When Bristol-based pastry chef and tutor Marianne Stewart’s sister was diagnosed with an intolerance to dairy and gluten, Marianne turned her focus to developing free-from recipes with the same professional standard as her other cakes. And that’s why we asked her for her list of her must-have ingredients when creating beautiful gluten-free bakes…
Marianne’s top gluten-free baking ingredients:
- Brown or white rice flour: a good all-purpose gluten-free substitute; it’s important to let the batter rest before baking in order to allow the starches to absorb the moisture and prevent grittiness. Best in creamed or whisked cakes with lighter flavours (e.g. lemon/vanilla).
- Buckwheat: it has a distinctive flavour, and is one of my favourite ‘wholemeal’ gluten-free flours. Best combined with ground almonds to prevent a drying effect. Best in chocolate or hearty flavoured cakes; pancakes.
- Cornflour, potato flour and arrowroot are all very neutral starchy flours. They provide bulk, but not much protein, so are best used in conjunction with higher protein flours (rice flour, buckwheat, oat flour).
- High protein, strong tasting flours such as quinoa flour, toasted soy flour, oat flour and teff flour all work best in bread recipes where the hearty flavour is a plus and doesn’t detract from other flavours. Best in blends with other more neutral flours, such as rice flour or cornflour.
- Nut flours, especially ground almonds, provide extra moisture, protein and richness that can be lacking in gluten-free flours, and boost the quality and texture of the baked goods.
- Ground psyllium husk – available online and from health food shops – mimics gluten, acting as a binding agent. Best in gluten-free bread recipes and batters such as pancakes, as it creates a good binding effect without making the dough tough and heavy.
- Xantham gum is also a binding agent, but is stronger than psyllium husk. However, make sure you don’t overmix the cake batter as it can make the final bake quite tough and dense. Best in cake and cookie recipes.
- Eggs help with the binding process, as they act like a glue to hold the ingredients together. Dried egg whites can be added to the flour to help boost the binding effect, or fresh eggs into the liquid ingredients. Best in almost every gluten-free recipe, including bread doughs where you would not traditionally add eggs.
- Extra liquid such as milk, yoghurt, sour cream, non-dairy milks, juice and even water will help to give your batter or dough much-needed hydration.