Heather with Assistant Chef & Recipe Tester, Flora

We posed 5 questions to Heather Hardcastle, Chef and Co-Owner of Flour Craft for this interview, on her recipe development process and what’s been the most challenging gluten-free recipe she’s tackled to date. Learn more about their special sourdough bread and how long the recipe took to develop!

1. What most excites you about being a chef?

The thing that excites me most about being a chef is the endless creativity. You can never really 'master' cooking/ baking. There is always something new to create, learn, or try.

2. How do you conduct your research? Any taste-testers?

To develop a new recipe, I start with an idea or inspiration and start building it one ingredient at a time. The inspiration could be a recipe I read online, something I try at a new restaurant, or an ingredient that inspires me at the Farmers Market. It generally takes me about 2-3 tries to perfect a new recipe. The first pass is really just to evaluate flavor and texture and make adjustments. The 2nd & 3rd are about refinement.

3. What’s been your toughest recipe to make from the perspective of creating a healthier or gluten-free version?

The toughest recipes to develop for me are the breads. When you're working without gluten, and making 'lean' dough (ie: no sugar or fat), things get more challenging. The bread I worked the longest on is our sourdough, nearly 3 months of testing until it was just right. I really love it now and I eat it every day, without fail. I even cart it along in my suitcase while traveling.

4. Which country would you like to visit most from a culinary perspective? Why?

The country I'd like to visit most from a culinary perspective is definitely Israel. I absolutely love middle eastern food and flavors but don't really know that much about cooking/ baking with them. I'd love to dive into their culinary world.

5. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, which would it be and why?

If I could eat one food for the rest of my life (not counting chocolate, avocados, and wine which are givens), it would definitely be sourdough toast with butter and jam, gf of course! I eat our sourdough toast with butter and jam every morning for breakfast and have for years. I love it so much and it's the meal I look forward to most every day.

THE WALNUT SOURDOUGH CHRONICLES

We documented stages of the creation of this special bread on our Facebook page- from several rounds of testing to finally selling it on the shelves.

“The bread I worked the longest on is our sourdough, nearly 3 months of testing until it was just right. I really love it now and I eat it every. Single. Day. Without fail.”

— HEATHER HARDCASTLE, CHEF, CO-OWNER, FLOUR CRAFTt!