Chacon cakes

I was wandering around Wimbledon a couple of weekends ago when I bumped into a market at the piazza.

Lots of nice stalls, and amongst them the lovely cakes from Chacon Cakes!

All of them gluten free, and the one I bought 'Piña Colada' was delicious, so moist that it melted in my mouth in an explosion of coco flakes, pineapple chunks and an immediate need to cheer up. 

I only wish I had bought another one.

I had a good chat with the baker herself, like you do when you find another coeliac and you realise how much you have in common straight away. 

She was a baker in her pre-Coeliac days and was telling me about her gluten free experiments in the kitchen. Clearly very successful.

I think she is at the Wimbledon Piazza market regularly, but to find out more about her and where to buy them, here are the details:

www.chaconcakes.co.uk

Twitter: @cakeschacon

Instagram:@chaconcakes

Romeos Gluten Free bakery - Islington

Romeos has been open for a while, and I'd seen their mouthwatering products at various events, but I hadn't had the chance to visit the bakery yet.
So recently I went on a Sunday afternoon with a friend.
It was quite busy, but thankfully we managed to get a seat.

It is great to know that all their products are gluten-free, and they also have an information sheet at the front of the counter where you can see all the ingredients used in their bread and cakes, brilliant if you are intolerant or allergic to more than one thing.

This is what it said:
"All our bread is gluten-free and baked on our premises fresh from scratch.
Ingredients: Potato flour, Rice flour, Tapioca flour, Eggs, Yeast, Salt, Vinegar, Water"

According to their website, they also cater for sugar-free, egg-free and dairy-free diets, although I did not check what was available when I visited.

I did enjoy my cheese cake and I didn't feel unwell at all after eating it.
I've heard comments about it's prices, but I'd say they are probably no more expensive than other bakeries in the area.

Overall, I find that it's worth paying a bit extra to be able to relax about food safety, and I can eat anything I fancy from Romeos without having to ask endless questions, so I'll be happy to visit again when I'm in Islington.

Romeos Gluten Free bakery
http://www.romeosglutenfreebakery.co.uk/
167 Upper Street, London, N1 1US

Château Dessert Chiswick

Happy New Year everyone!

It has been a while since my last post, as life sometimes gets in the way, but fear not, I've been out and about enjoying many gluten free meals, so it will all be revealed soon!

Bottom left: Choc and orange, top: mango, right fresh fruit tart

For my last gluten free outing of 2014, I visited Chateau Dessert in Chiswick.

I had been quietly stalking them on twitter for a while, looking at all those cake marvels and dreaming of starting at one end of the counter to finish at the other (all in the name of research of course!).

You will be glad to hear I managed to control myself and only ordered one cake, although my friends were kind enough to let me try theirs.

Chateau Desserts looks from the outside like an upmarket patisserie, with lots of gorgeous little morsels to tempt you, and when you go in, you discover two counters, one for all the gluten-free cakes, one for the others.

Within the gluten-free cakes, at least 3 were dairy free too when I visited, which is brilliant, as so many coeliacs also have trouble with dairy.

I have to say one of my companions was dairy-free but not gluten-free, so it might be an idea to have some cakes for others like her.

There are also some lunch options available, and for us gluten-free eaters you can have one of their savoury tarts. They are served with a side salad, and I loved my goats cheese and onion tart.

Once you have ordered, you can make your way to the upstairs room and they'll bring it to you (there is also a basement that I did not visit). We had some coffee and tea as well and it was a fantastic afternoon.

gluten-free goats cheese tart & salad

So, what did I ordered? As I've mentioned earlier, I had the goats cheese tart for lunch which was great and then the chocolate and orange cake, which I really loved.

The texture was quite creamy, very close to a mousse once you get through the chocolate coating.

I also tried the mango pudding and the tart with fresh fruit that my friends were having, and, although they were both nice, I would still stick with my first choice.

The price for the gluten-free cakes was £3.75 to take away or £4.75 to eat in.

Overall, I would be happy to recommend Chateau Dessert, there are plenty of delicious gluten-free choices and their seating area upstairs is very welcoming, airy and nicely decorated.



Chateau Dessert

http://www.chateaudessert.com/

Tube: Turnham Green
213 Chiswick High Road, London W4 2DW

Tel: 020 8742 2344

Pearl and Grove Bakery

A friend got me these gorgeous cakes after a day out around Marylebone, where she spotted them in a shop with a cafe (I think it might have been Hunter Gather).  They were both fantastic, the one on the left was salted caramel and the one on the right had marshmallow, yum! 

My favourite was the salted caramel one, but just by a hair, both were really nice and I'd be quite happy to recommend them.

I had not heard of Pearl&Groove before so I was clearly interested in finding out more.

They are a bakery started by Serena and all their cakes are gluten-free. 

Although they do not have a shop per se, they sell their cakes at several venues listed below & also are on Fridays (11.30am to 2.30pm) at Granary Square, Kings Cross (Kerb Food).

You can also order online or join their cake club, and receive a new flavour every month.

Find out more on their website:

http://www.pearlandgroove.com/

Current stocklist:

Harvey Nichols, Daylesford Organic, 108 Marylebone Lane Hotel, Hunter Gather, Kerb Food, The De Beauvoir Deli, Angie's Little Food shop, Peardrop London, Sofa.com, The Doodle Bar.

Coming soon to Selfridges.

Gluten Free Greenwich and New Cross

 This weekend I went to Greenwich with the Gluten Free London meetup group.

We started the afternoon in the market, visiting  Rubys of London's stall. I had been looking online at her products, and was looking forward to some GF donuts (although there were lots of other yummy cakes on offer too!)  and I was a bit shocked when there were only 4 left when I got there at 4pm on Saturday.



Oh no! I had to get a couple before it was too late, and so I did, although I could only try the chocolate ones, as all the others had sold out by then.
Obviously need to get there earlier next time for more choice.
As we were going to have some fish and chips I took them home for Sunday and they were quite yummy.

Were they like the gluten containing donuts of my past?

Well, that is a difficult question to answer, as there where no plain donuts left when I got there so I cannot compare like with like.

The chocolate ones I tried were very nice, and they were a nice flavour and texture eaten on the following day. They were slightly heavier than I expected, but quite good, so I would be very happy to go back for some more and to recommend them, obviously aiming for a morning visit.
Ruby's of London
http://www.rubysoflondon.com/
Visit their stall Saturdays&Sundays at Greenwich Market
Getting there: Cutty Sark DLR

We had a -not so- quick stop at Greenlands Health Foods, a proper shop in the market for some supplies. I have to say that although it looks small from the outside, it's extremely well stocked up for the Gluten Free eater. I just had to restrict myself as I would be carrying it around for a while, but I still managed to get some quinoa, Spanish paprika and tahini for my cupboard.
Definitely worth a visit if you are in the area.
Greenlands Health Shops
http://www.allthingsgreenwich.co.uk/businesses/greenlandshealthfoods-id-386.html


Then we visited Maddy's Fish Bar in New Cross.
Ben had added quite a lot of information about it on meetup and it looked very promising.
(Read it here: http://www.meetup.com/Gluten-Free-London-Club/events/201270152/ )

Maddy seems to know a thing or two about fish and I certainly was not disappointed.

Fantastic fresh fish with some very light gluten free batter teamed up with some chunky chips and some tartare sauce.

IPA gluten free beer is also on offer, plus cider, wine and some interesting soft drinks.

Overall it was a really enjoyable Fish and Chips.  I can't remember the last time I had some, and I would be very happy to recommend Maddys to any gluten free eaters.
Maddys Fish Bar
https://www.facebook.com/MaddysFishBar/timeline?ref=page_internal
Getting there: New Cross train or overground