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Hello!
I’ve been promising a newsletter about gluten free things in your steam ovens since Insiders was launched. If you’re one of the people who’s been eagerly awaiting it, today’s your lucky day!
I would like to preface this topic by saying that gluten free cooking is an enormous thing to cover. I’m not going to even attempt to do it full justice in one newsletter, rather I’ll be digging into a rundown of how I view gluten free baking as it relates to my steam oven. Oh, and yes, I have a fabulous GF cake recipe for you. 😉
Why gluten free baking in particular; why not gluten free dinners or bread or something else? Well, baking is the thing I get asked about the most by gluten free cooks, so it’s where we’ll start. It can be a minefield working out how to make a GF cake that’s as good or better than its gluten-y kin, without resorting to heavier, nut-based options. Also, don’t most good things start or end with cake?! I promise, though, that I’ll also get to GF bread and any other GF topics you’d like covered in future newsletters.
One last thing about this issue’s theme: most of you won’t be surprised to know that I am NOT exclusively gluten free. What I am, however, is a happy ‘gluten free experimenter’ for others. Several friends and family members are celiac or gluten intolerant, so GF dishes are a regular at my house. Also, my lovely Mum has been GF for a long time, and has contributed a lot of info and background to today’s newsletter (thanks Mum!).
Happy gluten free steam oven baking, see you here again soon.
Emily x
One of the common misconceptions about gluten free (GF) baking is that the absence of gluten equals an unpleasant taste or texture in cakes, muffins and cookies. Let’s dispel that notion straight up. Gluten free foods aren’t delicious despite being GF; they can be delicious while also being GF. The secret lies in understanding the ingredients and techniques that make it work.
Today we’re going to explore a little science behind GF baking and discuss the role of various flours and binders in making fantastic baked goods. Then I’m going to share the critical things I’ve learnt about GF baking when it comes to using combi steam oven settings.
Whether you’re celiac, gluten intolerant or you need to bake gluten free for a friend or family member, this article should take you one step closer to GF creations that are both delicious and beautiful.
This cake is a nod to the most popular cake on my website, Simple Steam Oven Chocolate Cake. It’s not a direct translation of that recipe, but the key elements – soft, springy texture and deep chocolate flavor – are very similar. If the mark of a great gluten free cake is that the non-GF people are sold on it as much as the GF people in your life, this fits the bill perfectly.
The Season Flip
Two gorgeous seasonal bakes which are, or can be made, gluten free.
Southern Hemisphere
I saw this pretty custard-based cake on Instagram, and it was too good not to share given strawberries are now firmly in season where I live in Western Australia. I’m yet to bake this, but it’s on my list over the next couple of weeks. Perhaps we should all bake it together?! If you’d like to make it gluten free, Katarina has a magical looking GF filo pastry recipe on her blog, and you can swap the small amount of flour in the custard for cornstarch.
Northern Hemisphere
I love a good pumpkin bread, and with pumpkins in season in the Northern Hemisphere (or a can of pumpkin puree), this is a winner. Bonus, if you don’t want to use xanthan gum in your GF bakes, this recipe does without it and still has a lovely springy texture. The maple glaze on the top is simple and perfect.
A Thing I'm Loving
There are lots of things I use, eat, read about and enjoy in the kitchen that aren’t specifically related to steam ovens! Perhaps you’d like to know about some of them?
This is for all of you in the USA – Target has released a gorgeous and very affordable new collection of cookware in their Figmint range. I’m a little envious that these aren’t available in Australia; if they were I’d have bought a set already!
You can see the lovely colors and full range right here (and if you get your hands on any, I’d love to hear if it’s as practical as it is pretty!).
*note: some of the links to A Thing I’m Loving are affiliate links, meaning I make a small commission if you make a purchase from that business. But rest assured I will never, ever share something I don’t personally recommend.
Ask Me Anything (AMA)
Here’s your opportunity to ask me anything you like related to combi steam cooking!
I encourage you to submit questions, and will do my best to answer as many as possible. Though I may not be able to get to every single question, I carefully curate ones which are relevant and represent a variety of topics. We all learn from each other, and I often learn new things based on questions from all of you!
If you have an AMA question, please email it to [email protected]. Make sure you include the phrase INSIDERS AMA in the subject line so I can collate and read all your submissions.
I have had a couple of queries about whether prior AMA questions and answers can be collated somewhere on the Insiders website (not just inside the newsletters). It’s a great idea; bear with me while I figure out the best way to format it and make that happen!
This edition’s questions:
From Cathy, for Julie, in response to last issue’s AMA on Miele oven accessories (ooh how I love some crowd-sourced tips when it comes to steam oven cooking!):
Just read your current newsletter (loved it, of course!) and I wanted to comment on Julie’s question about pans/accessories for the Miele 24″ CSO. I have that oven and was so disappointed when my very pricey pizza steel would not fit. What I discovered was that I could turn the standard Miele rack upside down and it therefore cleared the rails and fit just fine. The same worked for my standard sheet pans…turned the rack over and they slid right in. Could you pass this info to her?
From Patricia
Q: I understand completely how difficult baking gluten free may be, having been GF for well over 15 years. Not really a question but a request: when experimenting with gluten free baking recipes, please be aware of the amount of starches used in a recipe. Starches such as tapioca, potato, and non gmo/gmo corn, for example. Without asking you to go down a rabbit hole of gut sensitivities, too many starches potentially contribute to nutritional deficiencies in people with impaired digestion.
One other potential offender is oat flour or whole oats. Very few oat products are truly gluten free. Allowable gluten contamination in the US, 20 ppm is significant for gluten sensitive/celiac humans.
When glutenful, I enjoyed cooking and baking. Complexities of gluten free baking makes baking not as much fun. I look forward to any gf recipes you successfully create.
With regard to bread, if a good gf recipe for baguettes or boules using the steam oven existed, bonus if no gums are used, you would have my eternal gratitude!
Thank you for all of your hard work to create steam oven recipes.
A: I really appreciated this email and although not specifically a question it’s a perfect fit for this issue’s topic so I want to talk about it.
I know high levels of starchy flours can be a problem for many GF people (actually, just many people in general!). The really hard thing is that ‘too much’ for one person can be just fine for another. And no starch at all equals poorly textured baked goods.
The GF flour blend I most commonly use, linked above from The Loopy Whisk, contains 50% starch flour. But I have also had success with a blend from Katarina’s cookbook which is only 40% starch flour based. It contains millet flour, which (for me) is harder to find, therefore I don’t use it as an everyday GF blend.
If you’d like a very detailed rundown of starch flours, which gives an idea of different things to substitute them with, I’d again recommend Kat’s book Baked to Perfection. There is an extensive section on flours with a table showing their protein, water-absorption and starch/protein categorization.
As to the oat debate, most oats here in Australia are processed in facilities which also house gluten grains, so I steer clear of them when cooking gluten free.
And bread! I’m on a mission to create a GF loaf that’s genuinely tasty. As soon as I nail it there’ll be a whole newsletter on GF bread, I promise.