Kat Cermelj – Food for Thought
It is fair to say that this is the decade of the “dietary requirement.” If you have ever managed to host a dinner party without an attendee inquiring about whether the bread has “traces of gluten”, whether you used “vegan cheese” for the lasagne, or if the chocolate pudding is “keto-friendly”, then you have fortuitously got away with it.
As we become progressively more aware of our bodies, its strengths and its pitfalls, it comes as no surprise that every other person has a requirement of some shape or form. As a result, certain chefs and cooks have devised substitutes to allow those with allergies and restrictions to continue to bond over what is arguably the most enjoyable social and communal experience of all.
That’s where the baker and food writer Katarina or “Kat” Cermelj comes in. Cermelj is best known for her hugely successful food blog “The Loopy Whisk”, which regularly posts a smorgasbord of gluten-free and dairy-free recipes. However, if you think Cermelj’s “free-from” recipes are all sawdust sandwiches or compost cupcakes, think again. Her recipes have won huge acclaim for being as tasty, if not more so, than their gluten and dairy counterparts.
Cermelj grew up a few kilometres away from the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana. Her main memories of her childhood involve her mother, “an amazing cook and baker,” whisking away as a young Cermelj watched in awe. “I had the best birthdays as a child,” she says. “My mum would make these amazing 3D cakes in the shape of animals – hedgehogs, zebras, you name it.” But best of all was her mother’s French toast. Cermelj recalls halcyon days of tucking into this toast with large showers of icing sugar, watching cartoons as her mother infused the home with sweetened smells of caramel and chocolate.
On learning that she had won a place at Oxford University to study chemistry, the whole family relocated to the UK. However, towards the end of her undergraduate studies, Cermelj started experiencing some health problems. It was only after eliminating gluten and dairy from her diet that her issues were resolved.
During one long summer in 2016, Cermelj refused to believe that she had to give up the syrupy French toasts and toothsome cakes that she had so enjoyed as a child. Instead, she carved her own route out of restrictions and started creating recipes that suited not only her but hundreds of thousands of others.
Armed with a chemistry BA, and a PhD in inorganic chemistry, Cermelj’s recipe development benefits from a scientific perspective. “Because of my Chemistry background, I have always loved experimenting. The science gives me more of an insight about how the ingredients interact with one another and how I can harness their properties to the best of their abilities,” she explains.
“I approach baking by looking at the components,” she says. “Let’s take an egg. You have a yolk and the white, the white gives the bake a lift, and the yolks emulsify and add richness. When you remove these ingredients, it’s a huge deal, so you think what other ingredients can I add? How should I adjust the quantities? My science background enables me to approach recipe development in a much more systematic way.”
You only need to travel as far as the @theloopywhisk Instagram to notice how Cermelj has created a haven-like community for people on the hunt for alternatives. Her community is divided into two types of people; those with dietary restrictions and those who choose to bake without gluten and dairy out of health or taste preference. “I recently got a lovely message from a mother whose son is coeliac,” she says, “she made my gluten-free birthday cake for not only him to enjoy, but so that no one felt excluded – everyone loved it. When I hear of stories like that, I get goosebumps; it is the most gratifying thing to hear.”
You will find a Willy Wonka-like shop window of sweet and colourful recipes on her blog and social media. Your mouth will drool and your stomach will rumble over her flourless chocolate cakes, blueberry and vanilla cheesecakes, hot chocolate éclairs, coffee ice cream bars, tahini cookies and fudgy peanut butter swirl brownies
Of all her recipes, Cermelj is most proud of her artisanal-style bread loaf. It is the recipe that people make and say “wow, this is the first time I’ve had proper bread in decades,” she says. “It took me months to develop, but I’m very proud of it as it’s made the most difference to people’s lives. After all, bread is something for every day, and I’m helping them to enjoy it again.”
Her recently-released recipe book, Baked to Perfection – currently ranked the #1 New Release in Scientific Experiments & Projects on Amazon – compiles all of the above recipes and much more. “The book includes all you need to know about free-from baking, from cakes and cookies to puff pastry as well as a very extensive bread chapter – everything from artisanal loaves to fried doughnuts,” she explains. “It’s everything I wish I knew when I started on my journey. I have so much to say on the topic and wanted to have all the information in one place. I also wanted to incorporate the science behind baking in a fun and approachable way. People need to know how it all works.”
For Cermelj’s last ever supper – after confessing that 50 per cent of her diet revolves around hummus or chocolate – she picks a starter of “a really good piece of toast with hummus and vegetables.” For her main course, “a gluten-free pizza, the way my mum makes it, delicious tomato sauce and mozzarella – simple but delicious.” For her dessert, “it’s very predictable, but I’d have a very good fudgy chocolate brownie with brown butter and toasted pecans. And, of course, a scoop of sour cherry ice cream.” To drink, “coffee”.
“Just because you have a dietary restriction, it doesn’t mean you have to always eat ‘healthily,’” Cermelj concludes. “I would describe my recipes as not just free-from, but also decadent. I want people to tuck into my cakes and think they are not just a substitute but far better. A restriction should never get in the way of people enjoying food.”
You can buy Baked to Perfection here.
Fudgy Cocoa Brownies
Serves 9–12 | Prep time 15 min | Bake time 35 min
Although I’ll be the first to admit that actual chocolate is pretty essential for a good brownie, on the off-chance that you get a brownie craving with no chocolate on hand, I don’t want to leave you hanging. This recipe gives the brownies deep chocolate flavour, a fudgy texture and a gorgeous glossy top – using only cocoa powder. It’s pretty high in sugar, but the bitterness of Dutch processed cocoa powder balances this sweetness nicely. Plus, the sugar is essential to the formation of the shiny crust.
Ingredients
375 g caster sugar [1]
3 medium eggs, room temperature
210 g unsalted butter, melted and cooled until warm
110 g Dutch processed cocoa powder
90 g gluten-free flour blend [2]
¼ teaspoon xanthan gum
½ teaspoon salt
Method
Adjust the oven shelf to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 160ºC and line a 20cm square baking tin with a piece of baking paper cut large enough to overhang the sides of the tin (to help you remove the baked brownies).
In a heat-proof bowl, mix together the sugar and eggs until only just combined. You can use a wooden spoon, a spatula or a whisk – but in the latter case, don’t aerate the eggs. You don’t want the mixture to become pale and fluffy, only to combine the eggs and sugar until homogeneous. [3]
Place the egg-sugar mixture over a pan of simmering water and heat, stirring continuously, until it reaches 28–30 ºC and the sugar is fully dissolved (you shouldn’t be able to feel any graininess when you rub a little bit of the mixture between your fingertips). [4]
Remove from the heat, add the butter and mix until fully incorporated. Sift together the cocoa powder, gluten-free flour blend, xanthan gum and salt, and mix well to a smooth batter with no flour clumps.
Transfer to the lined baking tin, smooth out the top, and bake for about 35–40 minutes (35 minutes for gooey brownies; 40 for fudgy) or until an inserted toothpick comes out covered in half-baked batter (gooey) or with many moist crumbs attached (fudgy).
Cool the brownies completely to room temperature before taking hold of the baking paper and removing them from the tin. Use a sharp knife to slice into portions (cooling first allows the crumb to set to give you clean slices with neat edges).
If you want to serve the brownies warm (for example, with a scoop of ice cream), reheat them in the microwave for about 15 seconds.
STORAGE
3–4 days in a closed container at room temperature. The brownies will get progressively fudgier and chewier the longer you keep them like this.
NOTES
[1] You can reduce the amount of sugar to about 300 g, but in that case the brownie top is unlikely to have the smooth, glossy crust. I don’t recommend going below 300g, which will result in a progressively less fudgy and more cakey brownie.
[2] I tested this recipe with Doves Farm Free plain gluten-free flour, as well as store-brand plain gluten-free flour blends from Sainsbury’s, Lidl, Aldi and Asda.
[3] Aerating the eggs and sugar mixture (whisking it until pale and fluffy), as you would in brownies made with actual chocolate, gives cocoa brownies that are cakey in texture. In actual chocolate brownies, the chocolate acts as a failsafe for fudginess, so aeration is less of a concern.
[4] Gently heating the eggs and sugar together helps to fully dissolve the sugar (without cooking the eggs), which in turn guarantees a beautiful paper-thin, shiny brownie crust.