Creating gluten free baked goods.

[merigayle]

I have not used the quinoa flour, so i cannot comment on it, but the only ones i do not like are the garbanzo/chickpea flour and the Bobs Red Mill AP GF flour, which is mostly chickpea flour. It is very bitter, most of it cooks out in the cooking process, but sometimes i can still taste it. Blech. I think pretty much everything I have made GF has turned out good, except one cookie fail, so I am pretty happy.

[Run Amok]

Wait, powdered sugar isn't GF? 

I think it's an issue of processing/cross contamination.

I buy Powdered sugar that says GF but i also get the expensive organic stuff because regular sugar is processed with animal bones or something

My understanding is that this is kind of a myth at this point. It is a very old process that is generally not used any more and only necessary with cane sugar (which most sugar is we eat is not). So, regular sugar is *probably* safe. (which is good enough for me... but I also drink stout. )

[merigayle]

companies that are verified to not use the bone char and those who use it

http://www.veganproducts.org/sugar.html#Avoid

[Run Amok]

There's no sourcing or date on that list. So, I'm a little skeptical. I can't find it now but I read an article dealing with this a few years ago which said very few (like less than 10%) of the sugar processing plants in the us use bone char as a filter because it is an outdated methodology. But, I also advocate for personal decision making.

[merigayle]

i also read that most of the sugar is beet sugar, not cane sugar, so no bone char. And I would buy the organic stuff anyways Also fair trade.

[Run Amok]

Yes, that too! I buy the stuff at tj's that is just unbleached sugar. I think.

[Magic Microbe]

I can make frosting, but didn't have time.  I just bought some. it was good.  I also got way too much.

So the cake, in my opinion, was gross. My sister liked it alot.  She even took the rest home, so she wasn't lying. My niece liked it and DD liked it as well.  I thought it smelled like sweaty dirty feet and tasted like what I assume sweaty dirty feet taste like. i did not like it at all.  Quinoa flour has a very strong smell. I have never smelled it before. I even looked it up after I opened the bag thinking that it had gone rancid.  nope.  So apparently that is not my thing.  The cake itself was somewhat dense, definitely not light and airy like most cakes.  Not sure if that is just how it should be, or if I messed something up. The recipe said to separate the yolk from the rest of teh egg. and then fluff up the white part. I am not a cook/baker. So I tried to hardened the whites like it said (but don't make them dry) and I would say I never got the egg whites to get thicker at all.  So not sure if those were thicker if the consistency would have been different. You still use the entire egg.  and i did have to bake longer than 20 minutes.  about 28.

so your whites didnt get white with stiff peaks? It should if you separate the eggs and whisk long enough but one drop of yolk ruins it.

[redkitty]

so your whites didnt get white with stiff peaks? It should if you separate the eggs and whisk long enough but one drop of yolk ruins it.

No they did not and that bolded part would be the issue. I know i had some yolk in it.  So would this have changed the consistency of the cake? if I had done it properly?

[Run Amok]

No they did not and that bolded part would be the issue. I know i had some yolk in it.  So would this have changed the consistency of the cake? if I had done it properly?

Yes, absolutely! That would be where the "light & airy" part comes from. 

[Magic Microbe]

Yes, absolutely! That would be where the "light & airy" part comes from. 

Exactly.

[redkitty]

Good to know. See. I don't bake.  I will have to tell my sister about that so if she ever makes that in the future she will know. (and if I ever have a recipe that calls for it I will know.) 

First time I ever had to separate the yolk from the white part.  I have seen my grandma do it before, but never did it myself. 

[merigayle]

Make it vegan!

[caribougrrl]

Good to know. See. I don't bake.  I will have to tell my sister about that so if she ever makes that in the future she will know. (and if I ever have a recipe that calls for it I will know.) 

First time I ever had to separate the yolk from the white part.  I have seen my grandma do it before, but never did it myself. 

if your grandmother did it like mine, you probably tipped the yolk from shell to shell and let the white drip off, right?  easy to break the yolk that way

I just crack an egg over my hand and let the whites drip through my fingers while gently holding the yolk... I've never broken a yolk this way (yet!)

[caribougrrl]

I thought it smelled like sweaty dirty feet and tasted like what I assume sweaty dirty feet taste like. i did not like it at all. 

the smell is why I cannot abide quinoa... when I've told people I can't stand the smell, they sometimes look at me like I have 3 heads... I'm guessing not everyone can smell that particular smell or maybe there's something similar to cilantro (some genetic thing makes it taste like soap to some people... perhaps some genetic glitch makes quinoa smell like dirty feet to some of us)

[redkitty]

if your grandmother did it like mine, you probably tipped the yolk from shell to shell and let the white drip off, right?  easy to break the yolk that way

I just crack an egg over my hand and let the whites drip through my fingers while gently holding the yolk... I've never broken a yolk this way (yet!)

Yes that is exactly how I did it.  I will try it your way next time.

[merigayle]

The smell of quinoa does not bother me BUT garbanzo bean flour makes me want to vomit.

[onawhim]

Quinoa can be quite bitter.  I would probably not use it alone in a cake. 
I like chestnut flour. 

[moroccangirl]

These cookies are really delicious and not dry at all. they taste a lot like banana bread. I'm not sure what all the rules of paleo are but these would be gluten free for sure. http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/nikkis-healthy-cookies-recipe.html

Chocolate chips are the only thing in this recipe that are dairy, right? Is there anything to substitute for that, besides the carob? I'm sure I won't find that here.
My friend's husband is newly GF/DF. She made me dinner when we came back from our trip so I owe her something. I wanted to make something he could eat too.

[Run Amok]

I *think* dark chocolate is dairy free, but check the ingredients and avoid anything that has whey or casseine on the label. Sometimes it will be labeled as being processed in the same plant as dairy items. Not sure how that fits into your friend's definition of dairy-free. They would be good without the chocolate chips, too.

[moroccangirl]

Thanks RA!