Gluten Free By The Sea

As readers of Gluten Free by the Sea will know I am extremely keen to spread the word about (good) small local gluten free producers.  I was recently lucky enough to be given some gluten free muffin and cupcake samples from Simply Moorish, and I’m pleased to be able to add another such company to the list.  Simply Moorish is run by Helen Jones and is based in Ivybridge on the outskirts of Dartmoor, hence the clever company name.

Simply Moorish produce a range of foods including soups in addition to the sweet treats, and also produce bespoke cakes and wedding cakes as well as products to cater for weddings and functions.  Helen is happy to cater for any dietary requirement, and uses fair trade and local ingredients where possible.  She does produce “normal” cakes so I was keen to establish what cross contamination controls were in place before recommending the products to my readers.  I received this great information from Helen:

• I ensure that I do not work within the same area of the kitchen as I do when using gluten products. If I do have to make use of additional cooking space I ensure that this space has been thoroughly cleaned down before so.
• I use an independent selection of kitchen utensils when baking with gluten free products.
• I store my gluten free base products, adequately labelled, in a store cupboard all of their own so as to avoid cross contamination.
• When I purchase my flours and additional ingredients I aim to bag them separately when shopping.
• I only use Doves gluten and wheat free flour for baking and I am confident that this product has consciously been produced.
• Transporting products. When selling via wholesale I make sure that my products are packaged in sealed cake pods to avoid contamination from other items within the same chillers.
• When selling items open, I use the same lined wicker based trays to display my products.

These controls are enough to satisfy me, but obviously coeliacs should make up their own mind based on this information.  I have had these products several times no with no ill affect.  Secondly, I always like to know what inspired a producer to start specialising in gluten free food so I asked Helen the question.  I enjoyed her response and I am sure you will too.  Helen said:

“I embraced gluten free baking when I was asked a couple of years ago when I was trading at an outdoor event if my products were suitable for coeliacs. At this time I was solely making cupcakes. The person asking was the mother of a child. His eyes were transfixed on the sweets, sprinkles and glitter on my cakes and you could tell he so wanted one! This got me thinking, why should he be deprived of such an indulgent treat. I weighed up the demand and undertook some tasters and took some gluten free products to my next outdoor event. The comments and feedback were great. Even to this day, people will walk past my stall at market and comment amongst themselves, with a surprising tonne, ‘ooh, gluten free!’ and turn swiftly to get a better look and make a purchase.”

As for the products themselves I really enjoyed them.  My sample box included a lemon and poppyseed muffin, blueberry muffin, cranberry muffin, coffee date and walnut cake, a vanilla cupcake and carrot cake.  Everything had great texture and flavour and was very well presented.  My personal favourites were the muffins.  I’d not come across any locally made gluten free muffins before, and the shop bought ones can often taste over processed.  I’ve been back and bought the muffins as well as some delicious and fantastically decorated chocolate cupcakes a few times now.  I can highly recommend these cakes and it’s good to see another local producer coming up with great gluten free products.

You can buy Simply Moorish products at Ivybridge Community Market, which runs at the community hub in Glanville’s Mill.  The market itself was co-founded by Helen with Jo Jopling, and runs the first three Saturday’s of every month.  Gluten free muffins and cupcakes have also recently become available from our friends at Plymouth Greengrocer.  Helen is also on the lookout for more wholesalers for her Simply Moorish products.

For more information on Simply Moorish see their website, Facebook or Twitter.

Kevin, Gluten Free by the Sea

Tags: coeliac, cupcakes, gluten free, gluten free diet, gluten free food, ivybridge, ivybridge community market, muffins, plymouth, plymouth greengrocer, simply moorish