How To Rescue A Bad Gluten-Free Bake
So I have a bit of a thing about waste (as in, don't). I can't bear to see ingredients go out of date, a new recipe fail or good food not get eaten.
Admittedly, we've all made baking errors, and if we hadn't we probably wouldn't have learned to bake, but there comes a point where one has to concede a recipe just won't work. For me this is usually when I've tried to swap like-for-like gluten-free flour in a normal recipe.
On this occasion, hubby had kindly had a go at making crumpets with instructions from Jamie Oliver's website (I believe it was this one). He'd used gluten-free bread flour instead of the strong flour recommended and (sadly) it hadn't worked. Either the crumpets came out raw in the middle or they burnt.
On his fourth attempt, I asked if I might use the leftover mixture to make a loaf of bread. He agreed. And this is what happened...
I greased a loaf tin (a large one, thinking the mixture would double in size whilst baking) and sprinkled a seed mix around the sides. I poured the mixture in and popped it in the oven at 190 degrees for 45 minutes.
I must say, I was quite pleased when I saw it. That is, until I took it out of the tin...
It wasn't exactly the height I was expecting. But it smelled good and so I waited for it to cool before slicing it. And what can I say? It was absolutely scrumptious! The family finished the whole loaf off in one sitting (which is triumph indeed given the dodgy record they have for eating anything shop bought).
But! There are two things I'm still wondering about. Firstly, if I'd used a smaller loaf tin, would the bread have come out in a more agreeable shape? And secondly, if I tried to make a gluten-free loaf from a bread recipe, would it taste (and look) any different?
I suppose there's only one way to find out. That is, if I can bring myself to use the last of the gluten-free bread flour...
If you've been experimenting in the kitchen with a coeliac-friendly loaf, do let me know below how you get on (preferably with pics)!
