I really was expecting to have to write a scathing review of both the Cauliflower Crust Pizza we tried today and the gluten-free cake that I baked this afternoon. Granted, I didn’t make the pizza, I bought it frozen from Safeway, but I was leery about subjecting my friends and family to it and I wasn’t willing to put in the effort of making a cauliflower crust pizza from scratch until I was sure it was edible. I really couldn’t see it being very palatable because I think Cauliflower has a very strong flavor. I noticed that this brand mixed cauliflower and rice flour for the crust. This may have given it an advantage over other pure cauliflower crust pizzas, but I won’t know until I make my own cauliflower crust. So tonight, we tried the Margherita and Three Cheese versions of Open Nature’s pizzas. Suffice it to say, the pizza was gone within minutes of being served. My picky teen ate all of hers, so that’s a glowing recommendation.
I was very nervous about the cake after the wild success of the store-bought pizzas. I used to bake at sea level and could replicate recipes fairly easily. I found it is much harder to bake in Denver because of the altitude. It is one of the main reasons I’m reluctant to try anything new. But I did want to try to create a recipe that I could include in my upcoming cookbook Comfort Food for All Seasons. I was going to try to create a baking mix on my own, but after doing some research, I decided to start small. I admit that I knew I had to make changes to the recipe I had even with the baking mix that I was using because of the high altitude and the nature of the mix. I decided to add more of the mix and increased some of the liquid ingredients to compensate. The one thing I didn’t have to worry about changing was the icing recipe because there isn’t any gluten in the original recipe. My friend that has the gluten allergy enjoyed her piece. My teen did as well. I also liked the cake, but I held my breath to see what my other friend thought. He is notorious for being able to taste a gluten-free desert from a mile away and normally refuses to eat them. So, when I saw that he devoured his piece, I knew I had succeeded. I may decide to experiment with other types of gluten-free flours to see which one we think is the best. But that’s for another time; I’ll take this victory for now.