Three New Recipes in Gluten Free & More Magazine — and the Bigger Story Behind Them
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I’m back! And it feels really good to say that.
Over the past several months, I’ve been quietly working behind the scenes: refining ideas, building new foundations, and getting clear about how I want to show up and communicate here more consistently. This space — and this connection — matters to me, and I’m excited to keep it regular again.
Which makes being featured in the Jan/Feb 2026 issue of Gluten Free & More Magazine feel like the perfect way to return and feels especially meaningful. Not just because the recipes included are some of our guest favorites from Verveine Cafe & Bakery, but because of why I write recipes in the first place.
If you’ve followed my work for a while, you know this isn’t just about gluten-free food. It’s about the bigger picture of inclusion, confidence, joy, and connection, and helping people feel at home in their own kitchens and bodies again.
The three recipes I developed for this issue are rooted in everything I believe about gluten-free cooking and baking:
That it should feel approachable, deeply flavorful, and woven into real life, never restrictive, clinical, or joyless.
And they’re perfect, cozy desserts for the winter and Valentine’s Day season. While the recipes themselves might be more technically challenging with several moving parts, they are also very adaptable and can be made as a whole or broken into parts for a more simple treat.
Why These Recipes Matter
When I was diagnosed with celiac disease (and later, additional autoimmune conditions), I was forced to confront a story that so many people hear after a diagnosis:
Your life is about to get smaller.
Smaller plates.
Smaller menus.
Smaller social circles.
Even making yourself smaller to feel less of a burden.
I rejected that narrative then, and I reject it now.
These (and all my) recipes were created to prove something I’ve built my entire career around:
INCLUSIVITY — gluten-free doesn’t mean giving anything up, it just means learning another language.
And once you understand the foundations, that language becomes fluent.
Foundations First
One thing I’ve learned as a chef, café owner, and teacher is that most people don’t struggle because they “can’t cook”. They struggle because they were never taught why things work.
That’s why, going forward, I’ll be sharing more about:
Gluten-free cooking and baking foundations
How to read recipes with confidence
Ingredient behavior (especially flour)
How to adapt, improvise, and trust yourself
Because confidence changes everything, not just in the kitchen, but in how you show up everywhere else.
Inclusion Is the Point
I’ve always believed that food is so much more than just food. Opening Verveine Café & Bakery made that crystal clear.
It’s how we gather.
How we celebrate.
How we love.
How we say you belong here.
Inclusion was never a buzzword for me. It’s personal. It’s the difference between sitting at the table and watching everyone else eat…or being handed a plate and pulled into the conversation. I spent far too many meals feeling like a burden and excluded for my dietary needs, and, thus, I made it my mission to create something that would never let anyone feel that way.
It was this belief that inspired me to build Verveine Cafe & Bakery, and it still shapes every recipe I write, every menu item we serve, and every product I create because
Food Is Part of a Bigger Life
You can still:
Travel
Move your body
Love animals
Gather with friends
Build community
Experience pleasure
Food is simply one part of that ecosystem — a big part — but one that should support your life, not shrink it.
It was this belief that also led me to creating WLDFLR, my proprietary gluten-free flour blends, as my foundation. I needed a flour that behaved like the ones I trained with in fine dining kitchens and I was so unsatisfied with every commercial blend out there that I created my own. And now, I want everyone else to feel that same sense of ease and success at home!
While the pastry flour might not be for every recipe, it is a 1:1 substitute for many recipes, including two of the three recipes in Gluten Free & More Magazine!
What’s Coming Next
This magazine feature is just the beginning.
I’ll be sharing:
Monthly emails on gluten-free foundations and recipes
Stories from my journey — diagnosis, kitchen days, career and other health pivots, opening the café
Lessons learned the hard way (and the hopeful ones too)
Life beyond the plate because food supports your life, it doesn’t limit it
All with the same goal: to help you cook and live FREE OF GLUTEN, FULL OF LIFE™ !
So dig in! You can find all three recipes in the Jan/Feb 2026 issue of Gluten Free & More Magazine. I can’t wait to keep cooking alongside you!
RECIPES
A note from Monica:
While some of these recipes may look a little daunting at first glance due to multiple components, I encourage you to think of them as a collection of simple building blocks rather than one big all-or-nothing project. Each element can be broken down, made ahead, or used on its own as a foundation for countless other recipes. Once you understand the base techniques, you’ll find yourself remixing them with ease, and that confidence is where the magic happens.
Chocolate Heart Cakes with Pistachio & Rose
Recipe Note + Simplifications
This cake is built on a classic, deeply chocolatey batter and an Italian meringue buttercream. Both are incredibly versatile once you’ve mastered them.
Easier ways to use these components:
Chocolate cupcakes with your favorite frosting
Bake the cake batter in standard muffin tins and finish with vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry buttercream for an everyday treat.One-layer snack cake
Bake the batter in a square or round pan, dust with powdered sugar, and serve with fresh berries.Chocolate loaf cake
Pour the batter into a loaf pan for a sliceable, less-decorative option that still delivers big flavor.
Once you trust the cake base, the decorating becomes optional, not required.
Tiramisu CrEME PUFFS
Recipe Note + Simplifications
Pâte à choux may sound intimidating, but it’s one of the most useful doughs you can learn. Once you understand how it works, it opens the door to both sweet and savory applications.
Easier ways to use the choux base:
Gougères (savory cheese puffs)
Fold grated Gruyere or Comte cheese into the dough and bake for an impressive but low-effort appetizer.Classic cream puffs
Fill with lightly sweetened whipped cream or pastry cream instead of tiramisu filling.Mascarpone Mousse
Use the mousse for a less structured dessert that still feels special like tiramisu dessert cups, a cake or cupcake filling, or fruit-forward parfaits.
Master this dough and mousse once, and you’ll use it forever.
STRawberry hibiscus biscotti
Recipe Note + Simplifications
Biscotti dough is wonderfully forgiving and endlessly adaptable to various flavors and additions.
Easier ways to use this dough:
Slice-and-bake cookies
Skip the second bake for softer cookies with the same bright hibiscus flavor.Swap Flavoring Components
Use the base dough with toasted nuts, dark chocolate, and vanilla for a classic, everyday version. Or swap hibiscus for lemon or orange zest and coconut for a zestier version.Pie Crust
Crumble, mix with a little butter, and press into a pie tin to use as a crust for chocolate cream or baked strawberry pies.
Once you understand the method, the flavor variations are limitless.
EQUIPMENT
