It’s not easy to follow a gluten-free diet. Wheat flour and contaminated ingredients are all around you. But in reality it’s far easier to follow the regimen when you’re cooking for yourself at home, rather than trusting that restaurants really know what’s in their food. Plus, when baking bread at home, you have the added benefit of an anticipatory aroma: There’s nothing like that fresh-baked smell of bread wafting out of the oven to trigger your taste buds.
The movement into which these breads can be placed is artisanal foods. These are handcrafted loaves with character and flavor. They fall into the category of “everything old is new again.” Until the development of large-scale commercial baking in the late-nineteenth century, all bread could have been deemed artisan. They were mixed and shaped by hand and baked by a professional baker or cook. They had holes that were not uniformly spaced, and they had a thick, chewy crust. You knew you were eating bread, not soft and fluffy air.
But then came a new standard in the 1920s, when snowy white Wonder Bread was introduced, and the gold standard of excellence became soft and sweet bread that was as light as the perky balloons on the wrapper. Packaged presliced bread that fit perfectly into the slats of a toaster became the American norm.
The revival of interest in eating coarse-grained handmade loaves of bread started in the 1980s, when baking bread at home was a hallmark of the whole new interest in food connoisseurship.
Bakeries similar to those in Europe began to pop up in major North American cities, especially in Northern California. Many of these bakeries were also selling coffee beans from around the world, and European cheeses. The appeal of their breads was a dense texture conveyed in a less-than-perfect-looking loaf.
The home cook could relate to these loaves, and bread baking became a weekend pastime for the self-proclaimed gourmet set. While whole grains were then integrated with wheat flour to produce those breads, today’s gluten-free breads replace the flour with grains and starches ground from all sorts of vegetal sources.
In this chapter you’ll be introduced to the myriad elements from which you can make delicious breads, ones that you know are gluten-free and created from your own high-quality ingredients.
The first step in gluten-free bread baking is to understand the role that gluten plays in traditional breads. Most breads depend on gluten to succeed; gluten is a versatile protein that, when developed, forms a strong air-trapping network that creates breads’ characteristic honeycomb structure and crumb.
In gluten-free breads, the goal is no different. But it is more complicated to re-create wheat breads’ thick crusts and inside soft airy pockets without what many would consider a very essential component to what makes bread, well, bread.
While eliminating rye and barley from the gluten-free diet presents some challenges, eliminating all forms of wheat and wheat flour is a Herculean task—especially when baking bread. Wheat flour contains as many as thirty proteins, and two of those—glutenin and gliadin—form gluten when moistened with any liquid ingredient. These two proteins grab water and connect to form elastic strands of gluten. If flour has a lot of these proteins, it grabs up water faster, making the strong and springy gluten that is needed to bake bread; that’s why high-protein bread flour is frequently specified in recipes for wheat breads. The formation of this elastic gluten network serves many functions in a bread dough. Like a net, gluten traps and holds air bubbles created by the natural leavening of yeast or the chemical leavening of baking soda or baking powder. When a dough is baked, the stretched flour proteins become rigid as moisture evaporates from the heat of the oven, and sets the breads’ structure.
Replicating this structure is no easy task. There is no magic wand that can remove the gluten from wheat flour, because the proteins are built into the DNA of the wheat plant. But with the addition of a few other ingredients to nonwheat flours, the results can be just as good.
Reading labels is essential to following a gluten-free diet, and it’s not just for wheat, it’s for rye and barley, too. Most products that contain gluten from common wheat are now labeled, due to the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act of 2006. But there are other ways wheat can be listed. Kamut, spelt, and farro are ancient types of wheat, and bulgur is cracked wheat kernels. Also be on the lookout for couscous, which, contrary to popular belief, is a granular pasta made with wheat flour and not a grain. Other forms of wheat include triticale, semolina, farina, and durum. If you see a product with one of these terms, it contains gluten. Be wary of oats if they are not certified as gluten-free. That’s the only protection that they were not grown with wheat or processed with wheat. Gluten is also found in many processed foods. Caramel color, modified food starch, hydrolyzed vegetable protein, dextrin, and imitation seafood may contain gluten. It may be added as fillers to spices and various meats, such as hamburgers and hot dogs. Possible other additives with gluten include foreign-manufactured citric acid, blue cheese, diglycerides, gum base, malt, maltodextrin, and monogylcerides.
Unfortunately, there is no single ingredient with which you can make a one-to-one substitution for all-purpose wheat flour when making gluten-free breads. But while these recipes might appear long, the ingredients are readily available.
If you visit the gluten-free baking aisle of supermarkets or the virtual aisles on the web, you’ll discover a dizzying array of products that can be used to replace wheat flour; and, in addition to being free of gluten, many of them are far more nutritious than wheat flour, too. Unbleached all-purpose flour contains very little protein when compared with the content of garbanzo bean flour or millet flour, and increasing the nutritional content is the reason why some people are turning to a gluten-free diet.
Each substance in the gluten-free arsenal has different properties. One will strengthen, another will act as a tenderizer, and another will add moisture. Wheat has all of these properties, which explains why multiple flours are needed to stand in for just one.
There are two basic categories of ingredients:
• Protein/fiber flours, such as brown rice flour, millet flour, garbanzo bean flour, and sorghum flour, provide structure, stability, flavor, color, texture, and nutrition.
• Starches, such as cornstarch, tapioca flour, potato starch, and sweet rice flour, are very fine in texture and create breads that have a soft crumb and a smooth texture.
You need a mix of the two categories to succeed. If you use only protein- and fiber-packed flours, your breads end up heavy and very dense. I had a few loaves of bread emerge from my oven that could easily have been used as doorstops. On the other hand, starches alone cannot provide enough structure for breads to hold their shape, and you’d end up with a pile of crumbs. Successful gluten-free baking begins with using the right flour blend—both protein/fiber flours and starches together—to get good results. The right combination can produce excellent results, often indistinguishable from breads made with wheat. Think of gluten-free bread baking as Goldilocks trying out beds: One is too hard, one is too soft, and the last is just right.
The ingredients listed here are the ones I’ve made use of in this book. There are many other options out there, but I tried to streamline the list to keep the expenses down; all of the baking aids here work overtime in multiple recipes.
Almond meal: Almond meal is a dream in gluten-free recipes. It adds protein, fiber, and essential minerals to recipes, not to mention a delicious almond taste. Of all the nut flours, this is the only one that is consistently available prepackaged because it has been used for so many desserts, such as classic French macarons, for centuries. You can grind blanched almonds in a spice grinder or food processor to make your own. You can also substitute such nuts as peeled hazelnuts or pecans for the almonds. Other nuts don’t work as well; walnuts can be oily and pine nuts don’t have enough flavor.
Buckwheat flour: Buckwheat flour, one of my favorites along with millet flour, is high in protein and fiber and has a lovely nutty taste. Contrary to popular belief, buckwheat is not related to wheat, nor is it a cereal grain: it’s actually a fruit seed in the rhubarb family, which also includes sorrel. Buckwheat is high in manganese, an essential trace mineral.
Cornmeal: We are all familiar with cornmeal, and it is important to buy it from a manufacturer that processes it in a facility not contaminated with gluten. Cornmeal is made by grinding dried corn kernels; the meal can be fine, medium, or coarse. Water-ground or stone-ground types are more nutritious than steel-ground because more of the corn kernel is retained. It’s important to follow the recipe’s recommendation for the grind of cornmeal because using a coarser grain can result in a gritty dish.
Cornstarch: Cornstarch is what is most often used to thicken gluten-free foods as well as in baking. Called corn flour in some countries, it should never be confused with cornmeal. Cornstarch is made by grinding the endosperm (inner tissue) of the corn kernel after the kernels have been steeped for a few days, which makes it possible to separate the outer germ from the endosperm. This very light powder can form lumps if added to a dish or dough by itself. That’s why it’s mixed with the other gluten-free dry ingredients for breads and always mixed with a small amount of cold water before it’s added to hot liquid as a thickener.
Garbanzo bean flour: Almost any dried legume can be ground into flour, and my favorite is garbanzo bean flour because, like the legume from which it’s ground, it has a mild, sweet, and almost nutlike flavor. Bean flours in general and garbanzo bean flour in particular also have a really good nutritional profile. A quarter-cup of garbanzo bean flour contains 6 grams of protein and an impressive 10 percent of the recommended daily intake of iron.
Millet: You’ve seen millet many times without knowing it, if you maintain a bird feeder: It’s one of the primary components of birdseed. Millet is a member of the grass family that is very high in protein and B vitamins, as well as being a good source of magnesium. Magnesium has been shown in studies to reduce the severity of asthma and the frequency of migraine attacks. Magnesium has also been shown to lower high blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart attack. Millet flour adds a slightly sweet taste to breads and is very easy to digest.
Potato starch: Potato starch is very different from potato flour, so be careful when you shop for it. Potato starch is made from raw potatoes, while potato flour is made from cooked potatoes. The flour is far denser, and the two cannot be substituted for each other. Like the potatoes from which it’s made, potato starch is a good source of potassium.
Rice flour: This neutral-flavored flour is one of the most common substitutes for all-purpose wheat flour. Both white and brown rice can be made into flour, but the outer husk is always removed before grinding. Brown rice flour has a better nutritional profile because it does contain some fiber, and white rice flour tends to make breads gritty. I only use white rice flour when the end result is to be a very pale bread.
Sorghum flour: Sorghum is a cereal grain that originated about five thousand years ago in Africa, where it continues to be an important food source. It’s sometimes called milo and in India it is known as jowar. Sorghum contains three times the natural fiber and twice the protein as white rice flour.
Soy flour: Soy flour is a high-protein flour ground from roasted soybeans. I use the defatted version that has had the oils removed; it is less prone to rancidity and I prefer to use butter as the fat in my dough. Soy flour has a distinctive yellow color, which adds visual richness to breads.
Sweet rice flour: Called mochiko in Japanese, it can be found in Asian markets as well as supermarkets, and while called “sweet” there is no sweetener added. It’s made from glutinous short-grained Japanese rice, and it is similar to the starches because it adds body to dough.
Tapioca flour: Also called cassava flour, tapioca is derived from the yucca plant, which is a starchy tropical tuber. It adds body to breads as well as a chewy texture, and it helps breads to brown.
Teff flour: Teff is the staple grain of Ethiopia, and it’s packed with protein, calcium, and iron. It’s nutritionally rich because most of the grain is made up of bran and germ, which is ground into a flour, bringing with it all of teff’s inherent nutrients. It takes 150 teff grains to equal the weight of a single wheat grain. Teff creates a deeply colored flour that is wonderful to use in dense and hearty peasant breads. Its flavor is slightly sweet and reminiscent of molasses.
WHAT ABOUT OATS?
Including oats as part of gluten-free diets has been controversial, but recent research has spurred many organizations to give oats the thumbs-up. Although oats do not contain gluten, it is possible to contaminate them with gluten-containing grains grown or processed nearby. The only oats recommended by a majority of celiac organizations in North America are those labeled “certified gluten-free” or “noncontaminated” on the package.
Unlike all-purpose wheat flour that can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for many months, most of the protein/fiber flours used in gluten-free baking should be refrigerated once they have been opened. These include brown rice flour, millet flour, soy flour, and sorghum flour. If any of these flours are included in a flour blend, then the whole batch should be refrigerated. But do measure out the amounts needed for a recipe and allow them to reach room temperature before baking with these flours.
When you open a bag of one of the protein/fiber flours, it should have a pleasant grainy or nutty smell. Millet flour is very prone to rancidity, so do smell it carefully.
The starch flours—cornstarch, potato starch, and tapioca flour—should have no scent, and they can be stored at room temperature for up to a year.
Gluten gives dough strength, so that the air incorporated by yeast or chemical leavening agents is trapped until the heat of the oven cooks the proteins and forms a structure. Wheat breads would end up a pile of crumbs if not for their gluten. For gluten-free baking, there are other options—natural gums and other binders—that give gluten-free flours and starches that all-important “stretch factor,” and also the inherent stickiness that we recognize as being breadlike.
Xanthan gum: You’ll see that most of the recipes in this book contain a small amount of xanthan (pronounced ZAHN-thun) gum. It is mixed with the dry ingredients and then added along with them to the wet ingredients.
Sometimes called corn sugar gum, xanthan gum is a natural carbohydrate, not a food additive. It’s produced by the fermentation of the bacteria Xanthomonas campestris. When this bacterium is combined with corn sugar, it creates a colorless translucent substance, which is then dehydrated and ground into xanthan gum.
You’ve already eaten xanthan gum many times; for example, manufacturers add xanthan gum to candy to prevent sugar crystals from forming and to many ice creams to give them a smooth texture and mouthfeel.
WHAT ABOUT GUAR GUM?
Guar gum is an alternative to xanthan gum and is sometimes called for in gluten-free recipes. I believe that xanthan gum is better in baked goods, while guar gum is excellent in cold foods, such as ice creams; that’s why I don’t use guar gum in this book. Guar gum is ground from seeds from a plant that grows primarily in areas of Pakistan and the northern parts of India.
Chia seeds: This ancient seed that sustained the Aztec and Mayan peoples is the most powerful vegetal source of essential omega-3 fatty acids. It has about three to ten times the oil content of other grains and is so rich in antioxidants that the seeds can be stored for a long period of time without becoming rancid. It is also an excellent source of calcium and the mineral boron, which acts as a catalyst for the body’s absorption of calcium. Chia has a nutlike flavor, and it holds about nine times its weight in water, and thus thickens and emulsifies bread dough. Chia seeds should always be ground and soaked before adding them to the dough. But they soak very nicely in the same bowl where you’re proofing the yeast, and take the same amount of time.
Unflavored gelatin: Just as gelatin adds body to mousses and cold dishes, it serves well in baked breads, too. When it’s mixed into gluten-free bread dough, it binds the cold dough and then holds it together and keeps it from crumbling when it’s baked. There’s no need to pre-soak it because it absorbs and softens while the dough rises and bakes. Gelatin is made of collagen, the protein that occurs naturally in bones and connective tissue, as well as in skin.
Agar powder: This is an alternative to gelatin because gelatin is made from animal tissue, so many vegetarians will not use it. They rely upon this flavorless seaweed derivative as a substitute, and the two are used in the same amount. Like gelatin, agar, whose name comes from the Malay word for “jelly,” is full of protein (though incomplete), and as a member of the seaweed family it is also high in many nutrients like iron. You can use it anywhere in the book where gelatin is used, in equal amounts.
While gluten-free bread baking presents some unique challenges because of the variety of dry ingredients that must be used, the other categories of ingredients are virtually identical to those used in conventional baking. What you will find is different is the ratio of liquid to dry. Here are ones you’ll find in the majority of these bread recipes:
Eggs: Eggs contribute to the structure of bread, which is why most breads list them in the ingredient list. Without the protein supplied by gluten, the role of eggs becomes more crucial. In addition to providing protein, they also create the steam needed for starches to become firm. Egg yolk is also a rich source of emulsifying agents, fat and lecithin, which make it easier to incorporate air into the dough.
A TOTAL PACKAGE
Eggs are considered the gold standard for protein, because they provide all ten essential amino acids. Eggs contain more than a dozen vitamins and minerals, including choline, which is important for brain development and memory.
Sugar: Sugar adds sweetness, as well as contributes to the browning process that takes place when bread is cooked. The browning occurs when the sugar reacts with the protein in eggs and the dairy solids of butter during baking, and the higher the sugar content of a bread dough, the browner it will become once baked. Sugar also holds moisture, which keeps breads fresher longer.
WHITE GOLD
The granulated sugar we take for granted today as a staple was once so rare and expensive it was called white gold. Sugar cane, the first source of sugar, is a perennial grass that originated in Asia but is now grown in virtually every tropical and subtropical region of the world. It was only during the nineteenth century that refining beets for their sugar became commonplace.
Fats: Fat is responsible for providing lubrication and a luxurious mouthfeel. I am a devotee of baking with only unsalted butter. The milk fat in butter contributes tenderness and color and helps build the structure of bread. But most important, it releases its delicious flavor. The other fat found in these bread recipes is olive oil. It is an essential addition to the Focaccia (page 141) and other Mediterranean breads.
Chemical leavening agents: A leavening agent is anything that increases the volume in breads by creating carbon dioxide. The two chemical leavening agents used for the quick breads in Chapter 5 of this book are baking soda and baking powder. Both of these produce carbon dioxide when they are mixed with moisture. Baking soda, also called bicarbonate of soda, must be combined with an acidic ingredient, such as buttermilk, to create carbon dioxide, while baking powder is a combination of baking soda and cream of tartar, which is inherently acidic. Baking soda is twice as strong as baking powder, but the two can be substituted for each other. It is important to look at baking powder carefully, however. Some brands use a small percentage of wheat starch as the “moisture absorption agent.” Most, however, use cornstarch or potato starch, including such leading brands as Rumford and Davis, but do check labels carefully.
Chemical leavening is nothing new; Amelia Simmons used pearl ash in her book American Cookery, published in 1796. Because carbon dioxide is released at a faster rate through the acid-base reaction than through the fermentation process provided by living yeast, breads made with chemical leavening became known as quick breads more than a century ago.
Nonfat dried milk powder: In addition to augmenting the nutritional profile of the breads with a healthy dose of calcium, the powder is high in protein, which helps the breads rise and keeps them moist once baked.
If you’re new to gluten-free baking, the whole concept of contamination is perhaps new to you as well. Setting up your kitchen so that foods containing gluten and gluten-free foods never meet can take time, but it is time well spent.
Here are some rules to follow to ensure that your gluten-free products are not inadvertently contaminated by wheat flour or any gluten-containing food:
• Thoroughly wash cabinets where gluten-free products will be stored, and make sure everyone who uses the kitchen is aware that these cabinets contain only gluten-free food. But unless the kitchen is to be free of all gluten-containing foods, it’s still wise to place gluten-free ingredients in airtight containers before storing them.
• Clean all the kitchen surfaces thoroughly before starting to prepare gluten-free dishes, and then change the dishrag and dish towel for a fresh one. Don’t use a sponge because it cannot be properly cleaned to make it free from gluten. The same is true for porous surfaces, such as wooden cutting boards. Have special ones for gluten-free ingredients.
• Have separate containers of butter or margarine for gluten-free cooking. Crumbs from someone’s morning toast could have landed on a stick of butter at breakfast.
• Have separate containers of all other ingredients used for gluten-free cooking. Even though there is no gluten in granulated sugar or salt, molecules of wheat flour could have landed on them.
• Always place the gluten-free foods on the top shelf of the refrigerator to avoid risks of spills on them.
• Foil is a great way to avoid contamination. Use foil to keep foods separate when preparing, cooking, or storing.
• Use stickers of different colors when storing gluten-free foods to segregate them from other foods.
There is very little need for specialized equipment to prepare the recipes in this book. Here is a list of the machines and gadgets I used on a regular basis while developing these breads:
Stand mixer: A powerful standard mixer that sits on the counter is the best friend you can have, and it’s specified in every recipe. While handheld mixers are fine for small tasks, the stand mixer is what is best for baking. The paddle attachment makes the thickest substance look easy to blend.
Accurate kitchen scale: While volume measurements are given in all recipes, the way professional bakers work is to weigh all the dry ingredients. Depending on how a flour or starch is measured by volume, it can be up to 15 percent in error of its weight.
Food processor: A dedicated corner of my dishwasher is given over to this workhorse of the kitchen. The work bowl of food processors is made of plastic, which can harbor food particles once scratched, and some of these food particles may contain gluten. For very little money, you can purchase a second work bowl for your gluten-free recipes. Also clean the base of the processor very thoroughly with a soapy cloth to ensure there are no traces of gluten on the surface.
Spice or coffee grinder: It’s very difficult to find ground chia seeds, and with a grinder devoted to gluten-free ingredients it’s also possible to create your own nut flours and oat flour.
Wire cooling racks: Dedicated gluten-free cooling racks are essential and there’s really no substitute for them. The type of rack on top of a broiler pan is too solid, and there’s nothing that makes baked goods lose their texture, especially those made with gluten-free ingredients, faster than placing them on an impervious surface.
Microplane grater: These resemble a flat kitchen spatula but with tiny holes in it. They’re fabulous for grating citrus zest and fibrous foods, such as ginger, and you can also use them for Parmesan cheese and even garlic cloves for other recipes.
Rubber spatulas: Most of the bread recipes are baked in loaf pans, and the tops of the loaves need to be smoothed before rising. A rubber spatula dipped in water accomplishes this task easily.
Pastry brushes: To give your loaves a shiny crust, most of them are brushed with egg wash before baking. Although pastry brushes are expensive, paint brushes are cheap. Feel free to use a new 1½-inch/3.75 cm natural-bristle paintbrush as a dedicated pastry brush.
Loaf pans: Both the 8½ × 4½-inch/21.25 × 9.25 cm and 9 × 5-inch/23 × 11 cm pans are specified for these recipes, and I prefer dark metal pans because they create a crisper crust, which is a challenge with gluten-free breads. Glass pans conduct heat better than metal, and you should lower the oven temperature by 25°F (14°C) if using a glass pan. Glass also takes longer to cool down, so the waiting time for removing breads from them should be 10 minutes longer.
The volume of the smaller loaf pan is 6 cups/1.4 L and the volume of the larger size is 8 cups/1.9 L. If you are not using the pan specified in the recipe, use your calculator to determine the ingredient amount. To downsize a recipe from the larger to the smaller pan, multiply the ingredients by 0.75. To increase a recipe for the larger pan, multiply by 1.25. With eggs, which cannot be changed so conveniently, there are other solutions: To downsize to the smaller pan, beat the egg or eggs in a small cup and figure out what three-quarters of the volume should be; to increase to the larger pan, add an additional yolk.
Pizza stone: While most of these breads are baked in loaf pans because gluten-free bread dough is softer than dough made with wheat flour, there are some hand-formed loaves, and placing the baking sheet on a preheated pizza stone is the most successful way to bake them. An alternative is to preheat another baking sheet and stack the two on top of each other in the oven.
Silicone baking mats: I’ve had the same roll of parchment paper for two years since I invested in a trio of reusable mats. They stay in place on the baking sheet rather than sliding all around, and in addition to using them for baking breads (and cookies!) I use them for such dishes as barbecued chicken in place of heavy-duty aluminum foil. They are not inexpensive, but they are well worth it and you’ll never have to grease a baking sheet again.
What is included in this section isn’t just for gluten-free breads. It’s for all baking, regardless of whether the form is bread, pie, or cake, and whether the ingredient list includes wheat flour or a variety of gluten-free options.
Measure accurately. As noted earlier, all of these recipes give alternatives for measuring by volume or weight. If using volume, measure dry ingredients in plastic or metal dry measuring cups, which come in sizes of ¼, ⅓, ½, and 1 cup. Spoon dry ingredients from the container or canister into the measuring cup, and then sweep the top with a straight edge, such as the back of a knife or a spatula, to measure it properly. Do not dip the cup into the canister or tap it on the counter to produce a level surface. These methods pack down the dry ingredients, and can increase the actual volume by up to 15 percent. Measuring spoons are likewise a volume tool, and if the box or can does not have a straight edge built in, level the excess in the spoon back into the container with the back of a knife blade.
Measure liquids in transparent glass or plastic liquid measures. To accurately measure liquids, place the measuring cup on a flat counter and bend down to read the marked level.
Have all ingredients at room temperature. Almost all gluten-free breads are made with eggs because of their function in creating structure, and adding cold eggs to a yeast bread dough can be disastrous. Yeast needs a warm environment in which to rise properly. That’s why the yeast is proofed with warm liquid. All the other ingredients should be at room temperature.
Just as you don’t want cold ingredients to retard the yeast, if an ingredient is too hot it can kill the yeast. That’s why butter is cooled after it’s melted.
Preheat the oven properly. Some ovens can take up to 25 minutes to reach a high temperature, such as 450°F/230°C. The minimum heating time devoted to preheating the oven, even to a moderate temperature, such as 350°F/175°C, should be 15 minutes.
Read the recipe thoroughly. This means that you have accounted in advance for all ingredients required for a recipe, so you don’t get to a step and realize you must improvise. The French call this advance preparation of ingredients mise en place.
Yeast is a single-celled fungus, of which hundreds of species have been identified. Those of the genera Saccharomyces and Candida are the most useful for culinary purposes. The single cells are very small: Hundreds of millions of them would fit into a teaspoon. While green plants feed via photosynthesis, yeast feeds on carbohydrates and excretes alcohol, while producing carbon dioxide. That’s why yeast is as good a friend of the brewer as it is of the baker. Given plenty of air and some food, yeast grows fast and produces a lot of carbon dioxide. It is the pressure of this gas that makes the bread rise. Only a little alcohol is formed. However, in a fermentation vat, where there is almost no air but an abundance of food in the form of sugar, the yeast cells change to a different mode, breathing little and concentrating on turning sugar into alcohol.
In addition to fermenting and flavoring other foods, yeasts themselves may also be used as food. They contain much protein and all but one of the B vitamins. They are consequently used to provide dietary supplements for countries whose citizens are on diets deficient in protein.
Here’s the first rule for making delicious gluten-free bread: Forget everything you know about baking bread, and everything you know about how the dough should look. You’re not going to be kneading the dough, because there’s no gluten to develop! You won’t end up with a ball of dough that is elastic and spongy to the touch and that springs back instantly if you poke it with your finger.
For gluten-free bread, you will use the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, rather than the dough hook. Even though I call them “doughs” because dough is what you create for breads, they are really more like batters in consistency. When handling gluten-free dough, keep in mind that it is delicate, and treat it accordingly. There are, however, some variations in texture.
Some of the doughs have the moderately thick consistency of the batter for a quick bread or layer cake; they are viscous but still pourable and you couldn’t hold a handful because the batter would run through your fingers. These are the recipes that are allowed to rise in the loaf pan in which they’ll be baked. The reason you bake them before they crown over the top of the pan is that the texture of the batter is so delicate that they might just spill over onto the counter or into the oven if allowed to rise higher. These doughs are not formed with your hands in any way, nor do they undergo a first rise in a mixing bowl.
However, some of the doughs have the consistency of a thick brownie batter, one that you would spread into a pan with a rubber scraper. Although they have to be handled gently, these bread doughs can be formed after an initial rise.
Then there are a few recipes that create dough with the consistency of a drop biscuit dough. These are closest to doughs made with wheat flour, but they are still delicate and must be treated gently at all times.
Proofing the yeast: Yeast is a living organism and you really need validation that it’s alive and kicking before you add any other ingredients. To proof the yeast (as in “to prove that it’s alive”), you need warm liquid and some ingredient to serve as food for the yeast. Most often, sugar fulfills that function. Until you learn to recognize what 110° to 115°F/43° to 46°C feels like on your wrist, use an instant-read thermometer to verify the temperature. Mix together the yeast, liquid, and food for the yeast, and let it sit aside for 10 minutes while you gather the rest of your ingredients. If it doesn’t become foamy, it’s dead. There’s no reviving it. You can’t give it CPR. The only option is to buy a new jar or package.
Commercially produced yeast first appeared in the United States in the 1860s. Charles and Maximillian Fleischmann, immigrants from Austria-Hungary who settled in Cincinnati, patented and sold standardized cakes of compressed yeast. By the early twentieth century, factory-produced yeast was widely available. Cookbook recipes began specifying that commercial yeast be added directly to bread dough in sufficient quantities to leaven it in less than two hours.
Gathering all the remaining ingredients: If your eggs are straight out of the refrigerator, place them in a bowl of hot tap water for at least 5 minutes to bring them to room temperature. This is key because yeast needs a warm environment in which to rise and cold eggs can cool it down. By the same token, yeast can be killed by too hot a temperature, which is why butter is melted and then cooled before adding it to the dough.
Mixing the dry ingredients: Gluten-free flours are so finely milled that they could potentially billow about like a blizzard, so use a really deep mixing bowl to whisk them and keep the whisk very low in the bowl. Whisking them well is especially important if there is xanthan gum in the recipe, because if it’s not mixed in evenly, you end up with pockets in your bread that taste like a sponge.
Putting it all together: I like to minimize the number of bowls to wash when I bake. That’s why the yeast in these recipes is proofed in the bowl of a stand mixer. The remaining wet ingredients are then added to the yeast mixture, and the dry ingredients are added last.
It is possible to use a high-quality handheld mixer to make gluten-free bread dough. But the motor is not as powerful as that of a stand mixer, so increase the beating time by 2 minutes.
Allowing the dough to rise: Here’s the step in which the magic occurs. The yeast is permitted to do its thing and make bubbles of carbon dioxide. The goal is to have the bread double in bulk, and depending on the formulation of the bread and the temperature of the kitchen, this can take between 40 minutes and 2 hours. Some breads rise just once before they’re baked, and others are given a preliminary rise in a mixing bowl and then in their final shape or in a loaf pan. There is no hard-and-fast rule about this, and the recipes in this book that specify a double rise is only used for recipes in which the bread dough has the consistency to hold together.
The double rise tends to make the crumb more pleasing after the bread is baked because there are no large air pockets. Deflating the dough after the first rise and then allowing it to rise again ensures a more uniform interior.
GETTING A RISE
The right temperature is necessary for dough to rise. There are some tricks to creating a warm enough temperature in a cold kitchen. Set a foil-covered electric heating pad on low and put the bread dough on the foil; put the bread dough in the dishwasher and set it for just the drying cycle; put the bread dough in your gas oven to benefit from the warmth from the pilot light; preheat your oven to 150°F/65.5°C and then turn off the heat just before putting the bread dough in the oven; or put the bread dough in any cold oven over a large pan of boiling-hot water.
Baking the bread: This is fairly straightforward, but keeping an eye on the bread is recommended. Gluten-free bread has a tendency to brown faster than do breads made with wheat flour. That’s why many recipes suggest covering the bread loosely with aluminum foil when it is partially baked.
Certain breads create a more crispy crust if they are baked in a humid environment, which is why most commercial bakeries have ovens that automatically pump in steam during the baking cycle. That is why there is a step in those recipes for adding a pan of boiling water and spraying the sides of the oven.
Cooling the bread: The breads must remain in their loaf pans or on their baking sheets for the amount of time specified or they may literally fall apart in your hands. Without gluten, the network created in the hot oven needs time to firm up. Many times I was tempted to ignore this rule because the bread smelled so wonderful that I wanted to taste it immediately, and I was always sorry.
CRUST TRICKS
Unfortunately the crispy bottom and side crusts on bread baked in a loaf pan have a tendency to soften during the time the loaf sits in the pan after being removed from the oven. The cooling time is essential so that the bread doesn’t fall apart, but if you want to create crispy crust anew, keep the oven on and bake the loaf on a cooling rack set over a baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes after removing it from the pan.
The big difference between sourdough bread and the “normal” bread you buy or bake is the source of the yeast. Most bakers today use cultivated yeast that comes in a jar. The jar contains live yeast fungi that are dormant because they have been dried, preserved, and ground into a powder. You add flour, water, sugar, and salt to the yeast to make a loaf of bread. The water reactivates the yeast fungi, which feed on the sugar and starch to make the bread rise.
Sourdough bread deals with yeast in a completely different way. Sourdough yeast fungi are actually kept alive constantly in a liquid medium called a starter or “mother dough.” It’s the starter that gives sourdough bread its distinctive flavor.
If you want to be totally authentic, the starter begins by capturing wild yeast floating through the air in your house or the wild yeast on foods, such as leaves of red cabbage, that are submerged in the flour and water mixture. The nonauthentic ways of starting a starter are with a few teaspoons of dry yeast or begging a cup of starter from a nice friend.
I think that everyone who wants to know what it’s like to adopt a cat or a dog, let alone have a baby, should start by being forced to successfully maintain a sourdough starter made with wild yeast for at least two months. This may sound severe, but making bread with active sourdough starter is a real commitment. You need to care for it in a loving way by feeding it promptly and giving it just the temperature and climatic conditions it likes.
Using the previous analogy, we’ll call this the conception process of the starter, and a bonus is that you get to eat mashed potatoes, too. There are almost as many theories on how to start a starter as there are particles of yeast in the air. This is one that has never failed me, made with wheat flour or gluten-free ingredients.
3 (8-ounce/227 g) russet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 quart/950 ml filtered water, plus 1 cup/237 ml filtered water
2 teaspoons/10 g fine salt
2 tablespoons/30 ml honey
1¼ cups/198 g brown rice flour, plus more for later feedings, if desired
2 cups/240 g millet flour, plus more for later feedings, if desired
¾ cup/95 g sorghum flour, plus more for later feedings, if desired
¾ cup/90 g teff flour, plus more for later feedings, if desired
Combine the potatoes and the 1 quart/950 ml of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to low and simmer the potatoes for 12 to 15 minutes, or until tender. Drain the potatoes, reserving all the water. Enjoy the potatoes some other way.
Place the water in a large ceramic or plastic bowl and add the salt, honey, 1¼ cups/198 g of the rice flour, 1 cup/120 g of the millet flour, ¾ cup/95 g of the sorghum flour, and ¾ cup/90 g of the teff flour. Whisk the mixture well until smooth. Place an upside-down basket or piece of cheesecloth over the top of the bowl, and place it in a warm, draft-free spot.
After 24 hours, pour off 1 cup/237 ml of the mixture, and add the 1 cup/237 ml of water and remaining 1 cup/120 g of millet flour. After a few days, the starter will become frothy from the yeast’s multiplying. Feed the starter twice a day, each time removing 1 cup/237 ml of liquid and adding 1 cup/237 ml of water and 1 cup/120 g of one of the grains in the initial formulation; do not use one particular grain exclusively.
After 5 days, the starter should be truly fermented and it will develop a strong aroma that is reminiscent of both bread and beer. By the end of the week, the starter should be light yellow and have the consistency of pancake batter, and there should be a watery liquid on the top called hooch. You’ve now done it. Your starter is started.
If you want to keep your starter on the counter, remember that it must be fed twice a day by throwing out 1 cup/237 ml of the mixture and replacing it with water and additional flours. Remember that the starter is a living thing. But most people refrigerate the starter at this point, and at the lower temperature the yeast slows down its reproduction and the starter only needs feeding every 4 or 5 days.
Just remember that every time you remove starter from the bowl, you need to replace it immediately with equal amounts of water and some combination of cereal grain flours. Do not feed the starter with cornstarch, tapioca flour, or potato starch because they don’t supply the necessary protein that the yeast needs to thrive.
CAUTION: Never cover the starter on the counter with anything that is airtight. The yeast is giving off carbon dioxide and if the starter is in a tightly closed jar, the pressure can build up and the container might explode.
An active sourdough starter is one that has fed within the past 12 hours, and that is active enough that it was able to double in size after that feeding.
One cup/237 ml of active sourdough starter has about the same leavening capabilities as 2¼ teaspoons/7 g of yeast. But because the starter has both flour and water in it, subtract ½ cup/120 ml of water and ¾ cup/90 g of dry ingredients (each of the gluten-free flours and starches at the ratio that they are listed to total ¾ cup/90 g) for every 1 cup/237 ml of sourdough starter used in your recipe.
Another role played by gluten in conventional bread is to retain moisture after baking, and gluten-free bread starts to dry out the minute it comes out of the oven.
The best way to keep it moist and fresh is to refrigerate it, once cooled, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap. I’ve discovered that the trick to keeping brown sugar moist—a slice of apple in the bag—also works with gluten-free bread if the loaf is kept refrigerated in a storage container rather than tightly wrapped in plastic.
But you can also slice it, wrap the slices individually in plastic, and freeze them.
