I should be having breakfast. I should be out enjoying the sun or watering the withering plants, or whatever it is that people normally do on bright Sunday mornings.

Instead, I’m talking about cookies. Not just any cookies, but decadently rich chocolate ones, and gluten-free to boot. I made these yesterday, based on an Alice Medrich recipe from her fabulous Bittersweet book. They’re part of a succession of gluten-free things I have been making in my kitchen for a wheat-intolerant friend, and also part of my current obsession with throwing glutinous rice flour into almost anything. The flour lends a certain chewiness to the end product (in a pleasing, almost-mochi kind of way) and manages to “hold” ingredients together, like normal flour would. It’s also incredibly fantastic in other things like chocolate brownies.

Helen and Jen wanted the recipe for these cookies, so I thought I might as well write a speedy post to share the recipe with everyone who’d be interested. So here you go. It’ll take much less time to whip up these cookies than it has, to write or read this post 🙂 Enjoy!

Bittersweet Decadence Cookies – the gluten-free version :
(based on Alice Medrich’s recipe from Bittersweet)

1/4 cup glutinous rice flour (or mochi flour) or plain flour, for the original version
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon vanilla salt
226g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1 cup dried cranberries or dried sour cherries
170g bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chunks

Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 175’C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt together thoroughly; set aside.

Place the 226g of chocolate and the butter in a large heatproof bowl over a pot of barely simmering water and stir frequently until just melted and smooth. Remove the bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and vanilla together thoroughly. Set the bowl over the same pot and stir until the mixture is lukewarm to the tough. Stir the eggs into the warm (not hot) chocolate. Stir in the flour mixture, then the nuts, dried fruit and chocolate chunks.

Scoop slightly rounded tablespoons of batter 1 1/2 inches apart onto the baking sheets. Bake until the surface of the cookies looks dry and set but the center is still gooey, 12 to 14 minutes. Slide the cookies, still on the baking paper, onto racks to cool.

Since my last post, I have been much busier. A little too busy to blog regularly, even though the weekend baking pursuits have continued to produce some interesting things I wish I had more time to share.

I’m taking time out from my regular butter-fests, to write about something a little different today : margarine. The reason being that I recently spent a week baking vegan. Not because I’ve run out of money for butter or grown tired of my leather shoes, but because what seems like eons ago, Hannah sent me a copy of her cookbook. In case you weren’t already a fan, Hannah Kaminsky is the voice behind BitterSweet (a blog I love and visit frequently) and the author of My Sweet Vegan.

I may be fairly inconsistent in my road towards a healthier lifestyle, but vegan baking is not something I often considered gravitating towards. Like most non-vegans, I’ve long held the view that this style of baking meant being prepared to search for hard-to-get (and often more expensive) ingredients such as vegan “sour cream”, brown rice syrup and soy creamer, or willing to make odd substitutions such as applesauce and bananas to replace butter in a recipe, or use tofu in a cheesecake.

Rather unexpectedly then, my favourite recipe from My Sweet Vegan turned out to be a Silken Chocolate Mousse Cake (pictured above), which had a fantastic gluten-free, no-bake base, and a luscious, rich and flavoursome chocolate mousse featuring silken tofu as one of the main ingredients. Also high on my list of favourites, was the Orange Hazelnut Biscotti which featured items you’d find in most typical pantries.

The only recipe that I would not make again, of the handful that I tried, was the Black Bottom Blondies (not pictured), because I didn’t like the texture of the blondies, even though the brownie component was really delicious.

Apart from the blondie, the recipes I tried from the book were met with considerable praise from my taste-testers (all of whom were non-vegans). There were some detractors for the chocolate mousse cake who did not like the consistency of the tofu in the mousse, but you know what they say about pleasing some people some of the time..

After much use of margarine, soy milk and soy yogurt, I can safely say that Hannah’s book was a pleasure to bake from. In fact, I even have a renewed respect for Hannah’s talent and her passion for what she believes in.

My Sweet Vegan makes for an excellent introductory guide for those who aren’t vegan but like to try something different, or for those who already have margarine in their kitchen, and would like to expand their vegan repertoire. Refer to it when you’re feeling virtuous, or if you’re making a treat for a vegan friend. Either way, it’s a bit of a sweet win-win situation (especially when you end up with something like Sesame Chews. Who cares if it’s vegan when it’s this delicious!).

It was only when someone asked me recently, “What do you do exactly?” that I realised I don’t blog in as much detail as I used to, about my work life. I work in a commercial kitchen in the city and like most typical kitchens, it is a predominantly male environment. Despite the multitude of personalities or the testosterone overload, it’s one of the few times I’ve felt as though I’m in a place where everyone is truly bonding as a team; from the pointy end of the kitchen heirarchy, right down to the little fishes. Even the kitchenhands are happy people : one sings throughout the day and loves decorating his apron with vegetable art, and the other works two physically-demanding full time jobs but still has time to smile and have a laugh.

These days I’m finding it strange that my blog life is intersecting with real life. For the longest time, this blog was a little secret. A place I came to, to air woes. But since it appears that quite a few people I work with are aware of this blog, I thought I might as well introduce you to some of these characters from my kitchen life.

In no particular order :

Mike. You should see Mike dance to one of his favourite songs by Rick Astley. I swear, it’s a YouTube moment waiting to happen. Mike is also allergic to cashews and hates coconut. Apparently last week, almost all the staff desserts I made had coconut in them. How did that happen??

Miles is capable of appearing to be ‘miles away’; completely wasted without even needing drugs or alcohol. I attribute it to a combination of love-sickness, long work hours and vivid gangsta dreams related to his new-found addiction to The Wire. On a good day, Miles is capable of correctly counting the number of bread rolls he is required to warm in the oven.

Mitch is my Food Disposal Unit #1. He eats everything, and I do quite like that in a person.

Spud. We once both pulled the coolroom door open simultaneously while standing on opposing sides of the door. We stood there like stunned mullets for a second then burst into 5 minutes of uncontrollable laughter. I guess that pretty much sums up my relationship with Spud.

Terry. While I’m sure most guys would hate to be landed with the ‘nice’ tag, Terry is truly the nicest guy ever. He also looks like an attractive Abraham Lincoln and bakes from his grandmother’s recipes.

Mark Anthony. Is always referred to as Mark Anthony. I can’t remember why, but it seems to make sense.

Zach. Could almost be considered an honorary member of the pastry department because he’s always there to help out whenever help is needed most.

Dan. Of course, I saved the best for last. Dan is a creative spirit. He encompasses all the qualities you would expect a great chef to possess. He leads with respect, and (knowledge being more powerful than fear), he is followed with respect. He can be tough, but also fair, and is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. Lesser known fact : he can also swing dance.

As a ‘family’, we eat well, and we work hard. There is no shouting and minimal swearing in this kitchen. In fact, I made a joke the other day about loving ‘the new rack’ in my section and was greeted by stunned silence.

Oh, I love this work place, yes I do.

Adzuki bean and black sesame brownie :
(I adapted these rich gluten-free brownies from Heidi’s Black Bean Brownie recipe as seen on 101 Cookbooks.)

115g bittersweet chocolate (70% cocoa solids)
225g unsalted butter
310g cooked adzuki beans
60g black sesame meal/powder
100g walnuts, chopped
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
25g cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
360g plain honey

Preheat the oven to 160’C. Grease and line a 7″ x 10″ baking tin and set it aside.

Place the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, stirring just until the chocolate has melted. In a food processor, combine the adzuki beans with the black sesame powder, vanilla and a couple of spoonfuls of the melted chocolate mixture. Blend until smooth, about 2 minutes.

In a large bowl, stir the walnuts with the remaining melted chocolate, along with the cocoa powder and salt.

In an electric mixer, whisk the eggs until light and creamy, then add the honey and whisk well.

Fold the bean mixture into the walnut/chocolate mixture, then fold in the egg mixture. Pour the batter into the prepared baking tin and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until set. Once baked, allow to cool on a wire rack before transferring to the fridge to chill well before cutting. These brownies are best served from the fridge as they are slightly crumbly, but assuredly very moist and delicious!