Ok, so if you are one who has been following some of my posts and have read the one on Gluten-Free Flours, you will remember that I talked about seeing Quinoa Flour in the store, but hadn't tried it yet.
I tried it this week... and here is my story.
In its raw state it has a similar texture to buckwheat flour when rubbing between your fingers, seemed about the same density, and very close in color. The smell was not quite as strong as buckwheat, it did however have a light quinoa smell (of course, that makes sense.).
So, because it costs a little over $7 per pound here, I decided to buy just a pound and try it. I contemplated for a few days on what I would make with this expensive ingredient. It would have to be something that I could make with 100% quinoa flour, no other flour mixed in, to see the full results of this, and since I only had a pound it would have to be a small batch of something. Also, it would have to be an item that, if ended up having a strong flavor, could be slathered with something to cover up any possible offensive flavor, like butter, cream cheese, frosting or a sauce.... because at that price, it was not going to be thrown away! And I was going to have to wait to make something until I was absolutely sure on what item it would be, there were going to be no regrets with $7 at stake here!
So, yesterday, upon getting out of bed, realized (and yes, this is how my thought process went at the time)... "I have nothing for breakfast this morning (with five hungry kids, my step-kids being here too)... gotta make something... What is it gonna be?? What do I have? No chocolate chips... no baking cocoa... no blueberries in the freezer... Maybe I could do some sort of muffins, that don't include any of those things... nah, just muffins the other day... Ooo apples, I have four apples! Apple muffins?? No, just did those... oh yeah.. Hhhhmmm, what could I put apples in for breakfast? Oh, a coffee cake would be nice... and I will have to make a "regular" apple coffee cake, for those who are not gluten-free because the gluten-free stuff is so expensive... wait... expensive??? Hey! *light bulb moment* I will use the quinoa flour for this! This cake has that warm vanilla sauce that I can drizzle over it, which will be great if it doesn't come out as good as I am hoping..." And that is what I did.
I made a small batch that used all but about 3/4 of the quinoa flour that I had, just enough to mix in with the buckwheat flour in another recipe experiment later on. The batter was a good consistency, but the flavor had a somewhat strong quinoa aftertaste. I love quinoa, but wasn't sure that I would like it in cake form. However, this recipe did have enough apples and sugar to probably override some of it. Maybe cooking it would subdue the flavor some. The cake rose nicely when baking, and held its rise while cooling. Could this be? It was amazing! Sometimes the gluten-free products either won't rise because the flour is too heavy OR they may rise a little bit in the oven, but then fall a little bit as they cool and become heavy. As I said in the "gluten-free flours" post, so far the best results have come from the buckwheat and corn flour (masa harina) combination - although not a good answer for anyone who has to avoid corn, my son luckily can have corn, so it has been good for what I have been making. The real proof would be in the texture and flavor, of the marvelous wonder. Cutting it, it felt very soft and tender, and, noticing a few crumbs sticking to the knife.. still moist?? Hhhmmm, so NOT like most of the other gluten-free products. The cake was still quite warm as I was cutting it and removing it from the pan, so it was very tender. Once the cake was plated, it looked so close to a "regular" coffee cake, and smelled delicious. The taste was awesome! It only had just a slight quinoa aftertaste, but it was so light and fluffy, tender and delicious. Even at room temperature this cake stays soft and moist... WOW.
I wish that I could afford this flour to use it for everything! I did do a little bit of price research online, and Amazon.com sells it, averaging anywhere from $4.50-$9.50 per pound, this wasn't including shipping from what I could see... sometimes you can get free shipping and if that is the case some of the brands would be a decent deal, but I will have to continue my research on this. I will most likely get more (small amounts at monthly intervals probably) and see how it works with other recipes. For now this will be my "special treat" flour, or maybe my "really good gluten-free cake" flour or... ok, I'll just stop there.
For the recipe please see post named: "Apple Coffee Cake w/Warm Vanilla Sauce" (Coming Soon...)
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