New And Love To Bake

[bakingbarb]

I just figured out last week that I am going to be gluten free. I have had a list of symptoms for years, last year the Dr. ran all kinds of tests but not for this (nothing showed either). For the longest time I thought I was lactose intolerant but it didn't matter if I had dairy or not, the symptoms were always there. I won't be going to the Dr. for any testing as I don't have insurance right now but I started the elmination diet asap. This is day 5 for me and I feel like the brick in my gut is gone and I am starting to feel better all the way around. At first I was happy to finaly see an answer but then I got depressed and cried a lot. My bf and I like to go on weekend trips and we love to try out new foods when we go on these trips so that has me worried as we will be going out of town soon. Plus we live in microbrew heaven, we even brew ourselves (I have known for a long time beer hurts me) and I love beer. Right away he went out and bought Redbridge for me as it was the only one we could find.

The hardest thing for me is I love to bake (bakingbarb!) and have no idea how this is gonna work out. I have a library full of baking books! Baking is my life, it is who I am. I know there are mixes and a friend brought me some over but is it going to be the same? If I bake for my friends and family with wheat flour am I going to be hurting myself through this contact? That thought depresses me anways.

I am also worried that my daughter have this also. She only eats carbs, she is 15 and mostly eats no meats. She lives on pasta and I bake for her so she will have be eating at least something that we thoght was healthy.

Oh this is a lot to deal with, please tell me it gets easier. I wake up in the morning and wonder what am I going to be able to eat. I am not a huge bread eater but I bake darn good bread and always enjoyed eating it when I made. Along with anything else that can be baked I made it!

[Guest j_mommy]

Hi!!!!

Let me start with you can modify most recipes to make them gluten-free..You're going to have to play with flours or mixing a couple flours to get the right taste and texture but it can be done. I use bette Hagmans feather lite flour mix in alot of my Old recipes.

It does get easier!!! Many people have found a gluten-free kitchen/ houseld is alot easier and alot less likely to get cc'd. If not make sure you have your own toaster, colander, bread board, plastic utensils ect!

Good Luck to you and there are alot of great recipes under the recipe section....I have printed many and created a binder of yummy recipes!

[bakingbarb]

Hi!!!!

It does get easier!!! Many people have found a gluten-free kitchen/ houseld is alot easier and alot less likely to get cc'd. If not make sure you have your own toaster, colander, bread board, plastic utensils ect!

Are you saying I have to keep everything separate? CC'd? What is this?

Oh I have a lot to learn.

[melmak5]

I used to assist in a bakery, I promise it does get easier.

You have to see it as a new adventure. Baking is so interesting chemically and structurally (not to mention taste) so give yourself a lot of freedom to try new things, make mistakes and see it as a challenge to make awesome gluten-free baked goods.

Namaste spice cake mix saved me from a meltdown one night. You will find a few products that will help you get over the hump and keep on the gluten-free path.

Will things ever be "exact" no, but can you keep baking and make delicious products, absolutely.

[Guest j_mommy]

CC'd mean cross contaminated.

Yes I would get some things just for you if you are going to share the kitchen with gluten eaters...toaster, colander and bread board for sure! some people have a tote in their kitche just for them and they wash their things seperate...unless you have a dishwasher then you are alittle safer on getting things totally clean.

[bakingbarb]

I used to assist in a bakery, I promise it does get easier.

You have to see it as a new adventure. Baking is so interesting chemically and structurally (not to mention taste) so give yourself a lot of freedom to try new things, make mistakes and see it as a challenge to make awesome gluten-free baked goods.

Namaste spice cake mix saved me from a meltdown one night. You will find a few products that will help you get over the hump and keep on the gluten-free path.

Will things ever be "exact" no, but can you keep baking and make delicious products, absolutely.

The chemically and sturcturally part is what I have no idea about, is there a book or something that explains how these "new" to me flours and such work? For example I noticed recipes call for vinegar, why is that?

[bakingbarb]

CC'd mean cross contaminated.

Yes I would get some things just for you if you are going to share the kitchen with gluten eaters...toaster, colander and bread board for sure! some people have a tote in their kitche just for them and they wash their things seperate...unless you have a dishwasher then you are alittle safer on getting things totally clean.

Ahh ok now I understand. I didn't realize it was that serious, the cc'd part.

[melmak5]

I second the "get new stuff."

I share a space with two house mates and I broke down and got my own kitchen items and it has been a lot easier to manage.

I do share, plates, glass/ceramic cups, bowls, silverware.

I have my own: cutting board, tupperware, pots/pans, wooden utensils, colander, toaster oven.

If it cannot be scrubbed within an inch of its life (including the corners) I don't use it.

I never put anything I am going to eat directly onto any surface in the kitchen unless I have washed it personally or put down a clean dish towel. I also do not share the communal sink sponge.

It is a personal choice, for me its easier and I was really sick and couldn't afford accidents/slip ups.

[Darn210]

Barb,

I think you have an advantage . . . that you are not afraid to bake and therefore not dependant on store bought mixes. I have purchased some good mixes but I think homemade is much better. I don't think you need to have your whole house go gluten free but if you don't, you will need to take precautions. Vigilant crumb control. In addition to the items that have been listed, you'll need separate containers/jars of butter, mayo, jelly, cream cheese, etc . . . anything that you dip a knife into. If you have wheat bread in your house then crumbs will get into those condiments and can not be shared between the gluten eaters and the gluten free eaters.

For a while (before my son also went gluten free), I had gluten items in the house (cookies, cereal, bread, etc) but I did not bake gluten items. Wheat flour will go everywhere and floats around in the air. I only baked gluten free and if you are not intimidated by baking, you can make some fabulous gluten-free baked goods that everyone in your family will enjoy.

[Worriedwife]

I would also not bake with wheat flour anymore. That stuff gets into the air, and then you're breathing it in. It's a recipe for diaster.

There are basic gluten-free flours that you can buy, or you can experiment and try mixing on your own. I would buy a couple of gluten-free baking books (Bette Hagman's are really great) and start experimenting.

There's no reason to think that you can't continue to bake, or still have your treasured treats. You'll just need to be careful about what you put in, and substitute as necessary.

(Sorry that I can't answer about the vinegar. I remember reading about it in one of the cookbooks, but the reason escapes me now).

[melmak5]

I have yet to find a "how and why does that work" gluten free baking/cooking book.

If anyone else has, please do share.

My *guess* on the vinegar is to act with baking powder/soda to create bubbles and lift. Without the protein structure gluten, which is really awesome at trapping air bubbles and creating lighter products... gluten free items need a little bit more help in that area either from egg whites or chemical reactions.

It also could be for flavor. It depends on the recipe.

[bakingbarb]

Thank you for your encouragment. I think that first off I will try a mix for a baked yummy that somehow includes chocolate! Thankfully my favorite chocolate for baking is gluten-free.

I guess I need to stop thinking in negatives and learn how to bake all over again. They didnt' teach this in any culinary classes I took!

Makes sense about the vinegar, if I wasn't so busy thinking why why now what I would have known that. Time to get back into life.

There is so much to learn. I had no idea about how serious I need to be about keeping my food away from theirs. Butter I would have never thought about crumbs on the butter.

[cyberprof]

Thank you for your encouragment. I think that first off I will try a mix for a baked yummy that somehow includes chocolate! Thankfully my favorite chocolate for baking is gluten-free.

I guess I need to stop thinking in negatives and learn how to bake all over again. They didnt' teach this in any culinary classes I took!

Makes sense about the vinegar, if I wasn't so busy thinking why why now what I would have known that. Time to get back into life.

There is so much to learn. I had no idea about how serious I need to be about keeping my food away from theirs. Butter I would have never thought about crumbs on the butter.

Hi Barb,

There are two blogs I recommend you read. They really helped me for baking. Open Original Shared Link Gluten-Free Girl is from Seattle (like me...and you? perhaps). She has a new book coming out this week with the same title.

The second is Gluten Free Goddess's blog Open Original Shared Link Try her homemade chocolate brownies and carrot cake- my kids are not gluten-free and prefer these to my old versions. Very yummy.

I would read these blogs for the recipies even if I didn't have celiac.

This site's Baking and Cooking Tips is a good place to ask questions about methods and flours.

Good luck!

[Guest j_mommy]

Just as starter books to the whole gluten-free thing:

Living GLuten Free for Dummie by Dana Korn...great book!

It does get easier! I started a post about bread recipes and someone(thanks sooo much) put down a recipe for Sorgum bread....awesome bread and very close to my old bread!!!

[melmak5]

Don't get me wrong, I cried and morned glutenous foods, and if you need to do it, do it. But its also a really interesting adventure if you can see it that way.

[irish daveyboy]

I just figured out last week that I am going to be gluten free.....................................................

.

The hardest thing for me is I love to bake (bakingbarb!) and have no idea how this is gonna work out. I have a library full of baking books! Baking is my life, it is who I am. I know there are mixes and a friend brought me some over but is it going to be the same?..............................................

.

Oh this is a lot to deal with, please tell me it gets easier. I wake up in the morning and wonder what am I going to be able to eat. I am not a huge bread eater but I bake darn good bread and always enjoyed eating it when I made it!

.

Hi Barbara,

welcome it does get easier, when I was diagnosed in Nov 2005 I couldn't cook or bake and had to

rely on Store bought 'stuff' My god was it ever disgusting, Pizza bases tasted like cardboard,

bread was dry, gritty and bland (reminded me of saw-dust).

.

Anyway, they say 'necessity is the mother of invention' and I taught myself to bake from 'scratch'

I don't use mixes, I prefer to experiment and devise my own recipes and use various ingredients

with great sucess.

.

I now post my recipes on the Irish Coeliac Society's message board.

.

Below is a link to the recipe section, take a look around, some of my recipes even have photo's

so you can see what it's like when it's finished.

.

Hope this is of some help (dis-regard brand names in brackets) this is required by the society

to show that I'm only using Gluten Free Products which have been vetted by the society and are

free from any possible cross-contamination in manufacturing, processing or packing.

.

Best Regards,

David.

.

Open Original Shared Link

.

.

[wowzer]

Hi Barbara, I've found that baking gluten free isn't so bad. Land O lakes even has some gluten free recipes. I've had the best luck when it comes to cookies using my old favorite recipes and converting them. I find using 3 different flours works best. I usually use rice, tapioca and garbanzo bean. I've found that the best combo. Another easy thing that I've found is baking muffins with Fearns rice baking mix. I just made some strawberry muffins that were awesome. I don't think anyone could tell they were gluten free. They even looked great. Good luck and have fun, Wendy

[bakingbarb]

.

Hi Barbara,

welcome it does get easier, when I diagnosed in Nov 2005 I couldn't cook or bake and had to

rely on Store bought 'stuff' My god was it ever disgusting, Pizza bases tasted like cardboard,

bread was dry, gritty and bland (reminded me of saw-dust).

.

Anyway, they say 'necessity is the mother of invention' and I taught myself to bake from 'scratch'

I don't use mixes, I prefer to experiment and devise my own recipes and use various ingredients

with great sucess.

.

I now post my recipes on the Irish Coeliac Society's message board.

.

Below is a link to the recipe section, take a look around, some of my recipes even have photo's

so you can see what it's like when it's finished.

.

Hope this is of some help (dis-regard brand names in brackets) this is required by the society

to show that I'm only using Gluten Free Products which have been vetted by the society and are

free from any possible cross-contamination in manufacturing, processing or packing.

.

Best Regards,

David.

.

Open Original Shared Link

.

.

I looked at your recipes and am wanting to try some asap.

Thank you so much for the link, I am looking forward to trying something soon. One thing I have got to get a recipe for is waffles so I will be looking for that.

May I post the brownie recipe here Open Original Shared Link? I have been on that forum for years and even though my baking will now be changing I would like to be able to go over recipes with my friends on there. But only with your permission and will give credit to you.

Thank you everyone

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Hey, Barb, welcome aboard!

I cried for 2 days, then started baking!!!!

Check out www.foodphilosopher.com--click on the gluten-free archives. There is a cookbook by one of the authors--Gluten-Free Baking CLassics, by Annalise ROberts--that is AMAZING!! I always was a baker , too and the stuff I make from that cookbook tastes as good or BETTER than anything I baked before! Really. My gluten-eating family scarf down everything I make--I have to fight them for it!

Re your daughter--you can bake gluten-free bread (don't even bother buying gluten-free bread, it tastes like styrofoam unless you toast it, then it's marginally edible), and you can make her Tinkyada brown rice pasta--tastes exactly like regular pasta. But be aware that that kind of carb-heavy diet is extremely unhealthy, and linked with diabetes, weight gain, etc. I'm not saying no carbs--just balance some carbs with lots of protein, fresh fruit, and fresh vegies.

Here is my recipe for pancakes and waffles:

gluten-free PANCAKE MIX (BULK)

2 cups brown rice flour

2 cups white rice flour

2 cups potato starch

2 cups tapioca starch

1 cup cornstarch

4 Tablespoons (1/4 cup) baking powder

8 Tablespoons (1/2 cup) sugar

2 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons xanthan gum

For pancakes, mix 2 cups of the pancake mix with 3 eggs, 1

[kbabe1968]

I feel your pain...I'm here to offer you hope. It's a learning curve, but it can be done.

Baking has always been my therapy. I used to work in a really stressful job (premarriage and kids) and would bake almost non-stop. I'd always take my goodies to work for my workmates and they'd eat them happily.

I've never won awards...but in "my" circle I'm known as the best baker.

I've been able to make cobblers, cakes, muffins, cookies, all of it without anyone even knowing it wasn't the real thing.

Go check some cookbooks out of the library that are Gluten free. There are a few good ones Bette Hagman, Carol Fenster, etc. Play with the flours, have fun converting all of your old favorites to gluten free and safe for eating.

I've converted a good portion of my favorites over...still have quite a few to go. BUT, it can be done!!! Do not lose heart.

[lonewolf]

Give yourself a bit of time to grieve, and then get right into gluten-free baking. I used to love to bake yeast breads and was sad for years that I couldn't bake and eat all the different kinds of bread anymore. I still haven't mastered yeast breads without a mix, but I bake cookies, cakes, muffins, pancakes, waffles, quickbreads and other desserts as well as biscuits and pizza crust. You will get the hang of it after a while and enjoy baking gluten-free foods.

I stick with a basic flour mix - one that I mix up myself - and cook and bake out of Betty Crocker often.

Basic Flour Recipe:

3 C Brown Rice Flour (finely ground, if you can find it)

1 C Potato Starch

1/2 C Tapioca Starch

2 tsp. Xanthan Gum

Sift together 3 times. Use cup for cup for all purpose flour in most recipes. Store in the refrigerator.(I make chocolate chip cookies with this and follow the recipe on the bag, but add 1/2 C almond butter. My kids and their friends LOVE them and can't tell they're gluten-free. It might be a good recipe to start with for quick success.)

[trishatrue]

I'm sorry. I'm very new to this too. I recently (2 weeks ago), found out my 14 year old has Celiac. What a whirl wind of emotions! Sadness, bitterness, confusion, frustration, fear and much more. It's overwhelming to know that your life has changed forever. I too love to bake. I love bread in every and all forms. It's been a hard couple of weeks not eating bread for my daughter's sake (I've decied to adopt the Celiac diet in support of her). It's been even harder not to make it! This last weekend, I tried two different pre-made packages. One worked, one did not. I'm slow to say which was which, since I live at a very high altitude (as you probably know, this can make a big difference in baked goods) and it was my first attempt. The one that tasted pretty good gave us hope. Ok, it was Gluten Free Pantry French Bread Mix. It was good, but not homemade good. It would do in a pinch. I know that producing your own baked goods is happiness. So I'm trying the mix my own flour method. I'm going to try rolls this weekend. I'm actually excited! I'll let you know how it works.

As far as traveling, the only suggestion I would have is ask, ask, ask. I have found sites that post local gluten free restaurants, and I have called local restaurants to suggest gluten free items. I think a little homework might put your mind at ease. Not as impromptu, but unfortunately, necessary.

Good luck!

[irish daveyboy]

I looked at your recipes and am wanting to try some asap.

Thank you so much for the link, I am looking forward to trying something soon. One thing I have got to get a recipe for is waffles so I will be looking for that.

May I post the brownie recipe here Open Original Shared Link? I have been on that forum for years and even though my baking will now be changing I would like to be able to go over recipes with my friends on there. But only with your permission and will give credit to you.

Thank you everyone

Hi Barbara,

Feel free to do whatever you like with the recipes, they are there in the public domain for people to try and enjoy and are not copyrighted.

.

I've had people from this forum try some of my recipes and found them great, I use ground rice

quite a lot and I believe its hard to find Stateside, it's a course ground rice which is used mainly in milk puddings a lot like semolina (which is derived from wheat).

.

Best place to find it is in Asian Markets as it's used a lot in Korean, Chinese and Indian cookery.

.

Let me know how things go, If you need any help just ask.

.

Best Regards,

David

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I The one that tasted pretty good gave us hope. Ok, it was Gluten Free Pantry French Bread Mix. It was good, but not homemade good.

Hi, Trishatrue!

I have found that baking gluten-free breads in a glass breadpan sprayed with PAM and dusted with cornmeal (not cornstarch) gives it that nice homemade good taste and texture. I have read that the breadmaker has too much rise time, and gluten-free flours don't support that kind of rising, and don't need to be punched down anyway (that develops the gluten, which they don't have anyway).

You might also invest in a French baking pan--it's a long curved pan with 2 sections to make 2 of those long French loaves, and it has little holes everywhere to let the hot air in to crisp up the crust. I use it with Annalise ROberts' recipe for what she calls "submarine sandwich bread," which to me tastes just like a good bakery loaf of French peasant bread.

I can pm you the recipe, but there are SO many fantastic recipes in her book (Gluten-Free Baking Classics), I strongly suggest you buy the book. Every single recipe I have made from it so far has met with raves from my gluten-eating hubby and kids, from cakes to chocolate chip cookies to brownies to muffins to pizza crust to breads to pie crust.

[lmvrbaby]

Hi BakingBarb,

I also bake alot or use to not as much since going gluten free and now actually getting back into it. I went looking for a book that I would use to make those all time favorites it is called Baking classics by Annalise Roberts. It has all the recipes I use to make and flour mixes you can make up for later baking. It does cost more to buy the flours and such but if it what you love to do and helps you feel better it is worth every penny. Good luck and welcome to the forum.