IF you’ve got friends or relations who are gluten intolerant, that doesn’t mean you have to forsake flavour when it comes to sweets and treats.

With an increase in the number of people opting for gluten-free and Free From foodstuffs there’s a wealth of young chefs creating tasty, healthy foods using reduced sugar and gluten-free flours in their cakes.

At Country Harvest , Ingleton, more and more of our customers are asking for Free From ‘treat’ foods, from cake making kits to flours, biscuits, bread and sausages. It’s a growth area and we now stock a number of ranges from our own sausages to Findlater’s bread; Glebe Farm cake and scone mixes to soya free, vegan chocolate treats and GF/dairy and egg free biscuits. Under law anything labelled GF must contain no more than 20 parts per million of gluten - the protein found in wheat, rye and barley and most commonly found in pasta, bread, cereals and cakes.

In our Coffee Shop one of the most popular cakes we sell is our Gluten Free Pecan Brownie which is made in our kitchens and is all you’d expect – a gooey, moist texture with a fabulous chocolate/nutty taste.

In a blind tasting we challenge anyone to detect it’s gluten free. Bake it yourself and see what you think.

Gluten free chocolate/pecan brownies

Recipe

300g of plain chocolate drops

375g of butter

6 eggs

Few drops of vanilla essence

450g of caster sugar

185g of GF Plain Flour

300g pecan nuts

Simply melt the chocolate and butter in a microwave, before beating in the eggs and vanilla essence.

Then add sugar, flour and chopped pecans. Mix in the chocolate/butter mixture and pour into a lined tin.

Bake at Gas Mark 4/180degrees until set to the touch. Keep an eye on it as it may need covering with tinfoil to ensure the middle is cooked.

Leave in the tin until cold and then cut into 30 pieces.

It’s so moreish it usually doesn’t last long, but it can be kept in an airtight container for a couple of weeks and can also be frozen.

But if you’re in a rush or don’t like baking, then you can pop into Country Harvest and buy some of the brownies to take away. A delicious, affordable weekend treat for all the family.