills is now a passionate voice in the push for environmental commitment and an integral part of the NON-GMO project.  Though their home base is located in Texas, the company pushes local resourcing throughout the country and boasts an 80% American grown ingredients rate in their products.

Don't be fooled; the second company I am also featuring as part of this love letter to gluten free flour is just as fantastic!  King Arthur Flour, now headquartered in Norwich, Vermont after its renowned start in Boston, MA, is nothing but committed to social responsibility.  At over 220 years old, America's oldest flour company and 100% employee-owned Vermont gem knows a thing or two about environmental-footprints and local community care.  I will definitely be popping into the flagship store the next time I'm near Norwich!

SO, now that I've introduced you to two awesome companies making some great gluten-free flour, let me introduce you to one of my favorite New Englandy recipes for the fall, featuring nothing but the most local New England apples, twenty feet out my back door.  Could there possibly be anything better than New England apples in the fall?  Perhaps New England apple cake!  ...  DO try this recipe.  Gluten free or not, you will enjoy!!

This funky "Appul cace," as he spells it,
  has been decorated by my fantastic 6 year old sous chef.

New England Apple Cake

2 1/2 cups of Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour

3/4 cup (organic is best!) brown sugar

2 teaspoons of cinnamon

2 teaspoons of baking powder

¼ teaspoon of salt

3 eggs

1 tablespoon of lemon juice (and a bit of lemon zest if you want an extra lemon punch!)

1 cup of oil, I like either EVOO or coconut oil at room temp

3 cups of grated sweet apples (I’d say about 4-5 large apples)

1 cup of chopped pecans, or raisins/craisins if preferred

Confectioner’s sugar (optionally sprinkled on top)

Bake 350 or 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 45 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. I have made this cake in all shapes and sizes; even muffins turn out well (though cook for a shorter time period).  The cake is dense, but super moist, and perfect with a bit of powdered sugar sprinkled on top! I like it better cooled, but who can wait?!

* Please note that although I do recognize New York is not actually part of New England, it IS local when food miles are concerned from geographical New England. For this reason, products made in New York are also featured on this blog.  (No corrections needed!)