Irish Soda Bread Disaster

[jenrn]

Hi everyone. I tried making Irish soda bread last night and it turned into a disaster. This is the first time I've tried to make it since going gluten free. I just substituted the flour with Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix. After I mixed all of the other ingredients together it was a little more watery than in the past but I just stuck it in the oven to bake. Well it bubbled over the sides of the pan and went all over the oven causing my kitchen to fill with smoke. It was fun let me tell you! After I finally got the oven cleaned and baked what was left of the bread it promptly fell apart when I took it out of the pan. And it doesn't even taste that great. What a mess. Any suggestions as to how to avoid this next time? The only things I can think of is perhaps I needed to add something like xantham gum to the recipe, add less baking powder as the mix I used already had some baking powder in it, or decrease the amount of buttermilk called for in the recipe since it turned out so watery. I didn't think this gluten free baking was going to be so hard! Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Jen

PS: I apologize if this posts twice- I tried posting last night and it didn't seem to work so I'm trying again!

[larry mac]

gluten-free baking can be very tricky. It's important to examine the ingredients of any "all purpose baking mix" you buy. "All purpose" usually means it already has the leavening agent in it, just like regular wheat flour all purpose mixes do. You do not add any more baking powder or baking soda if it's already in it.

Too much leavening agent and a too wet batter will do just as you experienced, gluten-free or not gluten-free.

If it already has salt, don't add more. If it does not have zanthan or guar gum, you must add some. Simply see what the ingredients are, and check them off of your recipe.

I personally have never used a gluten-free baking mix. I make my own. Better luck next time. With some practice, you may have some edible gluten-free bread.

best regards, lm

[HAK1031]

You also usually need to add a bit more baking mix than you would normal flour, basically add it until you get the consistency right. They have a recipe for banana bread on the box, look at the proportions for that.

[irish daveyboy]

Hi everyone. I tried making Irish soda bread last night and it turned into a disaster. This is the first time I've tried to make it since going gluten free. I just substituted the flour with Arrowhead Mills Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Mix. I didn't think this gluten free baking was going to be so hard! Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Jen

Hi Jen,

Since I don't use any mixes of any kind, I can't comment on your 'Bit of a Disaster'.

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I would imagine you can't just add soda and buttermilk to a standard bread mix and hope for

a soda bread cake ?.

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Having said that, I bake Brown Soda Bread from scratch and while it's not perfect 'it's damn close'.

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Here's a link to the recipe you even get a photo to see what it should look like !

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The advisory heading the recipe is required as the brands of Potato Starch and Buckwheat Flour available don't as yet meet the testing criteria of The Coeliac Society of Ireland. (which is very strict).

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Open Original Shared Link

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This and all my recipes are on My Web Space (access via my profile).

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Best Regards,

David