Gluten Allegery, Please Help!!!

Baking By yukisaru Updated 1 Aug 2006 , 3:37pm by yukisaru

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yukisaru Posted 31 Jul 2006 , 7:07pm
post #1 of 16

I am making a (box mix) strawberry jelly roll diploma with a white chocolate gnash (using vanilla coffee flavor) and one of the people eating this is allergic to gluten?? icon_confused.gif ??

I don't think I can change the main cake but I was thinking of making a side cake for them that would be safe. I don't know anything about this allegory or what to do for it. what do I avoid? How can I make sure she can eat too?

What in this recipe is not safe??

Side note do you think a marshmallow filling would taste good with this and strawberry jam???


Thanks for the help.

15 replies
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Beckalita Posted 31 Jul 2006 , 7:22pm
post #2 of 16

Gluten allergy means she cannot eat anything made with wheat, rye, basically any grain. My sister has this problem and has to be very careful as wheat flour is used in many foods that you wouldn't suspect. Her birthday "cakes" are usually either a crustless cheesecake or rice krispies treats.
They do make gluten free cake mixes, but they are expensive and don't bake up the same as a regular mix - so if you really want to make this girl a treat she can enjoy, I would go the rice krispy treat route.

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dodibug Posted 31 Jul 2006 , 7:22pm
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Gluten is a protien found in wheat, barley and rye. When someone has an allergy it's kind of like poison ivy in the intestines causing some less than pleasant results.
You can find gluten free cake mixes but they are costly. My opinion on dealing with a customer with allergies is not to touch it with a ten foot pole. People with this type of allergy are taught how to manage their diet to prevent a reaction so unless you want to ask the person and invest the time and money to learn how to cook for this person and buy the separate supplies you might consider asking the host to provide a separate dessert for this person. The aunt of an old boyfriend of mine had a gluten allergy so severe she could not have her food even cooked with utensils that had touched something with gluten like a pancake or in your case utensils that you've made other cakes with. This was even after cleaning and sanitizing.

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beachcakes Posted 31 Jul 2006 , 7:31pm
post #4 of 16

i made a gluten free cake from a mix for a cousin recently. It was very expensive - $7 for the mix - and very very soft and hard to work with.

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yukisaru Posted 31 Jul 2006 , 7:53pm
post #5 of 16

I think I am in between a rock and a hard place....

This is for my employer for my full time job so I really want to make them happy, plus they paid me more than I asked.

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dodibug Posted 31 Jul 2006 , 8:07pm
post #6 of 16

I would ask the person who is paying you to do the job. I have never tasted a gluten free mix but it may not be what they are expecting especially if they have already tasted your cakes. Just be honest and explain that you don't want to make this person sick, you don't know much about dealing with this type of allergy and you don't have a kitchen set-up that is gluten-free but like Beckalita suggested maybe offer them a small treat for this person. I would think someone with allergies would rather abstain from a piece of cake rather than pay the consequences that go along with this allergy.

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cakedeco Posted 31 Jul 2006 , 8:14pm
post #7 of 16

Here is a cake I made for my autistic child. He has the gluten intolerance

Gluten-free Yellow Cake

1 1/2 cups White rice flour
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoons paking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2/3 mayonnaise
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons gluten-free vanilla extract.

Directions
1. preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and rice flour two 8 or 9 inch round cake pan.

2. Mix the white rice flour, tapioca flour, salt, baking powder and xanthan gum together and set aside.

3. mix the eggs, sugar, and mayonnaise until fluffy. Add the flour mixture, milk and vanilla and mix well. Spread batter into the prepared pans.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Cakes are done when they spring back when lightly touched or when a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clen. Let cool completely then frost. If desired.

I use buttercream. They could have crisco. If you use butter the only butter they could have is the unsalted fleshimans butter.

The ingredients are mostly found in a health food store. Like Whole Foods.

When you buy the tapioca flour make sure it is flour and not the grains. The grains do not get soft in the cake.
Good Luck

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oceanspitfire Posted 31 Jul 2006 , 8:47pm
post #8 of 16

Best results with baking (as I've personally found) are achieved by mixing flours together-
Gluten is of course the 'stuff' that makes cakes and bread fluffy and light and spongy. The less gluten in a flour, the more dense.
Puffed rice is safe, so are grits, rice flour (as the above recipe mentions), tapioca flour, corn starch, corn flour, potato flour (tricky to bake with on its own-requires lots of experimentation), cornmeal, rice flour, hemp flour, yam flour, teff flour, soy flour, chick pea flour, pea flour, masa flour, any flour ground from legumes.

arrowroot, carob, carob flour, carobbean gum, carageenan, cellulose gum.

More non obvious foods that may contain gluten: some flavorings, licorice, commercial chocolate milk, cocoa mixes, non dairy creamers, commercial candies. Beware also for baking, some oils or mixed veggie oils contain wheat-germ oil- olive oil isnt really a tasty choice for cakes lol, but sunflower oil works. Modified foodstarch, caramel coloring, hydrolyzed plant or veggie protein. Avoid foods that list ingredients like 'natural flavorings, flavor extracts, or spice extracts'

Xanthan gum was mentioned in the recipe above- it and guar gum are good binders in gluten-free baking.

That list is not exhaustive- but I'm exhausted so that's all I'm gonna post for now icon_lol.gif burner of a day at work- lol

to close though I think I agree with what was said about staying away from the whole allergy thing entirely. I was thinking if the day ever comes that I start doing this for money, my niche would be healthy cakes/cakes for allergies/diabetics etc. But then I'll probably want a house with 2 kitchens LOL or at the very least have a set of equipment/tools etc all stored separately in a pantry by themselves. And never cook mixed on the same day/do a super duper awesome cleanup of counter/prep area.

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yukisaru Posted 31 Jul 2006 , 9:50pm
post #9 of 16

OUCH! This is going to be difficult. This may end up becoming a reg. customer.

Thank you so very much for the help I will have to talk with her about this. I may look up some alt. ideas because it would just be mean to bring in cakes that she cannot touch all the time and not have something for her. Rice crispes may be a good start but lets see if I cant educated the taste a bit.

This is due Thursday so I will let you all know what I do. If anyone has any more ideas, sketches (doug icon_razz.gif jk), or knows anything that was forgotten please let me know I will keep and eye on this thread.

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dodibug Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 12:43am
post #10 of 16

http://www.uihealthcare.com/reports/internalmedicine/020812celiac.html

Here is some more information for you! I understand that you might feel like it's being mean but I'm sure who ever this is is mature enough to understand and realize they have a disease and because of that they can't expect everyone to be able to make accomodations everywhere. Like I said before, it will also depend on the severity of their allergy as to whether or not they can even eat anything prepared in you kitchen. Just some things for you to think about and not feel bad!

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jackie64 Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 1:09am
post #11 of 16

My 15 year old was diagnosed 1 year ago and we are very careful with everything . About Rice Krispies they contain Malt with is from mainly Barley so if the person has Celiac Disease they should not consume Malt. My daughter loves Pamelas chocolate cake mix and no it is not as light and tender as regular cake but it does taste pretty good. And time you buy all the ingredients to make a gluten free cake it is very expensive too. Any thing gluten free is going to be expensive sometimes 3 to 4 times the regular price of the regular item. HTH icon_smile.gif

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KarenTurnbull Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 4:43am
post #12 of 16

Re: cakedeco's recipe

Watch out for mayo - it generally has gluten in it.

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yukisaru Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 2:26pm
post #13 of 16

What should I watch out for with cheesecake? I was thinking that would be the best if rice crispies will not work.

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Beckalita Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 2:35pm
post #14 of 16

Obviously, if the cheesecake recipe calls for flour, you need to leave that out. I usually line my springform pan with parchment or waxed paper going partway up the sides and totally omit the crust.

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shannas Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 2:49pm
post #15 of 16

I have done work for customers that have their kids on a gluten free(gf)/Casein free(cf) diet and this recipe works very well.

1 cup white rice flour

½ cup sorghum flour

1 cup sugar

½ cup cocoa powder

½ tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp xanthan gum

½ cup oil

½ cup milk substitute

½ cup hot water

2 tsp CF vanilla

Preheat oven to 350°.

Mix together dry ingredients and stir to combine. Then add liquid ingredients and stir until well mixed.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 8 x 8-inch cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cake tests done with a toothpick. (Bake 20-25 minutes for cupcakes.)

Where the lady is on a gf diet you might want to make sure she isn't on a cf diet all. That would eliminate all forms of dairy. CF is the dairy protein that is found in many foods. It is anything made with milk products like: milk, cheese, butter, whey, non-fat milk, etc. If she is on a cf diet then cheesecake would not work.

Hope this helps.

Shanna

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yukisaru Posted 1 Aug 2006 , 3:37pm
post #16 of 16

Everything that has been provided has been very helpful, I thank you all very much for your advice and help on this case. thumbs_up.gificon_biggrin.gif

I am going to call her today and find out more information regarding the type and severity of the allergy.

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