Gluten Free Help...please

Baking By sweettooth622 Updated 14 Nov 2011 , 1:46am by Prima

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sweettooth622 Posted 20 Oct 2011 , 8:48pm
post #1 of 13

Hi, I hope someone on here can give me some suggestions.....
I have several friends from the same family who have Celiacs disease and some other friends who have chosen to go Gluten Free. I'd like to find a good (easy) recipe for gluten free cakes. As of right now I use the Betty Crocker GF cake mix that has been doctored with instant pudding, orange juice, butter, vanilla, & sugar. I bake at 325 and the cakes turn out really moist, but my problem is that they never really cook all the way through the center. If I cook them so that the center does get cooked, then the rest of the cake is over cooked & hard. I've tried using flour nails and the result is always the same. Also, I've never had ANY luck with a cake bigger than an 8" round. What gives?
Can someone shed some light on this undercooked phenomenon or share their GF recipe that may be better?
Thank you

12 replies
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bakingpw Posted 20 Oct 2011 , 9:11pm
post #2 of 13

For scratch cakes, Chef Richard Coppage from CIA (Culinary Institute of America) has written some amazing books on gluten-free baking. The thing with GF cakes is they must be made with a blend of GF "flours". Since you have family members with gluten allergies, you would really benefit from reading these books.

Otherwise, I know King Arthur Flour has GF cake mix and I'm told it is good - you might want to try one of those.

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rhondab Posted 20 Oct 2011 , 9:22pm
post #3 of 13

for variations with GF cake mixes, i reccommend :

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005B19XSS/?tag=cakecentral-20

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Momofjaic Posted 20 Oct 2011 , 9:24pm
post #4 of 13

I also have several families that I bake for that are GFCF I have a great chocolate gf cake that is really good! Taste like a fudge brownie! Very easy to make all u need is a food processor. 1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolat chip ( some have gluteen so be careful) 1 (19 oz) can garbanzo beans rinsed and drained, 4 eggs, 3/4 cups white sugar, 1/2 tsp baking powder and conf. Sugar( optional). Heat oven to 350 and flour 9in (make sure u use gf flour or cocoa). Put garbanzo beans and eggs in fp until smooth. Melt cho. chips in microwave ( I do put a little butter in it about a tbs). Pour in melted chocolate and blend again til smooth. Make sure it all gets blended. ( I forgot I also put in a little bit of vanilla ). Place batter in pan and bake about 45 min til done. You can put conf. sugar as a topping or what ever you want. Good without anything. I don't remember where I got this from sorry. Has a nutty flavor. Hope it helps sorry so long

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Momofjaic Posted 20 Oct 2011 , 10:00pm
post #5 of 13

I forgot add the augar and baking powder in before the melted chocolate. Sorry

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MCurry Posted 20 Oct 2011 , 10:31pm
post #6 of 13

Have you checked your oven temperature using a thermometer to make sure it is actually reading 325 degrees? If you are confident your oven temp is correct try reducing the temperature by 25 degrees to bake the cake next time. Also, this may be an issue of too much liquid (orange juice) and fat (butter) in the cake recipe since you mentioned your doctored the another recipe. That is my initial thought on why it is not working.

Check out Allrecipes and Epicurious for gluten free cake recipes.

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MsGF Posted 20 Oct 2011 , 10:32pm
post #7 of 13

Hi, I have Celiac Disease and bake exclusively gluten-free. The reason your cake isn't cooking all the through is because you are "doctoring" the recipe. Gluten-Free baking is very specific and is not flexible to change like wheat based cakes. Wheat based cakes are very forgiving with added ingredients. Rice based gluten-free cake mix is not. Follow the instructions on the box exactly and I'm sure the cake will be great.

I bake from scratch, not from a box, I find the box cakes very dry, boring and bland, although the Glutino chocolate cake mix is good when made following the instructions.

There are numerous great recipe books on the market, or check out these sites:

www.livingwithout.com Lots of good recipes and tips
www. delightglutenfree.com Recipes & Tips
www.strawberriesareglutenfree.com Loads of Gluten free cake recipes in the 2009 Gluten-Free Cake roundup Section

Hope this helps, Good Luck, Let us know how you make out.

Happy Gluten-Free Baking

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KoryAK Posted 21 Oct 2011 , 12:01am
post #8 of 13

Not what you asked, but something to think about: are you sure that your pudding powder is gluten free? I don't think it is...

Back on topic...

We use a (our usual) chiffon white cake recipe with the flour substituted out 1:1 with rice flour and it's very delicious. We only bake 1" deep layers though, because without the gluten, it gets gummy and heavy in areas when we try to bake it higher. You can still stack up as many 1" layers as you need to complete your cake (we torte anyway, so it just eliminates that process). Perhaps try baking more thinner layers?

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sweettooth622 Posted 21 Oct 2011 , 5:11pm
post #9 of 13

Thank you all that have replied so far icon_biggrin.gif
I did check my oven temp when I first got it, but haven't since. I'll give that a try and then try to bake at a lower temp as well.
I was thinking too much liquid was part of the issue as well, so I'm going to experiment with less next time. I doctor the GF box mixes BECAUSE they turn out on the dry & not very tasty side if I don't. Plus, I'm not much of a scratch baker. I'd rather do the decorating part and leave the baking to someone else if truth be told icon_lol.gif .
And to respond to KoryAK about the pudding being Gluten Free or not...It's Jello brand instant pudding & pie filling and I checked with my friend who has Celiacs and she said it IS gluten free. Please let me know if you know something she doesn't.
Again a big thank you for your suggestions, recipes, and all the links to check out.

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KoryAK Posted 21 Oct 2011 , 9:51pm
post #10 of 13

You're right! We normally use FSA brand pudding powder which says "modified food starch" and I haven't called the company to ask if it's corn or wheat, just assumed for the worst. But I did have a box of Jello brand on the shelf and I just checked it and it says "modified corn starch". Learn something new every day! icon_smile.gif

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jason_kraft Posted 21 Oct 2011 , 9:55pm
post #11 of 13

Kraft (the makers of Jell-o) are one of the better companies out there in terms of clearly labeling allergens in their products.

I believe the Jell-o mixes do contain casein, so if you also need to avoid dairy (as many Celiacs do) that would be an issue.

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EvieliciousCakes Posted 21 Oct 2011 , 10:22pm
post #12 of 13

i dont have a recipe but for my gluten free friends i make it our of Pamelas brand cake mix.... its about $8 a bag and enough for even a 10" round.. i made it without letting the other people tasting it that it was glutten free and they loved it! icon_smile.gif they could not believe it was gluten free.... you can find it in the organic or gluten free area at the super market. Walmart i know carries it too... pamelas has vanilla and chocolate... its good and you can take the stress away from making different things.. i was even able to stack it for a 2 tier fondant cake... hope this helps you icon_smile.gif

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Prima Posted 14 Nov 2011 , 1:46am
post #13 of 13

I recently had to make a gluten free wedding cake for a friend who has Celiacs. I searched high & low for a good Gf flour mixture, and did lots of tests. In the end, I found a great recipe here on CC by dinas27. Here is the link:

http://cakecentral.com/recipes/author/dinas27

I used suoerfine rice flour from the asian market, which cost about $1 a bag. Sifting the flour mixture is absolutely key. I think i sifted mine at least 8 times to make sure the xantham & cornstarch were completely distributed so the rice flour would have binding ability. I used it cup for cup as a replacement for regular flour in a blackberry studded almond buttermilk cake with blackberry filling, & it was delicious! The cake did look different when baking (spongier), but it was light & fluffy, moist, & tasted great!

Best of luck, I hope this helps.

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