GF goodies at the GF Patisserie

As you walk into the GF Patisserie in Cochrane, Alberta the first thing that assails your senses is the amazing smell of freshly baked bread. With (non-coeliac) bakery needs catered to by the supermarkets and far too few real bakers, the homely and very appetising smell of baking is a lost experience for most of us, and especially for those who can't eat normal bread.

So what makes the GF Patisserie special? Well it must be the fact that it's owned and run by a coeliac who is passionate about baking good, healthy, preservative free foods.

The GF Patisserie has been open just over 2 years and during that time Victoria Edlinger and her daughter Lauren have been producing handmade Artisan breads, cakes and cookies in their dedicated gluten free bakery.

Victoria is herself a coeliac and as she wasn't diagnosed until her 20's she knows what real bread and cakes taste like. She therefore set out to develop her own range of products using best quality ingredients, in Victoria's words "to make a cupcake taste like a cupcake".

And they've certainly succeeded in making their products taste just like I remember bread should taste. My favourite is definitely the Italian bread, the first time I tried it I ate nearly half a flatbread in one go it was so good, but it had been 12 years since I'd had really great tasting bread so I feel justified in my pig-out.

Ingredients are very important in their baking process and they source only the best, guaranteed gluten free ingredients. Too few restaurants or bakeries know what's in the ingredients or products that they are using as it's usually bulk goods that rarely list the individual components. So don't blame your server next time they say they can't find out what's in a certain product because the chef probably doesn't know either!

The day I went in to talk to Victoria was "cupcake Saturday", I forgot to ask if there's a "Sachertorte Saturday", if there is I'll be waiting at the door for them to open on that particular day.

As well as breads, cakes and cookies they also do pizza crusts, hamburger buns, waffle & flour mixes, as well as selling gluten free oats and ice cream cones (but not with ice cream in them). The breads are GFCF with the exception of the cheese bread, and with appropriate notice they can also do egg free. If you're making a visit then you really have to try the Callebaut Cream Cheese Brownies, they really are good, so good in fact that I only buy one at a time...

If this blog has started you salivating for GF Patisserie's products then as long as you're within driving distance you'll be okay, there is definitely no shipping as all the products are preservative free.

The good news is that GF Patisserie is offering licensing opportunities, so if you want to start a dedicated gluten free bakery in your locality then the opportunity is there. The original Cochrane location is also currently for sale.

In early November their first Canadian licensee will be opening in Newfoundland (Nourish, Cedar Plaza, 1304 Topsail Road, Paradise, NL) Shortly after that the first US licensee will be ready to bake in Las Vegas and they will be offering coffee, panini's etc to eat in, so next time you're in Vegas you won't go hungry, you may be broke but certainly not hungry.

Victoria's aim is to have a GF Patisserie in every city so that coeliacs will be able to visit a city and be able to eat safely, let's hope that she succeeds in this as we'll all be very much happier (and better fed) for it.

GF Patisserie, 122 3rd Avenue West, Cochrane, Alberta (403) 990 9565... and don't forget, they don't do shipping!