I am doing a cake this weekend for a gluten free baby shower. I've never done gluten free before, so I decided to use a mix. However the mix I have (and now have 6 of) tastes kind of, well, yuck. Not horrible, but kind of bland. On the positive side, it has a very good texture and seems sturdy enough for decorating. Does anyone have any ideas of anything I can add to/modify with this mix?? The mix is from Bob's Red Mill.
http://www.bobsredmill.com/gf-chocolate-cake-mix.html

According to the package directions, you add
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup milk mixed with 1 TBSP. lemon juice
2 large eggs
1/3 cup hot water
2 tsp. vanilla.


These little mixes are a bit expensive and I don't have a ton of time to experiment, so any ideas would be greatly appreciated!! I have been thinking along the lines of adding some pudding mix and a little extra milk. Any other ideas??

I did the same thing for a wedding cake recently. (chocolate g-free) It was a good texture but had a "not so great" taste. I didn't have a clue on how to "spice" it up & was kind of scared to try, so I'll be interested to see what kind of responses you get! Hope you get it all figured out and tasting fabulous!

I also use a mix for gf. I buy Gluten Free Pantry brand and it tastes pretty much like "regular" cake. So far I have always added lemon (checked the label) icing fruit and used Bavarian Cream as a filling.

I have discovered that "modified food starch" which sounds kind of weird s not made from wheat per US FDA standards *IF* the product is made in the US. If its an imported product with that ingredient, then all bets are off.

The celiac people I bake for won't eat anything with modified food starch in it. They just won't take that chance.

I make my normal pound cake type recipe and use bob's red mill gluten free ap flour, with the recommended amount of xantham gum, and it works pretty well. It does have a slight gluten free taste (just a lil off you know) but with filling and frosting you would never notice. Good Luck! Also make sure everything in your recipe is gluten free... most of mine already was, got some gf vanilla, but that was the only special thing besides the flour I had to get.

My hubby recently found out he was allergic to wheat....It kills him every time i bake now. So id like to do something for him soon, anyone every try the Betty Crocker GF cake mix? Preferably can I do some sorta WASC version?

We have had the BC GF cookies, and brownies, and both were quite good. i'm hoping to find him some good cake options!

Modified food starch is one of those gluten myths. PP is correct, if made in the US it is gluten free and not an issue. I have celiac disease and I trust it with no issues. Most of the people I know with celiac trust it too. Unfortunately, there is a lot of misinformation out there about gluten and people avoid many foods that are actually gluten free. These myths are perpetuated by new media articles coming out with lists to avoid. Caramel color is another common gluten myth. It may not be good for anyone, but it doesn't contain gluten if it's made in the US.

I use Better Batter flour and Tom Sawyer flour. They are both premium gluten free flours and substitute much better than other GF mixes on the market. They don't have a beany aftertaste like some of the other gluten free flours. They even have the xanthan gum already included.

I am thinking at this point that I am going to try adding some pudding and maybe some additional flavor extract. While I was at the store picking up some pudding, I looked up a bit about the corn starch/modified food starch thing. Jello brand pudding (made by Kraft) uses corn starch, the store brand listed modified food starch. A gluten free forum I looked up stated that Kraft is really good about listing major allergens if there is a problem, so I decided to go with that. I am hoping that this along with a good filling will make it taste less like cardboard!

For our GF cakes we use our own mix with rice flour, sorghum flour, tapioca starch, and xanthan gum. It takes quite a bit of trial and error to get a custom mix recipe working right, but once you do it is very similar to traditional cake. Try to avoid mixes with potato starch in them, it results in a gritty mouth feel.

FYI pure vanilla extract is always gluten-free.

I've made two from mixes, one for a bride (shower) and one for an autistic child. Dreadful taste. I was so sad for the child because at least adults understand why they have to eat crappy cake. If anyone comes up with a decent recipe, please consider sharing it widely so maybe bakers can give these children and adults a little bright spot in one of their days.

My sister avoids gluten. We discovered a great carrot cake recipe that most can't even tell is gluten free. Also, I have made New York Style cheesecake using gluten free vanilla cookies to make the crust. Delicious.

I ended up going with the vanilla mix rather than the chocolate. I could barely tolerate the smell of the chocolate. The vanilla did smell a bit like a cornbread to me. But I didn't taste it. The batter was certainly more tolerable!! I ended up doing one gluten free cake and then did a seperate non-gluten free cake. I wasn't sure that those folks not used to gluten free would be up for it, not to mention the gluten free mix is expensive!! I did the cake for free as a gift for the shower, so sometimes folks have to take what they can get!!

I was nervous making my first gluten free cake, afraid to make someone not feel well. I invested in 2 books. The Cake Mix Doctor bakes Gluten Free and Easy Gluten Free Baking by Elizabeth Bardone. One for those who don't mind mixes and one for those who prefer scratch all the way. In my area I have to make a 45 minute drive to a Health food supermarket in another city to get the individual ingrediants. I found mixes in my local wallyworld. I found it to be expensive in the initial start up, I also bought seperate 9" round cake pans for use exclusively for gluten free. I made 3 cakes and sent them to a client who has celiacs disease. I used both books (1 from a mix and 2 from scratch). The client was very excited. She loved them all and asked about baking bread for her. She orders her bread online from a place in Wisconsin. I have not had the nerve to try that yet, but will. I made samples and brought them to work as well of all 3 and did not tell anyone they were gluten free. They never knew until after. Hope this helps.