LuckotheeIrish1

So, I live in Sweden and the gluten-free situation is a bit different here then in the states. First, we have tons of gluten-free mixes and stuff here. I don't ever need to buy brown rice flour or tapioca starch or any of that. In fact, I rarely see it. Sweden is very on top of their game in the gluten-free world. No problem when I go out to eat, always find tons of things in the grocery store, and all the local bakeries make gluten-free food as well. My problem is the pizza. The pizzas here are made first by middle eastern people with funky spices and meats on them. And most of them have zero clue about gluten-free. So I haven't really had a good pizza since back in Florida. I tried to make my own at home using our gluten-free base flour mix. It's actually made from wheat flour, with the gluten removed. It sounds crazy, and i know I can't explain it correctly, except to say it works. Haven't been sick once since being here except when I ate lea and perrins which here is made from the UK and contains malt. Most things here that are gluten free are still made from wheat.

So when I google recipes for gluten free pizza crust, I get the recipes using like 10 different flours and stuff. I need some suggestions for what we have here, which is an excellent flour mix. I use it to make breads and cakes and stuff with no problem. I tried to use a recipe I found online for ny style pizza crust. I follow the instructions to a t but when it came time to roll out my dough it wasn't the least bit elastic. I had to use a rolling pin to get it into the circle and the dough was extremely dry as I was doing this. I had to oil it up when I put it on the pizza pan. Those are really the only big problems I had. Oh and when it cooked, the edges got really hard and crunchy, almost like crackers. I suspect if I used a baking stone instead of a pan I might be able to avoid the cracker effect. But if anyone can make some suggestions that would be excellent.

Oh, and xantham gum and guar gum and things of that sort are hard to come by here. We don't exactly have a whole foods or trader joes down the street.

Hey there,

So I spent the summer in Sweden. I was thoroughly impressed with how knowledgeable and prepared people and stores were over there. Every restaurant and every waiter, knew what gluten-free meant. Some restaurants even had fresh baked gluten-free bread made on the premises for a table snack. I could go into any grocery store and find gluten-free foods and even some freshly baked goods. It was wonderful!! I have to say I was not sick at all in 2 months except the one time I ate some old el paso fajita mix i figured was safe and found out it wasn't. (Ironic that it was the american made product that got me sick in Sweden). Since being back in the US I find myself back to struggling to find what's safe (especially when dining out)

So what's the real issue? Well, in Sweden they have things that say ingredients: Wheat (gluten-free). I asked about it, and was told there is a part of wheat that has the gluten protein and another part that is safe. And that is what it is referring to. Something about avoiding the part with the seeds or something. I wasn't aware that it was possible actually have gluten-free wheat. Like I figured it was in the genetic make-up of the wheat, not aware of the actual physical anatomy of wheat. But apparently this is really common there. They even have gluten-free wheat based flour in the grocery stores. They are really into multi-grain and high fiber baked goods there, so naturally there's gluten-free wheat bread and wheat flour mixes. I've eaten things there that said wheat (gluten free), and had no averse effects. So I'm very curious to get some more info about this. Make sense to any of you? Especially since I'm moving there.

Well, since it's mostly almonds and sugar, why not use almond meal mixed with sugar? If you Google "homemade marzipan" you'll get all kinds of recipes. But, wouldn't it work to just add almond meal to a recipe calling for marzipan?

I'm not sure. I'm not even sure where to get almond meal, never heard of that. It's a swedish recipe, and many swedish recipes use marzipan. That's actually my boyfriends favorite kind of cakes and stuff. So i'd love to find gluten-free marzipan, so i can make cakes and cookies and what not we both can eat and enjoy.

Hey everyone,

I know there was a previous discussion about what marzipan is made from (almonds and sugar). Here's my problem. I'm moving to Sweden, where they love marzipan. I have this cookbook and wanted to make these cookies (which are marzipan based). I went to my local grocery store and was thrilled to see marzipan on the shelf. Bought it, figuring it was safe. Got home, and realized later the last ingredient on the list is WHEAT STARCH. Booooooooo. So then I went to Whole Foods, figuring they'd have some other brand, one that would be safer. Alas, it was the same brand in the regular grocery store. Does anyone know where to find gluten-free marzipan in the US (I live in South Florida), and/or in Sweden?

Thanks for your help everyone!

Well my fiance and I are planning to get married August 2008. We live in Miami, but hope to get married in probably Broward County or Palm Beach County. Our wedding will be gluten free. The only thing that will not be, is the cake for the guests. I'll just get a sheet cake made up and serve the guests that. The display cake will be for my husband and I. So I need this cake to be gluten free. I don't mind a faux layer or two to reduce costs, but I don't want to risk any cross contamination with a partial gluten-free and partial regular cake. So here's the problem. 1, I need to find a baker down here who has some experience making gluten free cakes. 2, make sure their facility will be sterile and clean to reduce risk of cc. 3, I want it to taste good!!!! My mom makes wicked awesome gluten-free cakes, but they are a far cry from wedding cakes. Does anyone out there know of any bakeries in the tri-county area (South Florida) that can accomodate gluten-free???