A gluten free day in Bath

It’s the first weekend in December, so I decided that it was time to get out of London and go and visit another Christmassy city. I decided on Bath. I haven’t been since a child, but I have heard wonderful things and it was rated to have one of the best Christmas markets in the country!

So off we went...early start on Saturday morning to make the most of the day. We decided to grab breakfast in the station so we didn’t have to faff around at home. We did double check before we made that decision that there was somewhere I could get food (obviously). I knew there was a Pret in Paddington, which meant there was a gf breakfast. 

I have previously tried the Pret porridge which is gluten free. Although I was incredibly pleased to see they had introduced gf porridge, I was really disappointed with the bland taste and odd texture (sorry Pret!). I’d have it again if it was the only thing there, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a tasty breakfast option.

This time I noticed they did another gf option – the veggie power pot. It is made up of beans, mushroom and a poached egg, so I thought I would try this as it would probably make for a filling breakfast. Oh man it was good! Way better than the tasteless gruel that is the gf porridge. The power pot was delicious. The egg was perfectly poached (although concerningly small…Pret...should we be concerned by the ridiculously small eggs?) the beans were a delicious mix of beans, tomato, onion and mushroom and it as big enough to keep me full until lunch! All in all, a good breakfast.

We got on the most crazily busy train to bath and off we went! An hour and a half later,we had arrived. First stop was the Christmas markets. I can understand why they are voted one of the best in the country – it was great! Mostly because a lot of the produce was local. I’m a big fan of buying local produce wherever possible and supporting small businesses, so the market was perfect! From gin to soaps to honey, all from Bath. Buskers were playing Christmas music, the streets were full of cheery people, smell of mulled wine in the air – it was a perfect way to kick of the day of festive fun!

After walking around pretty much most of Bath we decided to try and find some lunch. We walked around seeing if we could find anywhere that was gf that did a good pizza or something equally treat like but I couldn’t find anywhere that wasn’t packed and that did gf food. While walking around we stumbled upon a bagel shop called the Whole Bagel. Usually bagel shops don’t do gluten free so my hopes weren’t too high…but how wrong I was! They actually did do gluten free bread and they told me they use a different toaster and clean knives to make the sandwiches! Amazing! I was so pleased! I ordered a brie, bacon and tomato chutney sandwich, oh it was delicious! We decided to take them away and eat them in the park near the crescent in Bath. It was perfect, surrounded by autumn leaves, beautiful architecture and eating one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in a long time.

After our sandwiches we has a walk around the crescent, through the park and had a poke around the shops (the sales were on so when I say a poke around, I mean I bought more Christmas presents than I could actually carry!). After a spot of shopping we decided to go on a hunt for cake.

Will and I are a big fans of coffee and cake – wherever we go we like to find a good cafe. Will is becoming a bit of a coffee geek and I’m becoming more obsessed with cake as the days go by. The unfortunate thing about Bath is that a lot of the cafes and restaurants seemed to be chains. But after walking into a few coffee shops and deciding it wasn’t for us we found the most perfect coffee shop for us - Cascara! It sold only gf cakes and delicious coffee. We decided on a Columbian chocolate cake and a raspberry and marshmallow cake. I had a cappuccino and will had a late.

The cake was actually to die for! Now, not to blow my own horn, but because I do bake a lot and can bake good cakes, sometimes the cake we have in cafes can be a bit of a let down. Not this time…the cake was so good! The cholate cake was moist, rich and full of chocolate chips. The marshmallow and raspberry cake was like no other cake I have had – the marshmallows provided a great texture and the raspberries cut through the sweetness. I would highly recommend Cascara to anyone, not just gluten free people!

We finished the day with a walk around the Christmas markets, a glass of red in a cozy pub and then headed back to London for dinner. I wasn’t blown away by the dinner options in Bath and it seemed to be getting busier and busier. We decided we were better off going back to London and heading out to my fave local pizzeria Zia Luccia.

Overall, I would say that Bath didn’t have the biggest choice of gluten free options, but they few they did have were fab! I would definitely go back just for the café and bagel shop!

Graduation Afternoon Tea!

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Hello again! Its been a while…I’ve spent the last few months focusing on finishing university, writing my dissertation and enjoying the restaurants and bars York has to offer! (which consists of a surprising amount of gluten-free restaurants!). So I thought I would do a quick blog post to re-start my blog up now I have some more time on my hands and a better kitchen for baking and cooking in! So more recipes to come soon….

But thought I would write about the most amazing afternoon tea experience I have had. I travelled up to York for my friends graduation (two days before my own) and her lovely family had invited me out for afternoon tea, pre-graduation ceremony. Now for a coeliac the idea of afternoon tea is somewhat petrifying…sandwiches, cakes, scones and all sorts of gluten-filled little devils! However, I had the experience of a completely gluten-free afternoon tea…amazing, I know!

We visited the Cedar Court Hotel, which is just opposite the train station in York. The hotel itself is very grand, beautiful and luxurious so the perfect setting for a graduation celebration! My friend had phoned up in advance to explain that I couldn’t eat gluten and would need an alternative…so I though they may do me a gluten free sandwich and a cake or would bring me some antipasti or a salad or something….but oh how wrong I was!!

When we sat down for lunch the waitresses bought out an array of sandwiches for those lucky gluten eaters...smoked salmon and dill, egg, ham and mustard, chicken and cream cheese and dill…it all looked very lovely. I thought that there was no chance I would get anything like that…it’s such a faff for the kitchen to do an array of coeliac sandwiches and probably not worth the time or effort. But then the bought my plate out…which was to my shock, the exact same as the normal sandwiches! I had the exact same fillings, with different types of bread, all impeccably presented and they tasted delicious! So nice to the point I as sceptical whether they were even gluten free or not (do not fear, they were)!

Next came desert, I had seen the waitresses bring desert out for other tables of customers and they looked amazing…scones and clotted cream, chocolate puddings, mini lemon meringue pies and some fruit cake. Now no way did I expect to get the same as everyone else…I mean how often can they get gluten free requests? Surely they can’t get enough to make such a wide range of deserts for special people like myself? But OH NO once again, they smashed through my expectations and bought out gluten free scones, brownies, lemon meringue pies, victoria sponge and a trifle! Once again, they were to die for! They were so delicious it was untrue! I couldn’t believe my luck! Although I was beyond full when I was half way through pudding, I refused to leave even a little morsel left on my plate as so much effort had gone into creating the delicious food for me! And how often do you find a place like that!? I ate every single last bite and loved it! The only disappointment was that I hadn’t found this place sooner…although it would have probably increased my weight and decreased my disposable income!!

York has so many brilliant places to offer for coeliacs, and I have never been disappointed….but if you are ever in York and fancy a treat…call the Cedar Court Hotel in advance and get yourself an afternoon tea! I can assure you…you will not be disappointed!

Breakfast at Buckingham Palace

Last weekend I went to the Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace in London. It was a day to feel pretty, to walk in the palace gardens and to dine like kings and queens! I have to say the whole day was amazing. The idea of the festival is to showcase all the current Royal Warranted products to members of the general public. From interior design to bookbinding, tailors to shoe makers and cleaning products to food. It was an opportunity to experience the Queens gardens and to see the highest quality products this country had to offer.  

I had breakfast at Mosimanns, and e-mailed in advance to let them know I was gluten-free. I was questioning what i would get...whether they would just miss out ingredients or whether they would give replacements. To my amazement, breakfast was absolutely phenomenal, nothing was left out or skimped on!

Smoked salmon, cottage cheese and scrambled eggs with chives…what more could you ask for? I realised that there is a clear difference between good and bad smoked salmon. The stuff I occasionally buy from supermarkets is tasty …but is oily and slimy. The smoked salmon here just fell apart when you picked it up. Not oily at all! The cottage cheese with scrambled eggs and chives were a step above the rest. I wouldn’t have thought scrambled eggs could be ‘divine’ but that seems to be the only word for them!

After this ‘main course’ there was a bacon sandwich, all gluten free of course! It was packed with about 6 pieces of bacon and the gluten free bread was crunchy and actually had flavour which was a nice change!

Finally we had some natural yogurt and berry compote. Again, beautiful…the yogurt was creamy, the compote wasn’t too tart.

Mosimann’s isn’t the kind of place you get to eat at every day. I count myself incredibly lucky to have experienced the meals they create. Alike everything else at the festival, this restaurant is Royal Warranted and required a membership to dine there. But for this single day, I got the opportunity to dine like royalty. What an experience!  

Bettys Gluten-Free Chocolate and Raspberry Torte Review

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Last week was my 20^th birthday and all my friends from home came up to visit me in York. As most of them hadn’t been to York before they all wanted to go and visit Bettys Tearooms. My automatic reaction was one of fear…a whole café based on very very delicious…gluten filled… cake! I knew I would probably end up sitting there with a green tea, watching my friends eat some of the most delicious cake you can buy and get jealous. When we turned up to the Bettys on Stonegate I asked straight away if they had any gluten-free options, and to my surprise…they did!!

This made my day; I had never been to Bettys before I was diagnosed so I thought I had missed out! But oh no, one of the most delicious looking cakes on the menu was gluten free! The Swiss Chocolate and Raspberry Torte.

The cake itself was made out of crushed almonds with caramelised raspberries and chocolate. The cake was moist, luxurious and rich. It was simply delicious! Not only was it gluten free, but being made of almonds it was naturally better for you than most cakes.

Almonds are naturally high in vitamin E, which prevent cell damage from free radicals and help prevent prostate cancer, bladder cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. Another handy little thing vitamin E does is help maintain healthy skin, and some studies have shown it can prevent UV rays from damaging the skin. Although it is still a cake at the end of the day, it was a better option than having a non-gluten free cake with the basis of a sponge being flour. Almonds are high in protein therefore more filling…and don’t forget they are yummy!!

I was so happy that I didn’t have to sit there without joining in on such a massive treat, and its something that isn’t absolutely terrible for you.

Bettys is not a no go zone for coeliac, in fact….if you ever visit York and fancy a treat, Bettys is definitely worth going to!