Gluten and wheat free baking

flowerfish

Hi, I am a coeliac and therefore have to follow a gluten free diet.

I second the recommendations for Dove's farm sr flour. I use "normal" cake recipes and just use gf flour instead of regular flour. It can need a bit of extra milk if too thick but usually I use a normal recipe and it comes out perfectly and all my family love my cakes and have never noticed it is gf.

If you are worried about using a normal recipe the Dove's farm flour bag has recipes on it.

I've been making quite a few cakes from Rachel Allen's new book Bake! recently and they have all come out really well. Must go and work off some of those calories!

Good luck!

Phudge

Can you taste the difference? Hardly. Slightly less 'fluffy' maybe but honestly, we all eat gluten-free cakes here even though I'm the only one who is intolerant of wheat and they seem to be eaten in record time!!:D

buxtonrabbitgreen

this is an interesting thread as my ds's girlfriend is allergic to wheat gluten. I am always looking for food to make her life a bit more interesting. She seems to live mostly on rice and fruit and veg She is also vegetarian which narrows the options.
I mad a veggie stew on monday and made dumplings with the dove flour. I have to admit they were not successful as soon as she put her fork in one it fell into a million bits. Also using the dove flour for a roux for macaroni cheese, it always goes lumpy. I never have this trouble with normal plain flour.

Patchwork_Quilt

buxtonrabbitgreen wrote: »

this is an interesting thread as my ds's girlfriend is allergic to wheat gluten. I am always looking for food to make her life a bit more interesting. She seems to live mostly on rice and fruit and veg She is also vegetarian which narrows the options.
I mad a veggie stew on monday and made dumplings with the dove flour. I have to admit they were not successful as soon as she put her fork in one it fell into a million bits. Also using the dove flour for a roux for macaroni cheese, it always goes lumpy. I never have this trouble with normal plain flour.

I wonder if you have tried the Dove's Farm Bread Flour, which has added Xanthan Gum. This should help stick things together. Dove's Farm also sell the Gum separately in a tube (got mine in Tesco) for about £2.50. This would help with the dumplings but not the roux. Could you swap to a cornflour sauce instead?

As for being able to taste the difference in a gf cake, (other posters), we have found that they are best on the day they are made. I always use organic butter and eggs and the extra taste in these makes up for anything that might be lacking elsewhere

flowerfish

I second the comment about needing to eat them preferaby on the same day as gf cakes do tend to go stale quite quickly.

If I have leftover muffins the next day I microwave them for a few seconds and they are gorgeous!

If I have leftover cake I use the old OS way of warming up then covering in custard (or chocolate sauce!!)

98jdougl

Going to the zoo on saturday to celebrate my OH's and our friends birthdays.
Was wanting to make a birthday cake but our friend can't eat gluten, having baked rarely and never for gluten free does anyone have any recipes?
Would I just be altering any basic cake recipe but changing the flour to gluten free?

Penelope_Penguin

98jdougl wrote: »

Going to the zoo on saturday to celebrate my OH's and our friends birthdays.
Was wanting to make a birthday cake but our friend can't eat gluten, having baked rarely and never for gluten free does anyone have any recipes?
Would I just be altering any basic cake recipe but changing the flour to gluten free?

Try this - gluten and wheat free baking. I'll add this thread to that one later, to keep ideas together

Penny. x

kafkathecat

Hi I made this for my son's birthday last year, one with wheat and one gluten free and I swear the children were fighting over the gluten free one. There wasn't a piece left.

Carrot and banana cake

8oz flour (I prefer orgran as you can eat the cake mix raw)
2tsp baking powder
2tsp cinnamon
8oz carrots grated
3oz marg/butter
2tbs veg. oil
3oz brown sugar
4tbs syrup or honey
2 mashed bananas
2tbs soya milk
1 tsp vanilla essence.

oven to 170C GM3. Mix dry ingredients and carrots. Melt marg and stir in wet ingredients. Pour the wet into the dry, beat well, it should be quite a heavy mix. Put in an 8"cake tin and bake for approx 1 hour 10 minutes. Test with a knife or skewer it won't come out clean but shouldn't be wet. It benefits from some icing or frosting.

thriftlady_2

Elizabeth David's Chocolate and Almond Cake from French Provincial Cooking (1960)

This is so yummy and rich -perfect for a celebration.

4oz dark chocolate (one with 70% cocoa solids)
5oz butter (not marge)
5oz caster sugar
5oz ground almonds
3 eggs separated
1 tbsp rum or brandy
1 tbsp black coffee

Melt the chocolate, rum/brandy and coffee very gently together in a cool oven, or in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, or in a microwave.

Stir well then add it to a saucepan in which you have put the butter, sugar and almonds. Stir over a low heat until everything is blended.

Beat the egg yolks and stir them into the contents of the pan (off the heat).

Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the mixture.

Turn into a buttered 7-8 inch shallow cake tin with a removable base.

Put it on a baking sheet and bake for 45 mins at 140-150 c or Gas mark 1.

Allow to cool completely before turning out very carefully. It will be delicate because of the lack of flour. Sorry, didn't see the bit about the zoo- be sure to pack it carefully as it is not the most robust of cakes.

It is delicious with whipped cream.

Berni888

One of my RSS feeds is Chef Jeenas Food Recipes. She caters for a variety and one of the subsections is gluten free. Have a look-see and see if anything takes your fancy

http://jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com/2008/01/gluten-free-celiac-coeliac-recipes.html

http://jeenaskitchen.blogspot.com/2009/02/gluten-free-celiac-coeliac-recipes.html

Very easy to follow with step by step picture instructions, there's also a video link.

Hope whatever you decide you come up trumps and you have a great family day out at the zoo.