Glutton Free

This week I taught of series of baking classes. I am pretty well versed in traditional baking laden with rich egg yolks, creamy butter, sugar and pastry flour. I don't really have much of a sweet tooth. However, when I do indulge, I like rich and complex sweets. The perfect balance of a crispy crust and a creamy custard finished off with a tangy fruit topping is what suits my taste. What can I say, I trained at Le Cordon Bleu, my internship was at an Italian restaurant and my ex boyfriend was a French chef. I am also pretty adept in baking low sugar, low fat and whole grain baked goods. Swapping out pumpkin puree or applesauce for eggs I can do. Combining flax seeds, wheat germ and spelt flour with a basic banana nut muffin recipe I can also do. I love using fresh seasonal fruits whenever possible. To do a little brushing up on my traditional baking I made a a few tarts on Sunday. They were impeccable. Hey, even Cooking Channel thought so. They featured my pear tart on their blog this week. Yeah! Oh, and speaking of Cooking Channel, did you catch me on the season two premier of Eat St.? No worries if you didn't. It will be airing a few more times.

Seckel pear tart with Meyer lemon frangipane & almonds.

Crust is whole wheat pastry. Sweetener used was light agave.

Now, let's talk about gluten free baking. That stuff it like my culinary kryptonite. I just look at the long list of ingredients and I get dizzy. Or worse anxiety sets in for fear of missing a key element necessary to creating a somewhat palatable finished product. First let me say that I count my blessings everyday that I am a healthy, allergy free individual with no food aversions. Now, on the flip side I know a few folks that break out in hives at the mere mention of AP flour. I feel bad for people that need to be so leery of every single food choice they make. Not just baked goods, but any other ingredients where some form of a wheat derivative is used. Having allergies is one thing. Now, what irks me is folks that are trying out a so called "gluten free diet". Come on, what the hell is that?

Too many people are misinformed and think that gluten makes you fat or is more filling and therefore switch over to a more gluten free lifestyle. Ok, here is my thought on this. Yes, gluten free recipes (good ones) usually incorporate more ancient grains like teff, quinoa, and amaranth. However, sometimes these recipes also incorporate lots of starches like tapioca, corn and arrowroot that are stripped of any nutritional content. And eek the binders, xanthan gum. Do you know what that is? A polysaccharide (complex sugar) inoculated with a funky little organism and then what it "gives off" is what is collected to then create a binding structure like gluten would provide in wheat. Too much weird science. I know you're thinking, 'hey that's like yeast, so what's the big deal?"  The deal is that yeast is naturally occurring and those gums and starches are not so great for our digestive systems, and hey guess what now studies are showing that some people are sensitive to the gums used in gluten free products. What's a person to do?

Well, I attempted to teach and try some gluten free recipes. And hey I'll be the first to tell you they flopped. We had crepes that would not bend. Empanada dough that cracked. Pie dough that tasted like play dough. And a cookie recipe that disintegrated on contact. Hmm, not for me. I try to accommodate some learning in all of this but when it is something that I am not well versed in, or can't get excited about, it makes it difficult to rave about chickpea flour and guar gum. Where are the toasty, nutty notes like those from a freshly baked baguette? The tender crust of a pie or a tart dough is more like a dog biscuit left out in the sun to dry and die.

Well, for the sake of learning and growing, (which you should always do if you want to be a better teacher and/or baker) I will still experiment with some gluten free baking. Hopefully finding recipes that do not require any of the starches or gums that creep me out. It helps if you can rely on the protein structure of an egg. Now if you want to try your hand at gluten free- vegan baking I say stop. Go eat the box the flour came in and save yourself, and your taste buds any trauma. There are just some things that you can't substitute for the real thing now matter how much you try. Pastry cream should be luscious and creamy. The one my students made using vegan milk and tapioca starch slapped the side of the bowl and crawled back in like the blob. The science project stayed in the bowl while everyone enjoyed the traditional pastry cream I demoed straight out of the bowl with fresh berries. I am planning a series of holiday baking workshops for my students. The goal is to have more hands on practice with alternative recipes and the baked goods created will be donated to local food pantries and other local charities. I really hope we get some good recipes before the workshop. It would be bad to donate something, and the recipient gives it back. Not very cheerful eh?

Fromage blanc & wildflower honey tart with figs & pistachios.

Not vegan nor gluten free.