Spent All Day In The Kitchen..

[Roda]

I am so mad right now!! I have spent majority of the day in the kitchen and I don't have anything to show for it. I mixed up some cookies, chocolate chip that I replaced pepermint chips in and they were a total flop. Tried adding more flour and xanthan gum but that didn't help. Then I made a cake mix by namaste and it didn't do right. It was completely nasty! Then I decided to try a recipe for a yellow cake from the book The Gluten Free Pantry. it called for guar gum so I just sub xanthan gum equal amounts. Wrong! it was gross too. All of the above went into the garbage. What sucks about it is that my little boy's birthday is Wednesday and I was wanting to get the cake baked and in the freezer today. I was going to decorate it on Wed. I have to work nights tomorow and Tues. I did make banana cupcakes out of the Betty Crocker yellow cake mix and they were good. I love the BC mixes but not the yellow one by itself and little man does not want a chocolate cake. I just want to scream right now! He may end up getting the chocolate anyway since that is all I will be able to find short notice now. I usually have a better grasp on things for getting ready for his birthday, but I was sick last weekend and didn't start to feel well until Wed then had to work Wed. and Thurs. Friday was shot since I was sleep deprived and that left yesterday and today and today was so wasted.

[GlutenFreeManna]

So sorry Do you have Pamela's cake mixes in your area? I made a great white cake from a Pamela's mix. My non-gluten free DH couldn't even tell it was gluten free (it was for his birthday, but I wanted some too). It was much better than the gluten-free Betty Crocker cake mix. Also I have had good luck making the Betty Crocker yellow mix more moist by using canned pumpkin in place of the oil and water. It didn't taste very pumpkiny to me at all, but it was good as cupcakes.

[kareng]

Does it need to be a cake? One of mine always wanted cookies or brownies and ice cream. My neighbor has donuts. My dad likes pumpkin or apple pie.

Some days it seems nothing works in the kitchen except me!

[Wolicki]

I am so sorry. Sometimes gluten-free baking can be a nightmare. I spent three hours last week trying to make gingerbread men. My 10 yr old was very disappointed. I hope you can find something your little man will like!

[Roda]

He was wanting a light saber cake. I was going to cut the 13 X 9 cake lenghwise in 4 parts then put them end to end for two light sabers crossed like an X. We do have pamelas mix at the health food store but is closed today and I don't have time to drive the 45 min. to Earth Fare with my work schedule. I did see some gluten free cake mixes at Food City the were Full Circle. Anyone tried them?

[Roda]

Any other suggestions on how to make the yellow cake moister? I've got to be able to pass this off to other kids too.

[okieinalaska]

Any other suggestions on how to make the yellow cake moister? I've got to be able to pass this off to other kids too.

Sorry about all your baking problems! I just made cupcakes with a gluten-free betty crocker devils food cake mix. While reading reviews at amazon I saw one poster mentioned not to follow the directions on the box and to add 1 package instant choc pudding mix, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup veg oil and 1 1/4 cup cola and bake at 350. I meant to try it out today on my cupcakes but I forgot and had already made it by the box when I remembered. I think you could use vanilla pudding for the yellow cake mix and have the same result.

[CarolinaKip]

Sorry about all your baking problems! I just made cupcakes with a gluten-free betty crocker devils food cake mix. While reading reviews at amazon I saw one poster mentioned not to follow the directions on the box and to add 1 package instant choc pudding mix, 4 eggs, 1/2 cup veg oil and 1 1/4 cup cola and bake at 350. I meant to try it out today on my cupcakes but I forgot and had already made it by the box when I remembered. I think you could use vanilla pudding for the yellow cake mix and have the same result.

I haven't seen the gluten-free Betty Crocker devils food mix!! I only have yellow and chocolate in my area. I'm still waiting for the Synders pretles. Great idea about the yellow cake mix!

[sandsurfgirl]

So sorry that happened to you!!!!!

I never heard of Gluten Free Pantry Book. I love the Gluten Free Pantry brand of bread and cake mixes though. I buy them at Sprouts and online. I believe Whole Foods also carries it.

I also like the Betty Crocker gluten free mixes.

In general with baking I do 2 parts gluten free flour and 1 part starch and then add like 3/4 tsp xanthan gum when I'm about to bake with it. I sub that one for one in regular recipes and so far have done fine. I use a lot of sweet rice flour because it gives the right texture. I generally use potato and corn starch, not tapioca.

I just made a great flour blend today that I used for waffles and tortillas.

1/2 cup white sorghum flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1 cup sweet rice flour

1/2 cup potato starch

1/2 cup corn starch

If I want something to taste more like a white flour product I use 1 cup sweet rice flour and 1/2 cup potato starch. I think I will do that next time I make tortillas. Of course just double or triple the amounts if you need more.

I use Annalise G Roberts book Gluten Free Baking classics book a lot, but I hate her flour mixes. She puts millet and stuff in them and I don't like that flavor. So I use my own flour mix and then make it with her recipe.

[Roda]

I think I am going to try and add in a small container of plain or vanilla yogurt to the batter. He really doesn't want chocolate, since he is not a big fan of it anyway. Either way he probably won't eat it. Oh well, at least I try. Oops the book was The Gluten Free Kitchen. I actually worked myself into the starting of a migraine worring about this. I took three ibuprofen so I hope I caught it in time or the next few days are going to be miserable with a headache.

[sa1937]

Oh boy, Roda, I can relate! Must be the Gluten Free Kitchen disaster day. Last night I decided to make the chocolate cake on page 144 as I need to provide dessert for friends tomorrow. I was so careful to measure accurately, was not disrupted (that's caused some mistakes on my part in the past) and I ended up with an inedible mess. I questioned it when I was mixing the supposedly "thin" batter and after reading the directions, I used my hand mixer instead of my KitchenAid. It climbed the beaters like bread dough. When I baked it, it rose strangely and I knew it was a complete failure. It was totally gummy even though the toothpick came out clean.

I'm really wondering how much testing actually went into some of these recipes...like did real live ordinary cooks test bake this cake? Or was it a misprint? This cake was supposed to be moist and fluffy like a traditional cake mix. With 2-1/2 tsp guar gum??? (I did use guar gum as I do have it.) Even as a somewhat novice gluten-free baker, it sounded like an awful lot to me.

I ended up baking a coffee cake using gluten-free Bisquick to save the day. Thankfully it isn't anyone's birthday but I'm sure sick of throwing things out. I walked out of the kitchen leaving the entire mess behind while I tore my hair out. I never leave the kitchen looking like that but I was so disgusted.

My daughter was diagnosed in late Aug. and I sent her this cook book as a "Welcome to the Club"! When she called me tonight, I warned her about some of the recipes as I know that she wants to try her hand at baking now that she's on winter break.

[sandsurfgirl]

Oh boy, Roda, I can relate! Must be the Gluten Free Kitchen disaster day. Last night I decided to make the chocolate cake on page 144 as I need to provide dessert for friends tomorrow. I was so careful to measure accurately, was not disrupted (that's caused some mistakes on my part in the past) and I ended up with an inedible mess. I questioned it when I was mixing the supposedly "thin" batter and after reading the directions, I used my hand mixer instead of my KitchenAid. It climbed the beaters like bread dough. When I baked it, it rose strangely and I knew it was a complete failure. It was totally gummy even though the toothpick came out clean.

I'm really wondering how much testing actually went into some of these recipes...like did real live ordinary cooks test bake this cake? Or was it a misprint? This cake was supposed to be moist and fluffy like a traditional cake mix. With 2-1/2 tsp guar gum??? (I did use guar gum as I do have it.) Even as a somewhat novice gluten-free baker, it sounded like an awful lot to me.

I ended up baking a coffee cake using gluten-free Bisquick to save the day. Thankfully it isn't anyone's birthday but I'm sure sick of throwing things out. I walked out of the kitchen leaving the entire mess behind while I tore my hair out. I never leave the kitchen looking like that but I was so disgusted.

My daughter was diagnosed in late Aug. and I sent her this cook book as a "Welcome to the Club"! When she called me tonight, I warned her about some of the recipes as I know that she wants to try her hand at baking now that she's on winter break.

Try Annalise G Roberts book that I mentioned above. I haven't had a problem with hers yet. I don't like the sandwich bread because of the millet flour but everything else has been good so far. She uses xanthan gum but it's always a tiny amount like 3/4 tsp. Some recipes don't even call for it.

[Roda]

Oh boy, Roda, I can relate! Must be the Gluten Free Kitchen disaster day. Last night I decided to make the chocolate cake on page 144 as I need to provide dessert for friends tomorrow. I was so careful to measure accurately, was not disrupted (that's caused some mistakes on my part in the past) and I ended up with an inedible mess. I questioned it when I was mixing the supposedly "thin" batter and after reading the directions, I used my hand mixer instead of my KitchenAid. It climbed the beaters like bread dough. When I baked it, it rose strangely and I knew it was a complete failure. It was totally gummy even though the toothpick came out clean.

I'm really wondering how much testing actually went into some of these recipes...like did real live ordinary cooks test bake this cake? Or was it a misprint? This cake was supposed to be moist and fluffy like a traditional cake mix. With 2-1/2 tsp guar gum??? (I did use guar gum as I do have it.) Even as a somewhat novice gluten-free baker, it sounded like an awful lot to me.

I ended up baking a coffee cake using gluten-free Bisquick to save the day. Thankfully it isn't anyone's birthday but I'm sure sick of throwing things out. I walked out of the kitchen leaving the entire mess behind while I tore my hair out. I never leave the kitchen looking like that but I was so disgusted.

My daughter was diagnosed in late Aug. and I sent her this cook book as a "Welcome to the Club"! When she called me tonight, I warned her about some of the recipes as I know that she wants to try her hand at baking now that she's on winter break.

Yeah, I used the recipe on page 168 for the yellow cake and it calls for the same amount of guar gum. I used the same amount of xanthan so there was strike one and I didn't have enough potato starch so I finished the measure with tapioca so that could have been a fatal mistake also. Headache is at bay for now, but I can still feel the tension in my shoulder and neck. I'll be taking more ibuprofen for shure. Ugg! On a good note, the overdone flat cookies were great crumbled up on vanilla bean icecream tonight!

[sa1937]

Try Annalise G Roberts book that I mentioned above. I haven't had a problem with hers yet. I don't like the sandwich bread because of the millet flour but everything else has been good so far. She uses xanthan gum but it's always a tiny amount like 3/4 tsp. Some recipes don't even call for it.

I recently bought this book and have only tried one recipe from it and it was the sandwich bread. I liked it but then I don't mind millet flour. It rose exactly like I hoped and turned out well. But like all other breads I've tried, the next day it was toast. Toasted well, too, but since trying Udi's, everything gets compared with it. So I occasionally cough up $6.19 for a loaf of Udi's to keep in the freezer.

I also bought a new larger capacity coffee grinder and used it for my brown rice flour (no Authentic Foods superfine flour around here) although the bread recipe doesn't call for brown rice flour. I will definitely try more of her recipes. Sheesh, when I go to all the work of baking from scratch, I want the end result to be edible!!!

[sa1937]

Yeah, I used the recipe on page 168 for the yellow cake and it calls for the same amount of guar gum. I used the same amount of xanthan so there was strike one and I didn't have enough potato starch so I finished the measure with tapioca so that could have been a fatal mistake also. Headache is at bay for now, but I can still feel the tension in my shoulder and neck. I'll be taking more ibuprofen for shure. Ugg! On a good note, the overdone flat cookies were great crumbled up on vanilla bean icecream tonight!

I'll make a note to NOT try it and tell my daughter the same thing (she has a teenager). Says it's the cake you'd expect at children's birthday parties. You should be able to swap out starches so doubt that should be a fatal mistake. While the guar gum/xanthan gum ratio might not be equal, it wouldn't be that far off and I doubt that caused the failure.

Glad your headache is better...I was totally PO'd last night and could feel the tension, too. At least the cookies worked for something (more than we can say about the cakes).

I have made a couple of her breads more than once. While they're not my favorites, they were at least edible. Aggravates me to go to all the work and then throw things straight into the garbage!

[kareng]

Would you be able to make your light sabers by shaping ice cream? Then coating with icing or sugar sprinkles? Needs some thought.

[Roda]

Would you be able to make your light sabers by shaping ice cream? Then coating with icing or sugar sprinkles? Needs some thought.

Good thought but don't think it'll work. Too bad we can't have twinkies. They are the perfect shape!

[FooGirlsMom]

Hi Roda,

I also hate it when something I cook doesn't come out quite right. I bought a cookie mix from Winco that was almost all rice flour and the cookies crumbled into a million pieces. So we ate cookie dust

I haven't seen anyone mention this, but I bought Jules' Gluten-Free flour mix & a number of her E-cookbooks and everything I made at Thanksgiving came out right. The banana cake (it's 3 layers) with banana frosting was divine. My dad doesn't like frosting so I made our cake 2-layer & gave him a layer dusted with powdered sugar. Her recipes all seem to turn out right. Anyone who wants to try her stuff out should sign up on her website. Eventually you will get a welcome email with a deal in it. It'll allow you to pick up a 5 lb bag of her flour & a couple of the cookbooks (with free shipping) at a much-reduced rate to get you started.

The only catch is that everyone who thinks to order, should look at the ingredient list on her flour & make sure they aren't intolerant to any of the ingredients (as would be the cake for any mix...but just thought I would throw that in...

I like the Betty Crocker Cake Mixes too and will see about the pudding addition. That's a good idea. Our favorite so far is the chocolate with raspberry jam in the center layer & from-scratch chocolate frosting. It becomes a moist, dense cake, after a day covered in the refrigerator with plastic wrap.

Good luck!

FooGirlsMom

[jenngolightly]

Just fyi - adding applesauce to a cake mix makes it moister. You can do a search on google to see how to do it.

[climbmtwhitney]

I'm so sorry. I chucked the Bisquick biscuits on Friday. I was so excited to try them. Tasted like paper. All I did was sub almond milk for regular milk. Yuck.

Anyway, I add a small box of vanilla pudding to my cakes. I do use Pamela's which I know you can't get, but I'm sure it would work with most mixes. I add 4 eggs (instead of 3) and 3/4 cups water instead of 1/2. That works perfect with the added pudding.

Good luck. Been there trying to make my kids happy too.

Jillian

[okieinalaska]

Hi Roda,

I haven't seen anyone mention this, but I bought Jules' Gluten-Free flour mix & a number of her E-cookbooks

FooGirlsMom

Where can I get more info on the flour mix and her e-books? Sounds interesting,

Thank you,

Amy in alaska

[Roda]

I ended up puting 4 oz of cream cheese for the two boxes of BC mix. It does seem to be moist but a little dense. I'm going to make fruit sushi out of fruit roll ups, crushed rice chex mixed with melted white chocolate and gummy worms in the middle. Open Original Shared Link and I think I will make a pan of BC brownies for a back up in case the unsuspecting other kids (or mine) don't like the cake. On a good note though, my oldest had a friend stay the night and I made waffles out of BC Gluten free Bisquick and then I made grilled cheese with pepperoni on Udi's bread for lunch. I told my oldest (9 yr old) not to say anything about the waffles or bread being gluten free and his friend ate both up without suspecting a thing and wanted more!!

[FooGirlsMom]

Where can I get more info on the flour mix and her e-books? Sounds interesting,

Thank you,

Amy in alaska

I see her ads pop up here on the site but the actual website is: www.julesglutenfree.com After you register it can take up to 2 weeks to get a welcome email offer. I saved 67% or something off the normal pricing and got free shipping. The flour worked like a dream with her recipes. She comes from a family of bakers and she likes to cook & tests each recipe many times & takes feedback & improves them.

Good luck

FooGirlsMom

[Roda]

Just an update guys, the cake I ended up making was a sucess!!! I mixed up two yellow Betty Crocker yellow cake mixes and then added in 4 oz sofened cream cheese to the batter. It baked up nice and after it cooled I put in the freezer. This morning after work I took it out of the freezer, cut it how I needed, and assembled and frosted it. When it was time to eat it everyone liked it even my husband and the birthday boy! It was really moist so the cream cheese did the trick. The birthday get together overall was a huge sucess. All hail Betty Crocker for saving the day.