Keep Calm it’s Gluten Free

I remember the first time my mother tried a gluten free loaf back in the early 1900’s the taste was terrible and I was not impressed as a child. The result suffer a bit and enjoy fluffy baked goods. However today is a much better situation for those that need alternatives to Wheat flour in their baking

The day we decided to introduce gluten free cakes at the bakery was a week of experimentation. I read the articles of mixing this and that but as a bakery we had no time for this. Or time for errors from staff. So the next step was to find a supreme blend of all purpose Gluten Free baking flour that worked as a 1 to 1 substitute in your recipes.

The challenge was on.

I headed to the local community natural food stores. The aisle was lined with GF blends. So how does one pick a product and know that it will taste amazing? Especially when the cost is so expensive, and you want your finished cookies and cakes to taste amazing. We tried Bob’s Red Mill, and another and another. The result in our cakes was a dense, globby, chalky tasting cake. Taste was always an issue. Terrible results as we were comparing it to a standard wheat flour dessert. I felt I was in a loss. It was not until we had a family BBQ with friends that it was mentioned she worked for a company called Kinnikinnick. A fresh Food Store that offers a GF all purpose flour blend. She said the taste was wonderful and be sure to try it.

So we did….

Safeway at the time carried the product and now it is offered at the natural food store. We started to experiment again. Our cupcakes and cakes started to taste wonderful. Although it says it does work a direct 1 to 1 comparison of wheat flour we found our recipes needed a touch more GF Flour to prevent the cakes from collapsing in the center and offer a fluffier texture.

Once the art of mastering the right amount of flour was complete our cakes were light, fluffy and tasted like heaven.  We did several blind taste tests with friends and family and once the recipe was mastered you could not tell the difference from a wheat flour cupcake to this GF cupcake we made.  Maybe a slight difference but from other comparison around town we were the best..

We loved the Kinnikinnick All Purpose Flour for several reasons.

No Soy, No Eggs, No Corn, No Yeast. It was amazing how many clients we had that suffered from corn and soy which can be hard not to find in a GF All purpose blend.  Although it may be expensive averaging retail $5.00/454g. It is worth every penny.

Ingredients: White Rice Flour, Potato Starch, Tapioca Starch, Guar Gum and Cellulose

Although I imagine there are several wonderful GF blends on the market we have not tried them. Once we found an amazing product to work with we stuck to it. All our recipes transferred over wonderful and our clients could not have been happier. Children, husbands, friends at opposed GF were transformed and delighted to enjoy a great treat.

So here it is our wonderful Gluten Free Recipe for all to enjoy.

 

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Makes 2x 10” Round cake Pans or 3 dozen Cupcakes

If you do not have a electronic weigh scale at home, Walmart or Canadian Tire Sell them.Best to buy a scale that measures in 1g increments

570g       White Sugar

500g       Milk

500g       Sour Cream

6             Whole Eggs

15g         Vanilla

 

520g       Kinnikinnik All Purpose GF Flour

130g       Cocoa Powder

8g           Baking Soda

9g           Baking Powder

340g       Melted Butter (salted works great)

 

Set oven to 350 F

1. Cream eggs and sugar together till light and fluffy on High Speed using a stand mixer or beaters. Mixture should look pale yellow.
2. Add sour cream, milk and vanilla. Mix on low/medium speed. Once incorporated stop to prevent over deflating the eggs
3. Sift dry ingredients together (GF flour, baking powder, and baking soda)
4. Slowly incorporate dry ingredients to wet ingredients on low speed. Do not add too quickly as it will cause dry ingredients to lump in batter. Once added in switch to medium speed and mix for 1 minute.
5. Incorporate melted butter on slow speed to prevent splashing. Once incorporated switch to medium speed for 30 seconds to 1 minute.

 

Make sure to spray your cake pans with a piece of parchment paper at the bottom to prevent sticking and use muffin liners for muffin pans.

Spray the tops of your muffin pans to prevent cupcake tops from sticking.

 

Bake Time: 10” Round cakes bake for approx. 35-45 minutes. Make sure to check with a tooth pick/knife to ensure the middle is cooked. The toothpick should come out clean and not have any doughy bits left on it.

Bake Time: Cupcakes bake in 18-22 minutes for a 2 oz cupcake scoop.

Each oven may be slightly hotter than the next best to check at 18 minutes for cupcakes to make sure you do not burn or over cook.