Baking gluten-free can be a challenge, so don’t give up if your recipe doesn’t turn out well the first time around. I have had my share of gluten-free flops, trust me, but I don’t let that stop me from trying again. “Cupcake Wars” two-time winner, Kyra Bussanich, shares some of her tips to help make your holiday baking a success.
• If you’re following a recipe, don’t substitute the listed flour or starch with another type unless you’re familiar with its properties. There are many different types of gluten-free flours and starches, including millet, sorghum and sweet white rice flour, and potato and tapioca starches. Each has its own idiosyncrasies. For example, millet flour has a slightly nutty flavor and is well-suited for goods with a hearty texture. Sweet white rice flour holds moisture well and is good for recipes that have a slight gumminess to them. Potato starch is light and good for fluffy cakes.
• Use eggs and butter at room temperature. Eggs are often used as a binder, the protein that substitutes for the missing gluten. Eggs and butter are both easier to work with when used at room temperature, and room-temperature egg whites whip up fluffier. If you forget to pull the butter out of the refrigerator beforehand, heat it for 7 to 12 seconds in the microwave. Put cold eggs in warm (not hot) water for 30 to 60 seconds.
• Don’t overwork batter and dough with xanthan gum in it. Corn-based xanthan gum is often used as a stabilizer and thickener in gluten-free baked goods, sauces, dressings and soups. Once this ingredient is added, overworking the dough can give it a slimy, gummy texture, and cause it to lose flavor. (A good substitute for xanthan gum is ground psyllium seed husk.)
• Heat higher, cream longer for lighter cakes. One complaint people sometimes have about gluten-free baked goods is that they’re too dense. To prevent this, try setting the oven temperature 25 degrees warmer than you would for flour. This will cause the butter in the recipe to release its water as steam, which helps the cake rise quickly. Also, cream eggs and butter together longer – about 10 minutes – than you would for flour cakes.
About Kyra Bussanich: Kyra Bussanich is a three-time winner of The Food Network’s hit show, “Cupcake Wars.” She graduated with honors from Le Cordon Bleu and opened her award-winning bakery, Kyra’s Bake Shop, which features gourmet, gluten-free sweets. She has branched beyond desserts to other gluten-free goods in order to help those with celiac and other autoimmune diseases enjoy quality treats
Do you have any gluten-free baking tips you would like to add? Have you had a gluten-free baking fail? I had a pan of cookies all run together on more than one occasion. They were a mess, but they still tasted great!
Actually, as of Nov 9, Kyra Bussanich is now a THREE-time winner of
the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars! And still the only gluten-free winner ever.
Her book, “Sweet Cravings”, has great, delicious, creative
treats, many of them really easy to make (thank goodness for me).
And I found a fun, short video intro to her book at
http://www.tinyurl.com/kyrasweet