Gluten-free Cooking for Kids

gluten free flour mixes

Hi Megan,

Thanks for your comments on the book.  Most gluten free flours are a mixture of potato, cornflour, tapioca and rice flour.  As for the actual proportions I am not totally sure.  There are many books on the market which suggest making your own mixes, but I found this to be a real pain- having to source the different flours and then finding I was out of one kind and couldn't make a recipe.  If you can't find a ready mixed gluten flour, then I would suggest starting with equal proportions of these flours and then adjusting a bit according to the sort of results you get.  It's worth noting that all of these flours have different properties.  Cornflour and potato flour are very fine and are neutral in flavour.  They generally need a  more robust flour to give the mix a bit of umph.  Tapioca is good for structure and rice flour adds flavour.  I personally am not a great fan of rice flour as it tends to give baked goods a gritty texture.  But in smaller amounts it is quite good to use.  If you look on a packet of ready mixed gluten free flour it will list the ingredients in descending order.  This will give you an idea of where to start, but it will be a case of trial and error.  We are very limited in the UK in terms of the flours available and I gather that Teff and sourghum are pretty good for baking, so if you can get a hold of these, definately try them.

Thanks for your post and I will try and do a summary of all the different flours available and an overview of their properties which I am sure will be useful for all of you out there who want or have to make up your own flour combinations.

Design your own flour mix

I am a big fan of Doves Farm gluten free  flours as I feel they are very good quality, natural  and perfom well in baking.  I sometimes get indiividuals on my courses who have additional sensitivities/intolerances  such as corn, maize and potato for example.  This is where making up your very own special flour blend comes in handy.  To get the best results you will need to do lots of experimenting. Unfortunately the gluten free market is very small and therefore further limiting ingredients to accommodate other intolerances can turn into a time cosuming business, for which there is not much monetary gain.  I know that not all of us think this way,but manufacturers do need to thnk about profit, or else, there is no point being in business.  I know that there are lower tolerances in place in other countries- but I think achieving 20 ppm is very difficult to do, so I think we could show a little appreciation for the fact that it has been lowered.  In time, it will no doubt be lowered again.