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Three Gluten-Free Baking Ideas
Published 22 April 2012 by Serena Rizzi
What is Gluten-free baking?
After the success of the eggless baking blog, we had a lot of requests for a blog post on gluten free baking. Baked treats used to be synonymous with gluten. It's the gluten in the bread that gives the bread it's springy, fluffy texture. Without gluten, it's hard to get bread with the same mouthfeel. Gluten-free diets can be essential for an individual with coeliac disease, which is a lifelong auto-immune condition that prevents the small intestine from absorbing nutrients.
Shopping Gluten-Free
When shopping for somebody on a gluten-free diet, you need to be very careful about the products you purchase. Gluten can be found on wheat, barley and rye. Oats can also sometimes be a problem for people with coeliac disease. For more info on suitable gluten-free products you can visit Coeliac UK (http://www.coeliac.org.uk/).
Icing sugar in the UK is usually gluten-free. Icing sugar sold in other countries might be bulked up with something like cornstarch. Check with your manufacturer before you buy.
Gluten-free flours are often a little bit trickier to work with than regular flours, but once you learn the right techniques you should be able to bake whatever you like!
Doves farm white self-raising flour blend, available from Tesco
You should be able to find these items at a high street health food store, or in the special diets section of your supermarket. Gluten Free Baking Ideas
Here's our selection of three great gluten-free recipes from around the web. We've tried to provide variety. Let us know what you think in the comments section.
This chocolate and pear cake from the BBC website is a dessert that you can whip up in about an hours time. The recipe contains hazelnuts and the serving suggestion calls for a delicious side of crème fraîche.
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/8084/flourless-chocolate-and-pear-cake
Looking for a gluten free recipe to replace a family favourite? Here's a recipe for a batch of gluten-free, vanilla and buttercream cupcakes.
http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/316197/Gluten-free-cupcakes
We know it's a little bit late for Easter - but this gluten-free 'lemon feather cake' recipe by professional chef Heidi Fink is too good not to share with you. She also provides tips for a making a dairy-free version.
http://www.chefheidifink.com/blog/baking/lemon-feather-cake-for-easter-gluten-free/
