Just Baking

In the March edition of Foods Matter, a magazine for food allergies and intolerances, Lucinda Bruce Gardyne shares a very detailed article on ‘Making gluten-free bread.’  Lucinda is a skilled ‘special-diet’ cook – see her new book, How to Cook for Food Allergies - but her speciality is in fact, making gluten-free bread.  Though you will need to get your hands on an e-copy of the March issue to read her full article (which is awesome, including explanations for why we use wheat flour to bake and the roll of the various ingredients in bread making), I was granted permission to share Lucinda’s wonderful Gluten-free White Bread recipe with you.  It just so happens to be dairy-free, soy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and vegan too!

Gluten-free White Bread

To make a 900g (2lb loaf)

110g potato flour [approximately 1 cup]
110g gluten-free corn flour [approximately 1 cup]
55g tapioca flour  [approximately 1/2 cup]
110g rice flour  [approximately 1 cup]
2 teaspoons fine salt
2 teaspoons caster sugar
2 level teaspoons xanthan gum powder
2 sachets of dried yeast granules
approximately 350ml tepid water
2 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil
millet flakes, poppy seeds or sesame seeds to decorate

1. Preheat the oven to 200 °C/400 °F/gas mark 6. Lightly grease and flour a 900g loaf tin, tipping out any excess flour.

2. Once the oven has come up to temperature, sieve the flours, salt, sugar and xanthan gum powder into a medium sized mixing bowl. Stir in the yeast granules. Make sure the yeast is mixed in properly to avoid pockets of yeast activity and uneven rising.

3. Measure out 350ml of tepid water.

4. Pour 300ml of water onto the dry ingredients, add the oil and beat the mixture with a wooden spoon, until smooth. The dough should be firm enough to hold its shape but soft enough to fall slowly from a spoon. If the mixture seems too firm or dry, beat in the remaining water, plus a little more if necessary.

5. Spoon the bread mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Smooth the surface of the bread mixture with the back of a large spoon dipped in water. Sprinkle over the millet flakes or seeds and place on the middle shelf of the preheated oven to rise.

6. Bake for 45–60 minutes or until the bread is crisp and golden brown on all sides. If the base and sides of the bread are pale, place the bread upside down in the tin and return to the oven for 10 minutes. The bread is cooked when all sides are brown and firm and the underside of the bread sounds hollow when rapped gently with your knuckles.

7. Remove the bread from the tin and place it on a wire rack to cool. Do not slice the loaf until it is completely cold. Eat really fresh, store for up to two days in an airtight container or slice and freeze in a sealed plastic bag.

Read on for foccacia, roll, and brown bread variations …

Italian Foccacia with Rosemary and Thyme

Follow the recipe for gluten-free white bread, using olive oil, and spoon into a greased and floured 20cm round cake tin. With the back of a wet spoon, spread the dough out to fill the tin evenly. Using the back of a wet teaspoon, make shallow indents at regular intervals on the surface. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the bread mixture and sprinkle with a large pinch of sea salt crystals and ½ tablespoon each of roughly chopped fresh rosemary and thyme. Bake in the oven for 30 –45 minutes or until risen, crisp and golden brown. Turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool.

Bread Rolls 

To make 4–6 bread rolls ~ Follow the recipe for white or brown gluten-free bread (see below) but instead of using a loaf tin, using a wet spoon, neatly place tablespoons of bread mixture onto a greased and floured baking tray. Smooth the surface of each roll with the back of the wet spoon and sprinkle with millet flakes, buckwheat flakes, poppy seeds or sesame seeds. Bake in the oven at 200 °C/400 °F/Gas mark 6 for 15–20 minutes or until crisp and golden brown on all sides.

Gluten free brown bread

To make a fibrous brown gluten-free loaf, simply replace the caster sugar in the white bread recipe with dark brown sugar and 55g of rice flour with rice bran (available from all good health food shops) and make as above.

For more free-from recipe ideas check out Lucinda’s website at www.lucindabrucegardyne.com

Recipe and photos from the March edition of Foods Matter, reprinted with permissions.