Well, before I could make anything from the Little House cookbook, I had to make my very first gluten-free chocolate birthday cake for my brother- who is sensitive to wheat and cannot eat it.
First, I did some reconnaissance on the internet because I wanted a chocolate cake recipe that was more like a traditional cake and not a dense, flourless chocolate cake. I found a one-bowl recipe that needed two special ingredients from Whole Foods:
1) a gluten-free flour blend made of potato starch, white rice flour, brown rice flour, amaranth flour, quinoa flour, white cornmeal, garbanzo bean flour, and soy flour.
2) xanthan gum is a thickener and a binder that comes from a bacterial fermentation. It has some unique properties that affect the viscosity or thickness of food and is widely used in salad dressing. In salad dressings, xanthan gum thickens the dressing so that particulates become suspended but thins when shaken or stirred so it will pour out. When it is on the salad, the dressing stays coated on the lettuce. Xanthan gum is used in gluten-free baking because it provides some binding and thickening that wheat flour would otherwise provide. Ultimately, xanthan gum improves the texture of gluten-free baked goods. I was familiar with this ingredient as a food scientist but was surprised to find it at Whole Foods.
I mixed up the batter and found the thickness of batter to be much like the salad dressing description: flowing when stirred but thick and a bit globby upon standing - very different from traditional cake batter. It tasted delicious.
I mixed up the batter and found the thickness of batter to be much like the salad dressing description: flowing when stirred but thick and a bit globby upon standing - very different from traditional cake batter. It tasted delicious.
This recipe did bake 8 minutes earlier than it originally said (toothpick came out clean), which always makes me a bit nervous. I have a confession, I cut a teeny, tiny piece out of the layer just to triple check. I whipped up the frosting and when it was done...it looked a little more like a giant brownie and a little less than the Martha Stewart vision I had.
With candles it was very festive!
And....it did taste very, very good and had terrific texture! My brother was happy to have a gluten-free cake that didn't taste gluten-free.
With candles it was very festive!
And....it did taste very, very good and had terrific texture! My brother was happy to have a gluten-free cake that didn't taste gluten-free.
1 comment:
Love the square cake! I often use the square, but to avoid the "brownie look" you talked about in a previous post I have a little 4 or 6" square pan as well and I do a 2 tier cake - that way they look like stacked presents.
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