If you’ve got celiac disease, or are gluten-intolerant in any way or form - we know how tough life can be. There’s almost nothing worse than looking at a slice of layered, moist chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, and knowing that your inner Brucey must be suppressed, killed even. We know the feeling. And so does Meher Randhawa, the brain and brawn behind The Gluten Free Baking Company in Bangalore. Meher’s own gluten intolerance prohibited her from eating a lot of the baked goodness she would have liked to, and there were hardly any options suited to her dietary needs. So she decided to make her own.
Replacing gluten altogether is so easy task. Meher tells us that “through extensive research and trial and error, we have perfected our own proprietary blend as a gluten free substitute for flour. We also use quinoa flour, coconut flour, almond flour, jowar etc based on the customer’s needs and recipes’ demands.” The best selling items on the menu are the brownies, blondies, caramelised onion bread, zucchini bread, salted caramel chocolate cake and dark chocolate strawberry/cherry cake. Almost all the items can be made sugar free, and “we also cater to vegans, dairy sensitive, nut sensitive and keto friendly customers” Meher explains.
Meher currently runs three outlets across Bangalore (Cunningham road, BEL Road and Banaswadi), and that naturally lends itself to hours and hours of endless baking. “I’m at the bakery from 8am everyday catering to orders that we receive 24 hours in advance which helps us in sourcing the freshest ingredients for the orders of the day. We only use locally sourced organic seasonal fruits and inform the customers of the choices available” Meher says. She is completely hands-on as far as the baking is concerned because she has to ensure that recipes are followed as per the mandate. She found that explaining the concept of gluten free baking to her staff was rather challenging because they were used to using plain, refined flour in the past.
Meher exclaims that the response to the company has been overwhelming - not only from people who are gluten intolerant, but also those just looking for healthier options with a hint of indulgence.
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