Art of Gluten-Free Baking

Happy Birthday, Julia! and Reine de Saba Cake, Gluten-Free

by Jeanne on August 15, 2012

Like many (many) people in the food world, I adored Julia Child. I followed her life and her cooking like I would follow the activities of a family member. I watched her shows as a kid and a teen and an adult. I read her cookbooks cover to cover and cooked and baked out of them on a constant basis. I read her column in Parade Magazine when she was food editor there. I read books about her. I never met her in real life, but like many people, I sort of felt like I knew her.

She was always part of my interior world. It wasn’t quite a matter of me asking, “What Would Julia Do?”, but she was with me in a way I never quite articulated. I didn’t think much of it until the day she died in August 2004. I was in the garden, puttering and thinking about what a long and full life she had, when a friend of mine called and asked how I was doing. She said she knew how important Julia was to me and she wanted to make sure I was OK. That gave me pause. I had no idea that my adoration of Julia was apparent to other people. Of course it seems obvious once I started to examine my intense admiration of Julia, but she was such a part of me at such a deep level that I never gave it a second thought.

I’m guessing that everyone knows the fact that she didn’t even learn to cook until she was in her late 30s, and didn’t publish Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 until her late 40s. She is frequently put forward as an example that one can find one’s passion at any time in their life. This point was always comforting to me in an unexpected way. This may sound a bit odd since I was one of those people who always did things early. I was always the youngest person who did [x] in the room. But I knew the day would come when I was no longer the whiz kid.

After my 20s, things slowed down for me and I became a person who did things a little later than was usual. I got married in my early 30s. I became a mom in my middle 30s. I stopped doing and started the process of being. I started to learn about who I was and what was important to me at a deep level. And I slowly learned to how to be happy and content as a person and not as an achievement.

During this time, I also went through something of a career crisis. I finally quit my job at a university and realized I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I grew up. But the thought of Julia was in the back of my mind, reminding me that she found her passion—and even started learning how to cook—in her late thirties. This was comforting to me–it helped me remember that life unfolds in amazing and unexpected ways, no matter what one’s age. Now that I’m farther along on my life path, I realize that this is a wonderful thing. But as an early achiever who was achieving as fast as I could, it was scary to contemplate a life where I wasn’t the youngest one doing my thing. It sounds kind of silly now that I truly think about it, but that’s how I felt.

Then, several years ago, I finally became aware that baking is my passion—not just a hobby. This realization opened the door to another realization—that I wanted to pursue baking as a profession. Mixed in there was the added fact that I am also a writer. It seems so obvious now, but then it was a mind-blowing realization.

And as I travelled down the path to come to where I am now–a soon-to-be-published baking cookbook author (squee!)–Julia’s life has always been in the back of my mind, giving me the courage and strength to keep going. I’ve been quite lucky along the way, but I truly believe that when you are on your path, the Universe will help you along. And I feel so lucky to be in a profession that is constantly interesting to me and that gives me great joy. Again, Julia comes to mind with her quote: “Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”

Today I want to honor what would have been Julia Child’s 100th birthday by sharing one of my favorite recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1 (and what has been said to have been her favorite cake recipe): Reine de Saba (Queen of Sheba) cake. I’ve included her Glaçage au Chocolate (Chocolate Butter Icing) recipe–but you can serve the cake plain, if desired. It is a surprisingly light cake and the ingredients and simple–creating a cake worthy of royalty. Happy birthday, dear Julia!

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Moderation

by Jeanne on August 14, 2012

I’ve been thinking about Julia Child this week. As you may know, what would have been her 100th birthday is tomorrow, August 15th. As most folks know, Julia was an enthusiastic cook and baker—and her specialty was French cuisine. French cuisine is rich and full of fat and sugar and alcohol and all of the things that taste delicious but that aren’t that good for you in large amounts. When asked about this, she replied with an oft-quoted remark that is one of my favorites. She said: “Everything in moderation, including moderation.”

To me this meant that she indulged her passion for French food without going overboard. She didn’t gorge on any of it at any one time, but she allowed herself to enjoy each thing to the fullest. As was quoted in a recent article about her, “She reiterated again and again that the best way to good health is ‘small helpings, no seconds, a little bit of everything, no snacking. And have a good time.’” This explains the caveat at the end of her first quote, “including moderation.” She wasn’t obsessive about her moderation. She just took a commonsense approach to food and eating.

As a baker and baking cookbook writer, I often get questions about the health factor (or lack thereof) of my recipes. People always seem to assume that our house is covered in baked items (kind of like the Hansel and Gretel house) and that Girlfriend, dAhub, and I are stuffing our faces full of cookies and cakes and pastries all day and night.

The reality is, we aren’t. Sweets are just one small part of the spectrum of food we eat. We try to eat a fairly healthy diet. We tend to eat almost exclusively organic food and we try to eat humanely raised poultry, fish, and small farm meats, while emphasizing fruits and vegetables. But, we don’t count calories. We just strive to eat a balanced diet and listen to our bodies. Occasionally, we crave things that aren’t that healthy—and we indulge those cravings in small amounts. We rarely have dessert, but when we do, we go for it. None of us overdoes it and eats half a cake, but we each enjoy a piece of cake fully and with abandon.

That said, baking—the process–is my passion. For me, baking is health food for the soul. I have to do it to maintain a healthy spirit. Baking is a creative process for me. I can lose myself in my baking time. I bake when I’m happy, when I’m sad, when I’m bored, when I need a break, or when I need to de-stress. In addition, recipe development allows me to exercise my intellectual and adventurous side. I love to figure out how to do things. Over the years, I have found that I am very much a process person. I love to engage in the process and then quickly lose interest in the product. (It’s the same for me and knitting.) Therefore, while I love to eat baked items, the ingestion of them is often less interesting to me than the creation of them.

Don’t get me wrong: I love to eat homemade cookies and cakes and pastries just as much as the next person. And I love to share the results of my passion. I love to bake for friends and family and to see them enjoy the products of my work. It gives me great joy to share my passion. But, we try to include these things as small parts in a larger food picture for our family. And, I try to save the big things—a “pull out the stops” birthday cake, for example—for special times so that they don’t lose their specialness.

Now, I’m not speaking for or against anyone else’s approach to food. I just wanted to share my and my family’s approach. And to say thank you to Julia for sharing her commonsense approach to her passion for food. Thank you, Julia!

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Let’s Talk Ingredient Substitutions (With Some Substitution Recommendations)

by Jeanne on August 13, 2012

Today I want to discuss substitutions in baking. I get lots of questions about how to substitute for various ingredients that people can’t or don’t want to use. I am happy to help when I can, but I wanted to have a little chat about what substitutes can and cannot do.

First and foremost: substitutes are what they sound like–they are substituting for the preferred item. So, most of the time they are not going to behave, taste, or feel EXACTLY like the preferred ingredients. Think about substitutes in other realms. For example, substitute teachers are fine in a pinch, but they don’t do the job that the permanent teacher does. It’s the same with food substitutes. If they did the same exact job in the same exact way, they wouldn’t be substitutes–they would be the preferred thing. This blog is already all about a big substitution: gluten-free flour used in the place of wheat flour for baking.

It takes time to develop a recipe and I go the extra mile to make sure that it is the best it can be. And part of this development process is choosing the ingredients carefully. Therefore, I do get frustrated when, for example, someone asks me for ideas on an egg substitute in a recipe full of eggs–and then that person comes back to me complaining that the egg substitute didn’t act or taste exactly like an egg. To which I say, “Of course not. It isn’t an egg.”

This reminds me of a funny (and kind of horrifying) comment I saw on one of the mass recipe sites where someone complains that the recipe she followed didn’t work because she substituted vanilla ice cream for the mayonnaise. They are both white, reasoned the reader, so she thought it would be OK. And, of course it wasn’t OK and the reader was mad and complained that the recipe didn’t work. This is an extreme example, but this is what happens all the time for us recipe developers. I’m never quite sure what’s going on here. I’m guessing that people forget that substitutes are substitutes.

I also think that people tend to forget that there are many different approaches to gluten-free baking. My type of gluten-free baking has the goal of mimicking classic wheat baking. It’s not vegan, it’s not whole grain, it’s not sugar-free, it’s not paleo. All of these approaches to gluten-free baking are valid and good, but they are quite different from each other. So, if you use substitutes in my recipes with the goal of making them sugar-free or paleo or whole grain or dairy-free or whatever, you are not going to end up with a cookie that tastes the same as the one I created. In addition, the substitute ingredients you use may or may not behave the same or work well in the recipes.

I would like to ask everyone who uses cookbooks and blogs and recipe sites to use some common sense when approaching ingredient substitutes. Realize that a substitute is a step away from the preferred ingredient. It is going to be, at the very least, slightly different from the preferred ingredient, and at the most, quite different from the preferred ingredient.

Below I have listed the ingredients that I have used as substitutes for various ingredients. If the substitution is not listed, then I haven’t tried it and therefore, I can’t recommend for or against it. Also, please realize that you may need to do some experimentation on your own to find out what substitutes you like best.

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Happy Anniversary to Us!

by Jeanne on August 3, 2012

Today is dAhub’s and my 15th wedding anniversary! Wow! Above is the image we used on our wedding invitations (I am a huge Alice in Wonderland fan). Somehow, I can’t believe we’ve been married for 15 years (and together for 17)–I don’t feel old enough to throw around that number of years. We were one of those couples who hit it off from the moment we met (at my cousin’s house), and we were a couple from our first date forward (he actually asked me out on a formal date!).

Happy, happy anniversary to dAhub, who is my love, my friend, and a true partner! There is so much I could not have done and would not want to have done without you by my side! Here’s to another 50 years!

(image from www.johntenniel.com)

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The Killer Bread That Almost Lived Up to Its Name

by Jeanne on July 14, 2012

Today I was served some of Dave’s Killer Bread at a restaurant. As it turns out, the name of the bread is unfortunately close to the truth for me. The owner of the restaurant was so happy when she heard I was gluten intolerant because she said that she just started carrying gluten-free bread made by Dave’s. She said that she was told by the company that the bread was gluten-free. As it turns out, the bread she serves is the spelt bread. As you may know, spelt is an older form of wheat and it contains gluten. When I started having my reaction, the owner called Dave’s to double check that the bread was gluten-free. This time the guy at the company admitted that it contained gluten.

As you know, I have a life-threatening allergy to wheat in addition to a gluten-intolerance. I had to be rushed to the hospital to treat the anaphylaxis from the allergy–which can be fatal. This is not something to play round with. If you go to Dave’s site, they do not claim that their bread is gluten-free, but they do have some tricky line editing in the description of the bread that makes their spelt bread look like it’s gluten-free if you don’t read it carefully. And a Google search comes up with the line, under Dave’s site, that says, “Good Seed Ancient Grain (Spelt) is gluten-free.” (!)

ADDED: Here’s a cut-and-paste of the bread description on their site:

“What is Spelt? Spelt is an ancestor to wheat, and the FDA says
it is wheat. That’s ok, because I wouldn’t want people to think
Good Seed Ancient Grain (Spelt) is gluten-free.
On the other hand, lots of wheat-sensitive people
have discovered that this bread totally agrees
with them. And people who aren’t wheat sensitive agree…it’s just great bread! This 100%
whole-grain bread is loaded with fiber and flavor. Amazing toasted!”

Why they would even mention that “wheat-sensitive people” should try this bread is beyond me. And look at how they have set up the third line: if you read it quickly, you would think they are saying it’s gluten-free.

Every so often, I run across a company like this–one that seems to want people to believe that older forms of wheat have no gluten. Often they outright lie about it. There used to be an emmer farm that sold their products at Seattle farmer’s markets around town. They swore that emmer (another old form of wheat) not only didn’t contain gluten, but also was not wheat. Other gluten-intolerant people and I would try to talk sense into them whenever we went to the farmer’s market, but they would argue that we didn’t know what we were talking about. It was crazy-making. I think they finally got kicked out of the farmer’s market system in Seattle a few years ago when a little girl with a wheat allergy had a reaction to one of their products at a farmer’s market and they had to call 911.

I’m not sure why companies do this–I think they must not believe that a reaction can be this serious and, therefore, they are cavalier with their information. But their unwillingness to be honest could have cost me my life.

I learned something from this experience: if I don’t recognize the name of the company a product comes from in a restaurant, I will ask to see the packaging and, if I can’t see the packaging, I won’t eat the product. This was a case of a restaurant owner who doesn’t really know the ins and outs of gluten (and I think she needs to do some research to educate herself). When I asked to see the packaging, they didn’t have it–they had thrown it away because they were at the end of the loaf. And I was lax and I believed them. Never again.

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Of Thunder and Gnats and Bubbles and Blueberry Cake, Gluten-Free

by Jeanne on July 12, 2012

Greetings from sunny Seattle! Yep, our summer finally started. And, it is glorious. Our days are in the upper 70s or 80s and the lows at night are in the upper 50s. This means we have clear-as-a-bell warm days and then cool nights so we can sleep well. This just reinforces for us Seattleites why we put up with the greyness of the rest of the year–summers here are ah-mazing. And it stays light quite late–until about 9:45 or 10 pm–because we are so far north. This is why our family kind of goes feral over the summer. It stays light so late that it’s hard to stick to a bedtime schedule. We like to stay outside until it’s dark. And then hang out for a few hours inside before we go to bed. And then we read for couple hours more. I really love this feeling of being “outside of time” and is one of the many reasons I look forward to summer.

We even had a thunder and lightning storm in the wee hours earlier this week–about 2 am (ask me how I know). Seattle doesn’t get much thunder and lightning (contrary to what TV shows seem to think–I’m looking at you Frasier), so our family always revels in the rare one that comes along. I so remember my days in NYC during grad school when the thunder would be so loud that it would set off car alarms. I have a particular memory of walking to NYU one summer (I was a grad student during the school year and then I worked as the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Orientation for the College of Arts and Sciences) and walking through Washington Square Park in August accompanied by some of the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard in my life. CRRRAAACK! BOOM! I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I love thunder.

This summer, for whatever reason, we’ve had huge clouds of gnats (that’s what I’m calling them, maybe they are some sort of other kind of tiny flying bug). Maybe it was because of the uncommonly wet spring. Earlier in June, the clouds of gnats were so big that they looked like low clouds suspended in various pockets around the neighborhood and in the park next door. I got a new bike in June (yay!) and riding through giant gnat clouds was odd. This photo gives you a sense of how intense the gnat clouds were. This was taken in the park next door, looking at the gazebo. The fuzziness of the photo is not due to bad photo taking skills (although that is usually my problem), it is because of the gnats:

Maybe I should blame gnats for my all of my poor photos from now on? Hm.

Yesterday evening I was sitting on the front porch, drinking a glass of wine, and looking out over my front garden. Gnats were rising up one at a time from the miniature lilac bush in a slow, languid way. It was magical to look at–they drifted up like tiny bubbles blown by fairies. I was so enchanted I called Girlfriend out to see it. She was less impressed by the whole thing. ”They’re just gnats, Mom. Sheesh.” Then again, she’s a tween grump, so that’s her take on just about everything. Sigh.

This wonderful weather has also finally brought the berries of the season to my farmer’s market and to my kitchen. I love all of the berries. Of course, I love to bake with berries. And as usual, I am using my gluten-free Berry Cake recipe (among others) to do so. This recipe is awesome (if I do say so myself) because you can use any berry (or fruit, really) that is in season. Lately, I’ve been making a blueberry (tiny fruit bubbles!) version:

I cannot tell a lie: the blurriness on this photo is not due to gnats, it’s due to my Poor Photo Taking Skills ™.

I hope you are enjoying the summer so far, as well!

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Self-Rising Flour, Gluten-Free

by Jeanne on June 27, 2012

Greetings from cold Seattle. Here in Seattle we call June, Juneuary. Yes, while the rest of the country is sweltering under 100 degree temperatures and heat sparked wildfires, we are still dressed in wool sweaters and in need of socks in bed at night. This is usual for here–the common wisdom is that summer doesn’t start until July 5th. What this means is that it’s usually cold and rainy up until July 4th, obscuring any view one could have of the fireworks. Then it starts to warm up–gradually. Therefore, I think the calendar for Seattle should call July 5th the summer solstice. Who’s with me?

I got a question from a reader, Alison, about making self-rising flour. I can’t believe I never posted a recipe for this. I don’t know about you, but I often run into wheat recipes that I would like to adapt to gluten-free that call for “self-rising” flour. I then have to go back to my notes on what to add to the flour to create this. Self-rising flour, which is often used in Southern recipes (and as you know, I am a Southern girl at heart), contains flour, baking powder, and salt. I don’t really use it for my original recipes, but it is great to know how to make it when you are adapting wheat recipes to gluten-free. Thanks for the question, Alison! Happy baking!

NOTE: Self-rising flour is only to be used in instances where self-rising flour is called for in a recipe. It is not appropriate for use as a replacement for just “flour” (because it has baking powder and salt).

Self-Rising Flour, Gluten-Free

1 cup Jeanne’s Gluten-Free All Purpose Flour mix (or mix of your choice)
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Mix together and use as needed. Can be doubled, tripled, etc.

This mixture can be made ahead of time and stored in an airtight container in a cool, dark place or in the fridge. It will expire when the baking powder expires, so you might want to mark the expiration date found on the baking powder container onto your self-rising flour container.

PRINT FRIENDLY RECIPE

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Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies, Gluten-Free

by Jeanne on June 12, 2012

last cookie from our gathering

Yesterday I attended a lovely potluck picnic that was organized by my pal Jess Thompson for several food bloggers who were in town for the BlogHerFood conference. It was a magical June day in Seattle–close to 70 degrees, sunny, and clear as a bell. After the downpour a few days earlier that that all of the bloggers had arrived during, I was glad to have them experience a little bit of the exquisiteness of a Seattle summer day. We met on a lawn next to a lake. It couldn’t have been a better setting.

More importantly, I got to see old friends and meet some new friends. Even though not everyone knew each other, we all chatted together as if we had known each other for years. That’s what happens when you bring together people who share a passion. For us, that passion is food–writing about food and sharing food. It was balm for the soul to be with these extraordinarily talented women on a lovely afternoon.

The picnic was in honor of my pal Cheryl Sternman Rule whose beautiful new cookbook, Ripe: A Fresh, Colorful Approach to Fruits and Vegetables, just came out. We all made things from the book. I made her Roasted Garlic White Bean Dip–which is delicious and is going to be my go-to dip of the summer! It is so easy and so yum. I paired it with freshly baked gluten-free baguettes that I had brushed with homemade rosemary oil (the oil recipe is also from Ripe)–and it was a match made in heaven. I have a rosemary bush that doesn’t nearly get as much use as it should and this recipe is perfect for it.

Being me, I also brought some cookies. I feel a bit naked if I don’t bring at least a couple of baked goods to a picnic. And you can’t ever go wrong with cookies, really. What I like about cookies is that you can bake them right before you leave, put them into a tin and bring them warm and gooey to the potluck. The gooey factor sends them right over the top on the popularity scale and everyone can’t get enough. I rarely come home with cookies from a potluck–so I always leave a few for dAhub and Girlfriend to enjoy at home.

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Practice Makes Perfect

by Jeanne on June 5, 2012

Hey folks: I’ve been getting a lot of the same or similar questions from folks, so I thought I would address them in a post in addition to individual replies.

It is celebration season. That means weddings, graduations, and mother’s and father’s days. And many of you are baking celebratory cakes for these things. And I applaud you for that!

But. Many of you are writing to me and asking how to make sure the cake recipe you are making will work on the big day. My answer: practice that recipe before the event. No amount of advice from me is going to substitute for good, old-fashioned experience.

When I was baking wedding cakes for people (I only did this for a short time because it was too stressful for me) I always made a few practice cakes to make sure everything was working correctly before I made the actual cake for the big day. I would never make a wedding cake without making at least one or two practice cakes before the actual wedding. I would have been mortified if I got to the big day and the cake didn’t work for some reason.

I know the ingredients are expensive. And I know it takes time. But you owe it to yourself and to your recipients to make the best darn cake you can and that means doing at least one test run. I know you will have a lot of cake leftover–but that’s not horrible, right? Your friends, family members, mail deliverer, whoever, will be delighted to be the recipients of practice cake. There are no sweeter (heh) words to d’Ahub’s ears than “recipe testing day.”

Also, you want to practice on an actual cake. One of my readers practiced on cookies instead of the cake recipe and then wrote to me to say that s/he was worried that the wedding cake would be flat like the cookies. People, people. If you are making cake, then practice on that cake recipe. If you are making cookies, then practice on the cookie recipe.

This rule also works for your everyday baking. If you have never made something before, and it doesn’t work out the first time–don’t despair. Do it again (and again) until it does work out. This is especially true of things that are a bit tricky or that require a bit of experience to do well, like pie crust.

Remember: practicing makes you a better baker. And better bakers make for a sweeter world. Happy baking!

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