I received a copy of Roben Ryberg’s Gluten-Free in 5 Minutes to review. As I looked back, they did say it was a microwave cookbook, and yet my brain skipped over that part. When I realized it was a microwave cookbook, I was positive I would dislike it. I rarely use the microwave. I pretty much only use it to melt chocolate, since a double boiler takes so long. I also am very careful not to microwave in plastics due to possible health concerns. And I love the way my house smells when I’m in the middle of a baking project. You just can’t get that the same way in a microwave!
And yet…many people use the microwave every day. Many people are cooking for 1 or two, or are in a dorm, or they’re in a rush…so I decided to take my ‘food snob’ hat off and give it a whirl. I also really found the concept intriguing, because, well, I’d never really thought much about it before. 
Since I’m allergic to egg and almost all recipes were egg-based, DH was the tester. I made the chocolate cake with sorghum, and, as he put it, it looked like meat alternative. Not in a good way. I didn’t frost because I wanted an honest opinion of the cake. The verdict–too chewy, but yummy. DH ate all of it.
I didn’t want to give a unenthused review without a thorough trial, so I opted for the Extreme chocolate cake (picture above). Extreme chocolate–where can you go wrong? He loved it. As I passed by, I remarked that the book said the cake served two…he promptly asked who was going to take it from him.
I planned to make a third, but DH has been away and another close friend is dead set against microwaving. I do want to try out one of the rolls. I’ll have to add it in afterwards to the review.
Overall, I would say it’s really quite a unique concept and absolutely fits a niche of people who want good, quick, easy GF baked goods. Clean up was a breeze–I just popped the dish in the dishwasher, and poof! Nutritionally the recipes were pretty decent, too. Despite my innate love of my oven, I will use this again for DH because it’s easy, he loves chocolate, and I love him.
On the ‘cons’ side, a lot of the ingredients are things we don’t have handy–baby food, orange juice concentrate, apple sauce, etc.
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And yet…many people use the microwave every day. Many people are cooking for 1 or two, or are in a dorm, or they’re in a rush…so I decided to take my ‘food snob’ hat off and give it a whirl. I also really found the concept intriguing, because, well, I’d never really thought much about it before.
Since I’m allergic to egg and almost all recipes were egg-based, DH was the tester. I made the chocolate cake with sorghum, and, as he put it, it looked like meat alternative. Not in a good way. I didn’t frost because I wanted an honest opinion of the cake. The verdict–too chewy, but yummy. DH ate all of it.
I didn’t want to give a unenthused review without a thorough trial, so I opted for the Extreme chocolate cake (picture above). Extreme chocolate–where can you go wrong? He loved it. As I passed by, I remarked that the book said the cake served two…he promptly asked who was going to take it from him.
I planned to make a third, but DH has been away and another close friend is dead set against microwaving. I do want to try out one of the rolls. I’ll have to add it in afterwards to the review.
Overall, I would say it’s really quite a unique concept and absolutely fits a niche of people who want good, quick, easy GF baked goods. Clean up was a breeze–I just popped the dish in the dishwasher, and poof! Nutritionally the recipes were pretty decent, too. Despite my innate love of my oven, I will use this again for DH because it’s easy, he loves chocolate, and I love him.
On the ‘cons’ side, a lot of the ingredients are things we don’t have handy–baby food, orange juice concentrate, apple sauce, etc.
.