Gluten-free butterless pecan turtle bars

August 22-23, 2026

 

   

 

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of this blog, we had many of our longest Melbourne friends over for a good old-fashioned potluck and invited them to cook like it was 2006. Michael made spiced chickpeas, soy bombs and barbecue sauce; there were Las Vegan-style rice balls with satay sauce, tofu-egg sandwiches, chickpea cutlets. potato salad, focaccia, ratatouille, shepherd's pie, hot dog bread, and peanut butter and jelly cups. We pushed the furniture to the walls and made space as best we could, and loved cramming it with people.

I decided to revisit the first home-made dessert that we posted to the blog: butter pecan turtle bars. They're an easy and tasty layering of biscuit base, thick caramel, pecans and chocolate chips. The original is full of butter and wheat flour, and over the years I've attempted vegan and gluten-free versions, even if I haven't quite nailed them.

This attempt is vegan and gluten-free and a step in the right direction, with a caramel that doesn't sink entirely into the sandy base and has a bit more of the brown chewiness that I'm looking for. It's easy to share and went down a treat. 

 

Gluten-free butterless pecan turtle bars  

(adapted from this recipe and this recipe) 

 

base 

2 cups gluten-free plain flour

3/4 cup brown sugar 

1/2 cup margarine 

 

topping 

1 1/2 cups pecans 

1/3 cup margarine 

half a 320g can sweetened condensed coconut milk  

1/4 cup brown sugar 

1 tablespoon golden syrup

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips 

 

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Line a medium-large tray with baking paper. Place all the base ingredients in a bowl and blend thoroughly with a fork (or mix them in a food processor). Don't worry if the mixture remains quite powdery. Turn the mixture out into the tray, and use the back of a dessert spoon to spread it out evenly and press it down firmly. Spread the pecans out across the base. 

 

Melt the margarine for the topping in a small saucepan, and add the condensed milk, brown sugar, and golden syrup. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until bubbling. Allow this caramel to boil for a minute, then take it off the heat and pour it across the pecans. 

 

Bake for 18-20 minutes, until the caramel is bubbling and the base edges are light brown. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the slice as soon as it comes out of the oven. Allow the slice to cool to room temperature before slicing and serving.

Patsy's II

August 21, 2026 

 

   

 

We thought it'd be fun to go a little fancy on one of our MIFF outings, teaming Clarissa at Melbourne Central with Patsy's. Clarissa was a lavish adaptation of the Mrs Dalloway story set in contemporary Nigeria that didn't quite satisfy us, but Patsy's capped the night off just right. I really enjoy the wine bar style of this vegetarian restaurant - it makes fine use of an older building and isn't self-consciously chasing up-to-the minute trends.

 

   

 

We started with cocktails! Patsy's Sazerac for Michael ($28; whisky, cognac, pastis and bitters), while I chose the sweeter-but-still strong hazelnut sour (hazelnut liqueur, almond bitters and lime). Focaccia ($8.50) is always fun, but this one didn't rate among my favourites.

 

   

 

Roasted tomato and fava tortellini ($30) were tender and teamed with soft fennel, then supplied a bit of savoury crunch with pine nuts and pangrattato. Among the many cheesy dishes, we chose the Dutch cream potato and raclette cheese gratin ($30), which was served bubbling hot with a few cornichons.

 

   

 

Brussels sprouts were beautifully charred ($20), dressed with verjus and toasted almonds. Michael most loved the soft polenta with sauteed mushrooms, parsnip and washed rind cheese ($46) but the texture and pungency didn't appeal so much to me.

 

   

 

We shared caramel and brown butter tart ($28) for dessert. I liked it just fine, not really appreciating why the recipe has earned such popularity and imitation, and most enjoying the mezcal and prickly pear icecream for the contrast it supplied. 

 

It seems unusual to me that, here in the 2020s in Melbourne, a vegetarian restaurant would serve so much dairy and not explicitly mark its vegan options. That said, we have previously enjoyed a terrific vegan set menu here in celebration of a birthday, so it's still worth a shot.  

 

We finished out MIFF with the striking Elephants in the Fog and lunch at our old fave, Master Lanzhou.  

 

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You can read about our first visit to Patsy's here.

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Patsy's 

213 Franklin St, Melbourne 

9328 7667 

entrees & mains, dessert 

https://www.patsys.com.au/ 

 

Accessibility: The front door has a small lip and there is a little landing inside that requires a pivot and a step or two. Furniture is medium spaced, mostly sturdy, regular-height and wooden with backs on chairs; there are also cushioned benches, high bar seats and outdoor furniture in places. We didn't visit the toilets. We ordered and paid at our table. 

Dom's Social Club

August 20, 2026

 

   

 

Our second MIFF session was Maddie's Secret (a silly, hilarious pastiche that could only be drawn out to feature length by the mesmerising John Early) at Melbourne Central. We shared the movie and a quick meal beforehand with N, who introduced us to Dom's Social Club during MIFF a year earlier.

 

Dom's is the kind of place we didn't dare imagine existed on Swanston St - a wood-panelled wine bar with wood-fired pizzas and rooftop cocktails. With limited time, we focused on the truffle-scented mushroom ($32) and verdant snow pea ($30) pizzas and I successfully snuck in a plate of oven-roasted tomatoes dressed in ponzu with lavosh crackers ($18). Importantly, it was the showtime and not the restaurant causing the rush - this is somewhere comfortable, where we could have sat and talked much longer, and perhaps I could have tried the crème fraîche chocolate mousse.

 

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Dom's has also received a positive review on Sweet & Sour Fork. 

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Dom's Social Club 

1/301 Swanston St, Melbourne CBD

0401 605 845 

menu 

https://www.domssocial.club/

 

Accessibility: Dom's is located up a narrow flight of stairs, and we're not aware of a lift alternative. Furniture in the dining area is densely packed, regular height, with backed chairs and more stairs between split levels. We didn't visit the toilets.

Oven-baked tofu chilli

August 19, 2026

 

   

 

I was home alone one Wednesday night and in need of dinner inspiration, so I popped the obvious phrase 'meera sodha tofu' into the internet and browsed the results. This was the clear standout - it takes a bit of time to make, but most of that is just waiting for things to bake, so it's a perfect recipe for a work from home day. It's a spectacular meal - I really like the texture of the baked tofu 'mince' and the beans, veggies and spices add lots of flavour. I'd recommend making a basic guacamole or a little salad or something with it, just for something a bit fresh, but you can't really go wrong. We've made it with rice both times so far, but it'd go great in tortillas or just straight up I reckon.

 

Oven-baked tofu chilli

(based on this recipe from Meera Sodha's Guardian column)

2 brown onions, peeled and chopped

2 red capsicums (~450 grams), chopped with seeds removed

300g firm tofu (you can up this to 500g if you're feeling hungry)

6 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed

1/2 cup sunflower oil

2 teaspoons salt

3 tablespoons chopped chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

500ml passata

2 tablespoons white miso paste

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Heat the oven to 210°C. Use a food processor to roughly mince the onions, capsicum and tofu (one at a time) and combine them into your oven tray(s) - we used two ~20cm x 30cm oven trays. 

Stir in the garlic, sunflower oil, salt, chipotles, herbs and spices and stir everything together thoroughly.

Bake for 30 minutes and then stir in the passata and give everything another 30 minutes. 

While that's all baking, stir the miso together with 500ml of hot water until it's dissolved into a kind of stock. 

When your 30 minutes is up, stir in the chickpeas and the miso stock and bake for another 30 minutes. 

Serve on top of rice, with a few big dollops of guacamole on top.

Flora III

August 18, 2026

 

   

 

MIFF season got us into the city for a few dinners and we started with a 20-year mainstay for quick and tasty sustenance around a show: Flora. It's been beset by scaffolding for years but is still holding on and has even had a minor renovation, with vibrantly patterned furniture and murals of famous cricketers.

There's an extra frill to the service too, with staff now handing out menus and taking orders at the tables following many years of counter-only service. The Indian menu is compact but offers decent variety and value, with plenty of vegetarian options (dietaries aren't otherwise explicitly marked, so vegans and coeliacs will need to quiz the staff).

   

 

Michael had the appetite for the veg thali ($20.95 in 2026 and pictured up top, a similar meal costing $11.90 in 2015). It always includes rice and daal, a choice of naan or roti, and then three veg curries - here bhindi masala, paneer rara, and a potato/carrot/pea medley. Though we could see the curries on display out the front, they didn't have the tired feel of food that's been sitting in a bain marie all day - textures and flavours were full and varied.

 

For me, it was always going to be the dosa combination ($21.95 in 2026, with similar options priced at $8-9 in 2006 and $10.90 in 2015). Here, too, the idli and vada were piping hot and distinctly textured, leading me to believe they'd be made to order. You can see the crispness of the dosa in the photo, and it held a generous portion of chilli-paneer filling (they were all out of the usual potato masala). As a chilli wuss, I focused on the coconut chutney and barely touched the sambhar.

 

At Flora the mango lassi is definitely prepared earlier and a little on the small side, but it's also a good time ($3.95 in 2026, $3 in 2015). 

 

   

 

It seems Flora have had to hike their prices more than most since we first visited two decades ago, but by our reckoning they've generally improved the service and food to match. It'll remain firmly on our fast-CBD-dinner list for a good few more years yet. We teamed this Flora meal with a viewing of the offbeat and heartfelt documentary Joybubbles at ACMI. 

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You can read about one, two of our previous visits to Flora. Since our last post it's received a positive review from Green Gourmet Giraffe.

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Flora

238a Flinders St, Melbourne CBD

9663 1212

menu: one, two 

https://flora.melbourne/

 

Accessibility: The entry is wide and flat. Regular-height tables backed chairs are densely arranged with reasonably wide pathways through the centre of the restaurant. We ordered at the table and paid at a low counter. We didn't visit the toilets.