Any hints for cooking gluten-free bread?

[AlexR]

My wife was diagnosed with coeliac disease a while back. This came as a blow because she loves food in general, and cakes in particular...

OK, so there are Web sites and ressources on the Internet, but I'm especially interested in the interactive nature of a forum like this to ask about people's personal experience.

We have a bread cooker, bought some pre-prepared gluten-free flour, and the bread tastes awful, even though we've tried varying the recipe. Maybe the secret is in the flour...

Does anyone make/blend their own flour? I live overseas so cannot order from the US.
Any hints about how to make bread?

Furthermore, a link to a useful site or forum would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Best regards,
Alex R.

 

[PA Baker]

Welcome AlexR! I don't have any tips for you but we have some wonderful, very experienced bread bakers on DC and I'm sure one of them will be able to help you out. I'm moving your thread to the Bread forum to make sure they see it.

 

[kourtney]

Gluten-free bread is challenging -- I wish you luck. <a href="http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/155832156X/qid%3D1124916076/701-4072948-7124304">The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Book</a>, which I've been using with good results for several years (but not for gluten-free recipes) has a few gluten free recipes. Not enough to warrant buying the book, but if you can get it from the library it might be worth a peek.

As for something to raise your wife's spirits, I'd suggest a flourless chocolate cake, which consists of chocolate, eggs, butter and that's about it. Very rich, and incidentally gluten-free. There's a great recipe for one in How to be a Domestic Goddess, but you should also be able to find one in the usual places (Epicurious, foodtv, etc.).

BobsRedMill.com is a good place to look for gluten-free recipes.

 

[Haggis]

Speaking of flourless chocolate cake...

I too unforunately do not have any tips for making gluten-free bread, however I do have one of the best recipes for a flourless chocolate cake (in my limited experience in flourless cakes). It is great with either the almonds or the hazelnuts, I prefer the almonds, but only because I'm not the greatest fan of chocolate/hazelnut combo.

200g dark, bitter chocolate (couverture), chopped
20ml strong espresso coffee
20ml rum or brandy
150g caster sugar
150g butter
100g ground almonds or hazelnuts
5 eggs, seperated
icing sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 180'C (350'F). Melt the chocolate, coffee, chosen spirit, sugar and butter in a bain marie. Remove from theat and stir until well mixed.

Add ground almonds or hazelnuts and mix well. Beat in the egg yolks, one by one. Beat egg whites until stiff and peaky, and stir a couple of spoonfuls into the chocolate mixture to lighten it, before gently folding in the best.

Turn into a buttered and floured 20cm (8 inch) round or square cake tin, and bake for 40-50 minutes. Leave to cool before removing from tin (don't worry if the crust falls and collapses, its normal). Dust with icing sugar to serve.

Serves 6.

 

[purrfectlydevine]

I googled gluten free flour and gluten free mixes and lots of sites came up. Some were vendors, some had recipes, and some were information. Do you have a health food store nearby? I assume that you can't order food from the US due to import regulations.

 

[Michael in FtW]

AlexR - I googled "gluten free recipes" and got these resources:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=gluten+free+recipes

The site at celiac.com not only has recipes but also a support group/message board.

Hope this helps you some.