I'm Going To *gasp* Bake A Cake

[penguin]

Once upon a time, there was a girl who was the best baker in all the land. And then an evil fairy laid a curse on her which made her beloved flour toxic. The only way to defeat the evil fairy was to make gluten-free cupcakes. Unfortunately, the evil Celiac fairy laid traps everywhere! The girl was afraid and wished she only had to go fight a dragon instead

OK - Storytime over....

I'm making cupcakes

Then I can eat cake with the ogres at the office birthday parties...

I'm in one of those moods where I want anything and everything baked. I found a recipe on allrecipes.com that looks promising and is highly rated: Open Original Shared Link

A few questions -

1: does anyone know if NOW foods xanthan gum is gluten-free? Pretty sure it is, just want to make sure. I don't think my delicate constitution could handle baking perfect cupcakes only to have them make me sick...

2: Would adding a packet of jello-pudding powder add anything to this? Would I have to modify the recipe anywhere?

3: Which Pillsbury frostings have people used without problems? I don't really like chocolate, so non-chocolate flavors are appreciated. I'm A-OK with dairy.

Help is much appreciated! My kitchen is just too clean right now not to bake something!

[lonewolf]

1: does anyone know if NOW foods xanthan gum is gluten-free? Pretty sure it is, just want to make sure. I don't think my delicate constitution could handle baking perfect cupcakes only to have them make me sick...

2: Would adding a packet of jello-pudding powder add anything to this? Would I have to modify the recipe anywhere?

I can help with 2 and 3. I've never had a problem with NOW xanthan gum (or Bob's either). I have added coconut pudding mix to a different recipe with great results - I added about 3Tbs. more liquid so it wouldn't be dry.

I hope your recipe turns out well. If you want another recipe to try, the white cake recipe in the recipes section here on celiac.com is a wonderful recipe - it's the one I added the pudding mix to. I served it on Easter to a whole group and everyone liked it - they were amazed it was gluten-free. I made my mom "tell me the truth - was it really good or was everyone just saying that to be nice" and she swore that it really was good.

Good luck and happy baking!

[Cheri A]

Good Luck!! Let us know how it turns out! I looked @ that recipe once upon a time and had to pass it up b/c of the mayo and too many eggs to sub for!

I'm going to try the cake that Liz recommends next time I need a cake.

Pillsbury White Frosting has worked well for us!

[Laura]

Homemade frosting is wicked easy, too. Cream a stick of butter, dump in powdered sugar and cream and a teaspoon of vanilla and a little salt, mash it all together, add more powdered sugar or cream to bring to the right consistency, and voila! it's so much better than the packaged kind. Anyway I think so. I always end up eating it straight out of the bowl, so I have to freeze my extra rather than let it sit out tempting me.

[jerseyangel]

Chelsea--you out there? Don't leave us in suspense--how did the cake turn out?

[felineaids]

Chelsea--you out there? Don't leave us in suspense--how did the cake turn out?

Chelsea,

I'm glad you posted. I belong to a food allergy group, and several people are trying to find a cake recipe they can use. None of us can use mixes, and the recipes we've found all contain ingreidents we can't use.

This recipe isn't viable for us in its current form, but it almost seems like it could be modified, and I"m hoping someone here will have ideas for that. The tapioca, xantham gum, mayonnaise, sugar, milk, and eggs would have to be substituted.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 1/2 cups white rice flour

* 3/4 cup tapioca flour

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 3 teaspoons baking powder

* 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

* 4 eggs

* 1 1/4 cups white sugar

* 2/3 cup mayonnaise

* 1 cup milk

* 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract

Does anyone have ideas for this? At a glance, I almost think this is possible.

[penguin]

So, I made the cake, or cupcakes and little cake, rather.

They're really pretty, I added a packet of sugar free white chocolate pudding (since that's what I had) and it added a nice flavor, though I'd add full sugar pudding next time.

I only ate a sliver, because every time I bake or buy a cake, I remember that I don't really like cake that much

DH, on the otherhand, ate about 3 cupcakes and half the little cake before I had to shoo him away. So they pass the gluten-eater test

They are quite good, but I think I'll use potato starch or sorghum flour instead of the tapioca next time, because I don't think the tapioca sits too well with me in large quantities like that. I find that every time I bake with it.

I used pillsbury cream cheese icing, as per DH's request, it was yummy!

I'd reccommend this recipe, for sure! Yay for successful cake!

[lorka150]

If it helps, I use NOW brand Stevia and that is gluten-free, and free of all other allergens. It says it right on the package, so does it maybe list it on yours?

[penguin]

Chelsea,

I'm glad you posted. I belong to a food allergy group, and several people are trying to find a cake recipe they can use. None of us can use mixes, and the recipes we've found all contain ingreidents we can't use.

This recipe isn't viable for us in its current form, but it almost seems like it could be modified, and I"m hoping someone here will have ideas for that. The tapioca, xantham gum, mayonnaise, sugar, milk, and eggs would have to be substituted.

INGREDIENTS:

* 1 1/2 cups white rice flour

* 3/4 cup tapioca flour

* 1 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 3 teaspoons baking powder

* 1 teaspoon xanthan gum

* 4 eggs

* 1 1/4 cups white sugar

* 2/3 cup mayonnaise

* 1 cup milk

* 2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract

Does anyone have ideas for this? At a glance, I almost think this is possible.

OK, let's see if I can help. I think the tapioca flour could be subbed for potato starch flour and/or sorghum flour. I don't think the xanthan gum is necessary in this, so I'd just omit it, or use some unflavored gelatin instead. For eggs, you can use egg replacer, or there are people on here that have tons of egg replacing methods. Mayo is easy, you can use shortening, applesauce, butter, probably oil though I don't know the replacement ratio. For sugar, use the substitue of your choice, agave, stevia, beet sugar, whichever, though if you're using a liquid sugar replacement (like honey) you have to compensate by reducing the liquid amount. For the milk, use rice milk, almond milk, Vance's dari-free, or coconut milk. You might be able to get away with using fruit juice.

Hope that gives you ideas on how to modify the recipe...