As news of Auckland going back into Level 3 is announced, we hear from Coeliac NZ Ambassador Morgan McKenzie-Moore on lessons learnt from the land of the eternal lockdown - the U.K!
Hi All! This time last year, there was no way I would have thought that I was about to spend the better part of the next 12 months in lockdown. It’s been tough, but I there has been a few surprising positives from it, like not having to explain my dietary requirements to anyone, or stress about eating out,and getting ‘glutened’ has been at an all time low.
But I’ve also had the time to really find my love of baking, and recreating New Zealand recipes. So I thought I could share with you some top tips that I’ve learnt about gluten free baking while in lockdown.
1) Start off with simple recipes.
There’s no better way to put yourself off gluten free baking than to start off with making bread. So I would suggest starting off with biscuits, pancakes, or cupcakes, just to get a feel of how
gluten free flour works differently to normal flour.
2) Gluten free batters/doughs are generally runnier
Gluten free flour dries out a lot quicker than wheat flour so the dough needs to be wetter to prevent cracking. However, this means that handling it can become quick difficult.
Depending on what you need to do with it, doughs can be risen in the vessel which they are being baked in, or if you do need to shape it try popping it in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
Watch Morgan demonstrate how to make gluten free Tempura Vegetables - delicious!
3) Different flours can give you different results.
Once you are confident using a gluten free flour blend, try experimenting with other flours. You will discover that different flours can bring different textures, moistness, and crusts to your
bakes. Some of my favourites are tapioca flour, almond flour, and rice flour. Tapioca can bring a nice flexibility and stickiness to doughs, almond flour has a lovely buttery taste, and rice
flour is a great thickener and wonderful for making dumpling wrappers.
4) You don’t need more sugar!
While processed gluten free foods have been exposed as having more sugar “for taste”, that couldn’t be further from the truth for home baking. While some gluten free flours can have a distinctive taste (although these days it’s getting harder and harder to tell), you don’t have to hide that flavour with sugar. However if you are sensitive to a gluten free flour taste - try spices, or fruits, vanilla essence, or chocolate…yes, that’s sugar - but it doesn’t count!
5) Binders are your friends!
Because we are no longer privy to the benefits of the gluten protein, we sometimes have to use replacement binders, like xanthan gum, psyllium husk, guar gum, or even just an extra egg. My favourite is xanthan gum, and if you can I would suggest getting your hands on some. You normally use 1/4 tsp to every cup of gluten free flour. Please note: some gluten free flour blends already have xanthan gum in it - in this case you won’t need to use it!Good luck and happy baking!
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me on Instagram of Facebook at Howtocoeliac!
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