And if you look hard enough, there are many delicious recipes for gluten free baking, but you have to actually make the recipe before finding out if the dessert will actually taste good – who has time for that?!
So why not explore options to improve the stigma of “gluten free”?? Gluten free doesn’t have to have such a bad name!
There are some options and alternatives that will surprise you – and one secret ingredient that will actually have you fooled! Continue reading to find out!
WHAT IS GLUTEN?
[bctt tweet=”Gluten free doesn’t have to have such a bad name!”]
First off, what even is gluten?! A lot of us never even heard of it before “gluten free” became so well known. To put it simply, gluten is a protein that is found in wheat flour. And gluten proteins provide structure in baked goods.
Some people have an intolerance to gluten, or an even more severe case – celiac disease.
The consumption of gluten for someone who has celiac disease may result in symptoms like diarrhea, upset stomach, and bloating. Some of these symptoms may become harsh.
Since there is no cure for celiac disease, the only way to prevent symptoms is to avoid gluten entirely.
On the other hand, a gluten free diet may coincide with a low carb diet as well! Don’t you feel bloated when you have a lot of carbs? I know I do! Ha!
While I don’t necessarily avoid gluten entirely, I do feel the difference physically when I eat less gluten-enriched foods.
GLUTEN FREE FLOURS
There are a few common gluten free flours available (and many dessert recipes that use them!). These include almond flour, coconut flour, rice flour, tapioca flour, cassava flour, and oat flour.
It’s important to remember that these types of flour are not direct replacements for wheat flour. You won’t be able to make something gluten free by just changing the type of flour you use in a recipe you’re used to, unfortunately. If only it were that easy!
Chemistry, physics, and even biology occur in baking. Science is always a factor when you’re preparing a yeast dough, mixing a batter, and baking any dessert. So replacing an ingredient may cause problems to the end result.
In my personal experience, I’ve used almond flour, coconut flour, rice flour, and cassava flour. Each type of flour creates a different flavour and texture, and there are many delicious gluten free desserts you can make with them. You may even find some gluten free flour blends that combine a few different types of flour.
There are actually a few desserts that are normally gluten free! Like chocolate mousse, panna cotta, and crème brûlée! Did you know that french macarons are made from almond flour? It’s a very popular dessert and you don’t even have to worry about a “gluten free alternative” because it’s already gluten free! Yay!
Some gluten free desserts tend to have a “grainy” taste, and you can definitely tell if a dessert is gluten free. But you can create a dessert and pair it with delicious fillings and toppings to offset the grainy taste 🙂
The first gluten free cake recipe I made used cassava flour. I made it with a combination of delicious dulce de leche buttercream and Skor bits. I gotta say, it was delicious! You can barely taste the graininess! My family also approved of the cake!
I made it for one of my birthday dinner celebrations. Yes, I make my own birthday cakes – I like to use my birthday as an opportunity to try something new 😉
THE SECRET GLUTEN-FREE INGREDIENT
I actually have a family member that has a gluten intolerance, so I now make gluten free cakes more than ever for our family gatherings and special occasions! It’s also a great addition to my menu, for my clients who may request a gluten free cake.
It’s important to have separate tools and supplies when dealing with intolerances and allergies since you want to avoid cross-contamination as much as possible.
Now that I make gluten free birthday cakes often, I’ve tried a few different recipes and discovered something that blew my mind!
I was asked to make a gluten free carrot cake for a baptism, and I used the recipe from my Gluten-Free Kitchen.
[bctt tweet=”I discovered something that blew my mind! “]
The recipe specifies using gluten free all-purpose flour, so I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour and Oh. Em. Gee! I baked the cake, tried it, and had to do a double-take!
I honestly had to read the label again to make sure I bought the right flour! It did not taste gluten free at all! It tasted exactly like the usual carrot cake I make with all purpose wheat flour.
[bctt tweet=”It did not taste gluten free at all!”]
I delivered the cake to the baptism and received the same response – “it doesn’t even taste gluten free!”.
This is the gluten free baptism cake I made for that day 🙂 I tried a new technique to decorate this cake using rice paper. Notice the sails on the left side? It’s made of rice paper!
[bctt tweet=”I baked the cake, tried it, and had to do a double-take!”]
I also made a strawberry shortcake with this 1-to-1 flour (again, for my birthday), and yes, it tasted just as good as the gluten-filled cake we’re all used to.
While I haven’t tried other gluten-free all purpose flours, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour is my go-to for gluten free desserts. You would think I was asked to write about it! Haha But I wasn’t, I’m just a happy customer!
You can use this flour as a direct replacement for all purpose flour for your dessert recipes, but keep in mind they specify on their website that is not recommended for yeast recipes.
So there you have it! Who knew that it was possible to make gluten free desserts taste just as enjoyable as the desserts we’re used to?! You’ll have people fooled by the alternative we discussed in this post. Maybe don’t even mention it and see what people say! Haha
I know I said it’s a secret ingredient, maybe it’s not – but it sure was a secret to me! You probably won’t know about it until you find a recipe that uses it. Then become amazed by the taste! I’ve had so much great feedback using this gluten free all-purpose flour.
[bctt tweet=”it sure was a secret to me!”]
The term “gluten free” doesn’t have to be such a bad word! We’ve come such a long way from learning about gluten in the first place to creating delicious recipes that don’t even have gluten. So which gluten-free dessert are you going to try making first? Let us know in the comments 🙂
Happy gluten free baking!
Mich
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