Gluten-Free Raspberry Black Forest Brownies

A few weeks ago, my sister-in-law’s mom, Lucy, made dinner for a big family get together.

Lucy is from Chile, where there’s no such thing as being a locavore.  Everyone is naturally a locavore & buys & eats produce from the local outdoor market.  I think people there would laugh if we tried to explain what a locavore is.

“You know, someone who buys food that was produced locally.”

I can just imagine, the puzzled expression they might have.

I imagine their response:  “What do you mean?  Where else would you get your food?”

I lived in Chile with Lucy for 4 months prior to getting married.  I was spoiled with homecooked, fresh meals, daily.  I remember the sleepy bushy haired man selling avocados from a stand in front of the house, the huge open-air markets filled with heaps of mangoes picked from the tree that morning.  Lettuce heads, peppers, potatoes, corn, squashes, carrots, oranges, lemons, grapes, bananas.  Bins filled with black beans, fava beans, navy beans, spices, nuts, & herbs.  An endless variety of fresh produce, to touch, to smell, to buy & eat.

Vegetables are often the star of Chilean dishes & Lucy knows how to prepare & cook them in a way that satisfies the eye & pleases the stomach.

Cilantro, lemon, oregano, & cumin are some of ingredients she uses to add flavor & zest to foods.  Often, the meals Lucy cooks are vegetarian or vegan.  Not a deliberate choice, it just happens that produce, legumes, & grains (like rice) are inexpensive & plentiful, so they are more often than not, the bases of her delicious fare.

Lucy made stuffed cabbage (filled with cooked vegetables & rice), & stuffed zucchini, with a simple Chilean salad of lettuce, sliced cucumbers, lemon juice, a little olive oil & salt.

For dessert, I made raspberry black forest brownies.  They are more cake-like than brownie-like, but not quite light enough to be cake.

I know, there are literally over one ba-jillion gluten-free brownie recipes out there.

But how about gluten-free AND vegan?  Further, what about black forest brownies?

A traditional black forest cake uses dark cherries.  Instead, I use raspberries, but the brownies have a reminsicient taste from days when I did eat wheat, dairy-based black forest cake–rich, moist dark chocolate with a hint of sweet fruit.

A brownie is no brownie without ice cream beside it, so I made some easy, rich raspberry ice cream to pair with it.

The kids begged for more.  Hyrum said it was the best ice cream I’ve ever made, which made my mother-heart swell (gotta take those compliments when I get them).

The raspberry extract makes the ice cream, so I recommend getting yourself some before you attempt this.

Want more ice cream ideas?

Try my chunky chocolate peanut butter ice cream, pina colada ice cream or chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream here, vanilla bean ice cream, or peanut butter chocolate ice cream.