jackhonky

Hi there. Sweet Rice flour, brown rice flour and white rice flour are all different. Brown rice flour and white rice flour are fairly interchangeable, but I've found that you don't necessarily need to have as fine a ground flour with the white rice flour. I used Bob's Red Mill white flour because it's very easy to find at the local grocery store, while I try to avoid using Bob's Red Mill brown rice flour as it's too coarse and tastes a bit gritty (other's might disagree, but I can tell the difference). Both brown and white rice flour are basically uncooked rice, ground to a powder. Just as there is a difference in brown rice and white rice, you'll find a difference in the flours as well (though I don't think it's as pronounced as the whole grain rices, the brown rice flour does have a faint hint of nuttiness from the brown rice. It's very subtle though). Sweet rice flour is made from a different rice grain, called glutinous rice. It's very starchy. If you have ever been to a Chinese dim sum brunch, the sticky rice that comes wrapped in a banana/bamboo leaf is glutinous rice. Glutinous rice flour is what you use to make mochi. I have a post on my blog where I make mochi, and talk a little bit about sweet rice flour. My linkhttp://eatthelove.blogspot.com/2010/03/mochi-mochi.htmll You can find it in Asian grocery stores for really cheap (I think my 2 lb bag was 95¢ or something like that, and that was at my expensive asian store, not the ghetto cheap one I sometimes frequent). You can use sweet rice flour (it's gluten-free) for baked goods, but only if the recipe is designed specifically for it. I wouldn't use it as substitute for the gluten free flour mixture I cite above. As for the recipe and substitution, in theory you should be able to substitute the gluten free flour mixture that I gave you for AP flour, but I would experiment with it first. If you don't want to waste too many ingredients in making cake layers, I would cut the recipe in 1/2 or 1/4 (whatever is convenient for your recipe measurements) and make cupcakes. That way you can test the recipe without as much waste. Keep in mind, because of the grind of the flours, one cup of the gluten free flour isn't necessarily going to equate to one cup of the AP flour. To be exact, I would substitute by weight instead of volume. That way you know you are getting an exact substitution. Finally, I am not a personal fan of margarine, because I find the "buttery" taste too artificial (at least for the cheap supermarket margarines). That said, I think it's very much a personal thing. I have had success baking with Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks, but other than that, I tend to stay away from most margarines (If you go the margarine/shortening route, pick a higher end one that is trans-free and non hydrogenated like Earth Balance or Spectrum Organic). Otherwise, I've had good experiences with the refined coconut oil. I can't comment on plain palm oil, as I've never used it as is (only as part of a blend in other shortenings or margarine sticks). And yes, make sure to read ALL the ingredients list. Wheat and gluten pop up EVERYWHERE. Once you start paying attention you realize it's quite pervasive. I baked kosher for passover recently and my jewish friend also didn't eat kitniyot which mean I couldn't use any leaveners NOR could I use any soy, rice or corn. It was a fun challenge. I ended using coconut oil and coconut milk. In the end, have fun with the different flours. I recently have been experimenting with sorghum flour and find it's a great substitute as well for baked goods (I've only made brownies and blondies with it so far). The GF flour recipe I gave you is a really good standard mix, that a lot of people use, mostly because it's fairly neutral in flavor, and the ingredients are easy to come by. But once you start exploring different flours, you'll find your palette of flavors expand exponentially. If you really want to start exploring alternative flours, I highly recommend a recently released book called Good to the Grain, Baking with Whole Grain Flours, by Kim Boyce. She's a former pastry baker at Spago (working under Sherry Yard, who I LOVE) and Campanile and each chapter of the book is broken down into chapters that deal with different flours (from millet to sorghum to amaranth to teff). It doesn't specifically have any recipes for gluten free baking, but it's a great resource for learning about gluten free (and alternative) flours. And, yes, word gets around! I started baking vegan and gluten free for a few friends, and now it's pretty much expected that whenever I have an event, I will have desserts that EVERYONE can enjoy. I don't mind, but it's rather amusing how tight knit the community can be. And it's a fun challenge! Good luck! My linkhttp://www.eatthelove.com

Hi there. I bake gluten free sometimes and vegan sometimes. In fact my most recent blog entry is for a gluten-free muffin. http://eatthelove.blogspot.com/2010/05/kiwi-lime-marmalade-filled-muffins.html Here are my recommendations: If you are looking for a cake that is suitable for a wedding, and don't want to go with anything exotic (mochi) or super european (almond meal - which IS a great alternative but might not be a traditional wedding cake that your client is looking for) use a mix of: 2 cups of superfine brown rice flour 2/3 cups potato starch (NOT potato flour - that's something different), 1/3 tapioca flour. It super important you use a superfine brown rice flour or the cake will be gritty. I found that Bob's Red Mill brown flour is too coarse. Authentic Foods is probably ground the finest. This combination is probably the best recipe to simulate white wheat flour. For every 1 cup of this wheat free flour that you use, add 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum for making a cake. This is SUPER important. It's why your cakes were crumbly in the beginning. You need something to bind the ingredients together (which is what the gluten is suppose to do). I would actually stay away from both the gluten free pre-mix flours, as they often times have garbanzo bean or fava bean flour in them, both which can impart a bitter taste to the baked good. It's not so noticeable in cookies and muffins, but for a cake, they will be more pronounced. As for substituting dairy, soy, almond, rice or hemp milk all work. Butter usually isn't a problem if they are lactose intolerant but if they are lactose allergic (as someone ChrisZ explained earlier) you'll want to avoid it. Try non-hydrogenated refined coconut oil. It has a similar mouth feel to butter. Be sure to get refined coconut oil. The unrefined oil tastes like coconut (which isn't a bad thing if you like coconut, but if you don't want that flavor - go with refined). I highly recommend checking out the Babycakes Cookbook that Hungry C recommends, though a lot of their recipes call for spelt flour which wheat allergic people can tolerate, but gluten allergic people can not. Better yet, check out Cybele Pascal's book The Allergen-Free Baker's Handbook. It's probably an invaluable cookbook for baking for people with allergens of all sort. Once you create a wedding cake for someone who is gluten/dairy allergic, word will spread in the "gluten free, allergen free"community and you'll probably end up with people asking you for more. Cybele Pascal's book is an excellent resource and a good starter book for baking for people with food sensititivities. Finally, be sure when you are making the cake that you are aware of cross contaminations. Depending on how sensitive your client is, any speck of wheat or gluten that can migrate into the batter could potentially be an issue. Basically just make sure you clean all your equipment thoroughly. Also check the label of all ingredients. For instance Trader Joe's almond meal doesn't have any gluten ingredients in it (in fact, it's labelled as such) but is processed on equipment that is shared with wheat and dairy. That could be a problem. This could also be a problem when stacking the layers of the cake. If they are truly dairy allergic, you may want to make the entire frosting out of a dairy alternative fat, so there isn't any cake frosting cross contamination. Also be aware that gluten free cakes tend to be not rise as much (I always use more 1 1/2x the leavening agent in the original recipe to compensate) and potentially might be more delicate and fragile. In other words, you might not want to make it your bottom layer! Gluten free Blogs and resources to check out: http://glutenfreegirl.blogspot.com/ http://www.cybelepascal.com/ http://www.elanaspantry.com/ http://thedaringkitchen.com/forums/daring-kitchen/alternative-baking Good luck! I hope this helps. My blog: http://www.eatthelove.com

I make a coffee caramel ice cream, taken from an old Gourmet magazine - though it gives instructions to add a caramel swirl, but I didn't bother, as the ice cream is sweet and rich enough as is. It's a bit more labor intensive than the other recipes posted, as you have to make a burnt sugar caramel first. Melt the sugar by itself in a heavy pot until deep golden brown (but not black - don't burn it - swirl the pan to make sure all of the sugar melts but don't stir it). Remove from heat then add cream and milk down the side (be careful as the caramel will steam and harden up). Simmer until all the caramel is dissolved. Then add the cream mixture to lightly beaten eggs in a slow stream while whisking - and then cook on low until the custard reaches 170 on a candy thermometer (careful not to boil). Mix the espresso powder and vanilla into the custard, and strain through sieve. Cover the surface and refrigerate until cold (3 to 48 hours). Freeze with your ice cream maker as directed, and then leave in the freezer overnight. I found that it takes awhile for the custard to harden properly. The burnt sugar caramel adds a nice dimension to the ice cream. Mmmm. My ice cream maker died, and I need to go out and get another one, or I'd start it up and make it right now! Huh. I should put Ice Cream Maker on my Christmas list now that I think about it! 1 1/4 cups sugar 2 3/4 cups heavy cream 1 cup whole milk 4 large eggs 3 tablespoons instant espresso powder 1/2 teaspoon vanilla let me know what you think!

You could try adding some nonfat dry powdered milk to the whipped cream. I haven't tried it myself, but I have dim recollections reading about it on the Epicurious forum website, and in a book somewhere. Try 2 teaspoons of nonfat dry milk for each cup of cream before you whip. The dry milk might work if you don't like the taste of gelatin or other stabilizers in your whipped cream.