It’s Time for Gluten Free Holiday Baking!
Over the past several weeks, I’ve provided you with information about naturally gluten free Superfoods for weight loss.
With the holidays approaching and our weight in check, it’s time to turn our attention to holiday baking! In my upcoming "Gluten Free Gigi's 2011 Holiday Guide", available tomorrow, you’ll find lots of tips, shortcuts, and tricks to make your holiday baking a breeze! (Sign up to be notified as soon as the Holiday Guide is released!)
With quite a few recipes for delish baked goods in the Guide and with holiday baking getting into full swing, I thought it would be the perfect time to discuss leavening agents, a topic essential to all our baking. If you understand leavening, especially when baking gluten free and for other special diets, you’re armed with key knowledge to create anything you want! The best part is that it’s really not complicated at all to make the BEST gluten free baked goods you’ve ever tasted!
With the holidays approaching and our weight in check, it’s time to turn our attention to holiday baking! In my upcoming "Gluten Free Gigi's 2011 Holiday Guide", available tomorrow, you’ll find lots of tips, shortcuts, and tricks to make your holiday baking a breeze! (Sign up to be notified as soon as the Holiday Guide is released!)
With quite a few recipes for delish baked goods in the Guide and with holiday baking getting into full swing, I thought it would be the perfect time to discuss leavening agents, a topic essential to all our baking. If you understand leavening, especially when baking gluten free and for other special diets, you’re armed with key knowledge to create anything you want! The best part is that it’s really not complicated at all to make the BEST gluten free baked goods you’ve ever tasted!
What Gives Rise to the Best Gluten Free Baked Goods?
Leavening agents, of course! But what does that mean? Basically, a leavening agent is anything added to baked goods to cause them to rise.
The three most common leaveners are yeast, baking soda, and baking powder. Yeast is considered a biological leavener, while baking powder and baking soda are considered chemical leaveners.
I’m focusing on chemical leaveners in this article and will cover yeast and gluten free yeast breads in a separate post soon.
The three most common leaveners are yeast, baking soda, and baking powder. Yeast is considered a biological leavener, while baking powder and baking soda are considered chemical leaveners.
I’m focusing on chemical leaveners in this article and will cover yeast and gluten free yeast breads in a separate post soon.
Chemistry - I Mean Leavening - 101
The truth is, most of us pick up a recipe, make it, and if it turns out fine, we don’t give much thought to whether or not it uses baking soda or baking powder, or even a combination of the two.
For me, that’s not the case. As a trained scientist, it’s my job to question how things work, even in the kitchen!
Even if you don’t wonder "how it works" when you bake, I know having the answers will improve your baking results. That’s why I’m sharing them with you! I want you to know how easy it really is to create fantastic, healthy gluten free baked goods at home. So let’s get to it...
For me, that’s not the case. As a trained scientist, it’s my job to question how things work, even in the kitchen!
Even if you don’t wonder "how it works" when you bake, I know having the answers will improve your baking results. That’s why I’m sharing them with you! I want you to know how easy it really is to create fantastic, healthy gluten free baked goods at home. So let’s get to it...
Baking Soda
Remember that volcano you made in elementary school? You know the one, the baking soda-vinegar volcano that produced all those crazy bubbles?! Well, that fizz is exactly why baking soda is used as a leavener in some baked goods.
That bubbling happens because, when baking soda combines with an acid and a liquid (think vinegar, honey, yogurt, buttermilk, chocolate), a chemical reaction occurs that causes the release of carbon dioxide gas... those fizzy bubbles you remember from your elementary school volcano.
So, when you add baking soda to a cake batter that has buttermilk in it, for example, that same reaction happens... INSIDE YOUR CAKE!
Those little bubbles expand in the batter like tiny air balloons pushing the batter up, up, up. This also adds a degree of tenderness.
There is a word of caution, though. Remember how fast that volcano erupted? The same goes for the baking soda-acid reaction in your baked goods. It’s fast and furious, so make sure you get your batter right into the oven as soon as it’s mixed and in the baking pan or else your experiment might fall flat! Also, heat from the oven causes the carbon dioxide bubbles to expand, so a preheated oven is a must!
It’s also a baking-trivia must for you to know that all the baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) you will ever use comes from Green River, Wyoming, from a naturally occurring mineral called trona. Trona is mined and refined to yield the powdery white substance used in everything from household cleaners to facial cleansers. There really are an endless number of uses for baking soda. For example, it is actually a component of...
That bubbling happens because, when baking soda combines with an acid and a liquid (think vinegar, honey, yogurt, buttermilk, chocolate), a chemical reaction occurs that causes the release of carbon dioxide gas... those fizzy bubbles you remember from your elementary school volcano.
So, when you add baking soda to a cake batter that has buttermilk in it, for example, that same reaction happens... INSIDE YOUR CAKE!
Those little bubbles expand in the batter like tiny air balloons pushing the batter up, up, up. This also adds a degree of tenderness.
There is a word of caution, though. Remember how fast that volcano erupted? The same goes for the baking soda-acid reaction in your baked goods. It’s fast and furious, so make sure you get your batter right into the oven as soon as it’s mixed and in the baking pan or else your experiment might fall flat! Also, heat from the oven causes the carbon dioxide bubbles to expand, so a preheated oven is a must!
It’s also a baking-trivia must for you to know that all the baking soda (Sodium bicarbonate) you will ever use comes from Green River, Wyoming, from a naturally occurring mineral called trona. Trona is mined and refined to yield the powdery white substance used in everything from household cleaners to facial cleansers. There really are an endless number of uses for baking soda. For example, it is actually a component of...
Baking Powder!
That’s right! Baking powder is a mixture of baking soda and an acid (usually cream of tartar) along with cornstarch.
Now that you know baking soda plus an acid equals tiny bubbles (like in the volcano), you’re probably thinking, Wait a minute! If baking powder contains both of those things, why isn’t that can of baking powder in my pantry fizzing up a storm?!
Well, remember, in order for the fizzy reaction to take place, we need a liquid. That liquid will be the batter you add the baking powder to. Cornstarch is added to baking powder to keep the baking soda-acid mixture nice and dry until you’re ready to use it.
This combination of baking soda and an acid in baking powder is especially helpful when there are no acidic ingredients called for in a recipe.
Most of the baking powder you’ll find in your grocery is “double acting”, which means that it reacts to liquid when you add it to your batter and a second phase reaction occurs once your batter goes into the hot oven where heat will make those tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas expand even more. Just like with baking soda, this is what causes your batter to rise!
Because the reaction happens in two phases and most of the rising action happens in the oven with baking powder, getting your batter into the oven is not as time-sensitive as it is with baking soda. A 15 to 30 minute delay won’t change the outcome of your baked items when using baking powder.
Pretty simple, isn’t it?
Now that we know why some recipes call for one or the other, why do some recipes use BOTH?!
Let’s take a look...
Now that you know baking soda plus an acid equals tiny bubbles (like in the volcano), you’re probably thinking, Wait a minute! If baking powder contains both of those things, why isn’t that can of baking powder in my pantry fizzing up a storm?!
Well, remember, in order for the fizzy reaction to take place, we need a liquid. That liquid will be the batter you add the baking powder to. Cornstarch is added to baking powder to keep the baking soda-acid mixture nice and dry until you’re ready to use it.
This combination of baking soda and an acid in baking powder is especially helpful when there are no acidic ingredients called for in a recipe.
Most of the baking powder you’ll find in your grocery is “double acting”, which means that it reacts to liquid when you add it to your batter and a second phase reaction occurs once your batter goes into the hot oven where heat will make those tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas expand even more. Just like with baking soda, this is what causes your batter to rise!
Because the reaction happens in two phases and most of the rising action happens in the oven with baking powder, getting your batter into the oven is not as time-sensitive as it is with baking soda. A 15 to 30 minute delay won’t change the outcome of your baked items when using baking powder.
Pretty simple, isn’t it?
Now that we know why some recipes call for one or the other, why do some recipes use BOTH?!
Let’s take a look...
Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder
When we set out to bake a cake, quick bread, or muffins, what we really want is a tasty result. Layer cakes should typically have a light, fine texture, while quick breads tend to be more firm and dense. The outcome depends largely on which leavening agent we use.
Baking soda is used in recipes that contain an acid like buttermilk. If added to recipes that do not contain an acid, baking soda will cause the batter to taste bitter and fail to rise.
Because baking powder is part baking soda and part acid, you don’t get a bitter taste when it is used as a leavener because the acid is present to neutralize the baking soda’s bitterness.
Most biscuit and cake recipes call for baking powder because baking soda alone does not have the leavening power to make these baked goods rise, while most cookie recipes call for baking soda. Brown sugar, molasses, and cocoa powder are acids commonly found in cookie recipes that react with the soda enough to yield gentle leavening to a small item like a cookie and eliminate any risk of bitter flavor.
When both of these leaveners are called for in a recipe, the baking powder is doing most of the work in terms of leavening. The baking soda helps to neutralize other acids in the recipe and lend a degree of tenderness to the finished product.
Baking soda is used in recipes that contain an acid like buttermilk. If added to recipes that do not contain an acid, baking soda will cause the batter to taste bitter and fail to rise.
Because baking powder is part baking soda and part acid, you don’t get a bitter taste when it is used as a leavener because the acid is present to neutralize the baking soda’s bitterness.
Most biscuit and cake recipes call for baking powder because baking soda alone does not have the leavening power to make these baked goods rise, while most cookie recipes call for baking soda. Brown sugar, molasses, and cocoa powder are acids commonly found in cookie recipes that react with the soda enough to yield gentle leavening to a small item like a cookie and eliminate any risk of bitter flavor.
When both of these leaveners are called for in a recipe, the baking powder is doing most of the work in terms of leavening. The baking soda helps to neutralize other acids in the recipe and lend a degree of tenderness to the finished product.
What if My Baked Goods Fall Flat?
There are an endless number of reasons this could happen, but here are two very common issues I’ve seen occur.
For flat cookies, too much baking soda may be culprit. Too much baking soda could mean too many bubbles, which would cause the cookies to rise earlier than their structure can support, ultimately causing them to fall flat.
Flat cakes could be the result of many things, but one thing I have learned in my nearly 30 years of baking is that if you change other ingredients in the cake, you will likely need to change the leavening agent(s).
For example, let’s say you have a terrific plain cake recipe that turns out perfectly every time, so you decide you’d like to use that base recipe for a more exciting flavor profile.
You set out to make a mocha cake, substituting cooled coffee for the milk called for in your original fool-proof recipe. Of course, you must add a bit of cocoa powder for a rich chocolate flavor as well. This time, your cake comes out pathetic and deflated.
You know you remembered to put the 3 teaspoons of baking powder called for in the recipe, so there was plenty of leavener in the batter... What gives?!
By replacing a neutral ingredient, like milk, with an acid like coffee, you changed the delicate balance of your batter. Adding cocoa also increases the acid level of the batter.
Because baking powder already has acid in it (remember baking powder is baking soda, cream of tartar, and cornstarch) to neutralize the leavening power of the baking soda it contains, adding more acid to the batter throws the whole reaction off and results in a flat failure of a cake.
The solution? In this case, you could simply reduce the amount of baking powder called for and add a bit of baking soda. You could decrease the baking powder by 1/2 teaspoon, then add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to neutralize the newly introduced acids (coffee and cocoa).
Of course, these are just the basics. There is so much more to the chemistry of baking than we have room to cover in a single post. But I hope you get the message I’m trying to deliver here: If you're thinking about it, don't be afraid to experiment and have fun with your gluten free and special diets baking. Don’t let what you might not know intimidate you in your own kitchen. Get comfortable. Bake a half-recipe if you want to experiment without the risk of “wasting” ingredients. Allow yourself to have the learning experience of creating that not-so-perfect baked good. If you don’t try, you’ll never know. Besides, you can always experiment when you’re home alone and get rid of the evidence before anyone returns!
Happy baking and, remember, I'm always here if you're trying something and have any questions!
For flat cookies, too much baking soda may be culprit. Too much baking soda could mean too many bubbles, which would cause the cookies to rise earlier than their structure can support, ultimately causing them to fall flat.
Flat cakes could be the result of many things, but one thing I have learned in my nearly 30 years of baking is that if you change other ingredients in the cake, you will likely need to change the leavening agent(s).
For example, let’s say you have a terrific plain cake recipe that turns out perfectly every time, so you decide you’d like to use that base recipe for a more exciting flavor profile.
You set out to make a mocha cake, substituting cooled coffee for the milk called for in your original fool-proof recipe. Of course, you must add a bit of cocoa powder for a rich chocolate flavor as well. This time, your cake comes out pathetic and deflated.
You know you remembered to put the 3 teaspoons of baking powder called for in the recipe, so there was plenty of leavener in the batter... What gives?!
By replacing a neutral ingredient, like milk, with an acid like coffee, you changed the delicate balance of your batter. Adding cocoa also increases the acid level of the batter.
Because baking powder already has acid in it (remember baking powder is baking soda, cream of tartar, and cornstarch) to neutralize the leavening power of the baking soda it contains, adding more acid to the batter throws the whole reaction off and results in a flat failure of a cake.
The solution? In this case, you could simply reduce the amount of baking powder called for and add a bit of baking soda. You could decrease the baking powder by 1/2 teaspoon, then add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to neutralize the newly introduced acids (coffee and cocoa).
Of course, these are just the basics. There is so much more to the chemistry of baking than we have room to cover in a single post. But I hope you get the message I’m trying to deliver here: If you're thinking about it, don't be afraid to experiment and have fun with your gluten free and special diets baking. Don’t let what you might not know intimidate you in your own kitchen. Get comfortable. Bake a half-recipe if you want to experiment without the risk of “wasting” ingredients. Allow yourself to have the learning experience of creating that not-so-perfect baked good. If you don’t try, you’ll never know. Besides, you can always experiment when you’re home alone and get rid of the evidence before anyone returns!
Happy baking and, remember, I'm always here if you're trying something and have any questions!
This Week’s Trivia Question... Answered!
The Question: What’s the best way to get a rise out of your gluten free baked goods?
The Answer: That depends! As you now know, the leavening agent you use to make your baked goods rise really does depend on the chemistry of the entire recipe. If you have an adventurous spirit, dive right in and explore leavening agents in your favorite recipes. I’d love to hear what you try and how it turns out!
If you aren’t feeling so adventurous, or simply do not have the time to play mad scientist in your own kitchen, don’t worry! That’s what I’m here for! Nearly every day, I’m in the Gluten Free Test Kitchen trying new recipes and baking ideas, if you will, so that you will have a tried and true recipe ready when you are, only a click away!
The Answer: That depends! As you now know, the leavening agent you use to make your baked goods rise really does depend on the chemistry of the entire recipe. If you have an adventurous spirit, dive right in and explore leavening agents in your favorite recipes. I’d love to hear what you try and how it turns out!
If you aren’t feeling so adventurous, or simply do not have the time to play mad scientist in your own kitchen, don’t worry! That’s what I’m here for! Nearly every day, I’m in the Gluten Free Test Kitchen trying new recipes and baking ideas, if you will, so that you will have a tried and true recipe ready when you are, only a click away!
~g~
I hope this “A Side of Science” provided useful information to help with your special diet! The more we know about the foods we are putting into our bodies - and what our BEST food choices are! - the easier it is to manage our own food allergy and maintain our special diet for optimal health.
Try some of these gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free recipes to see how tasty a special diet for your food allergy can be!
Try some of these gluten free, dairy free, soy free, nut free recipes to see how tasty a special diet for your food allergy can be!
Remember, my mission here at GlutenFreeGigi.com is to share my experience and knowledge to help you navigate your life comfortably and confidently regardless of which special diet or food allergy you might have. Send your questions or comments to: mailbox (at) glutenfreegigi (dot) com. I’d love to hear from you!
Don’t forget to follow along on Twitter and "Like" my new Facebook page. so you don't miss any of the exciting new recipes and information I have for you!
Don’t forget to follow along on Twitter and "Like" my new Facebook page. so you don't miss any of the exciting new recipes and information I have for you!
Up Next on GlutenFreeGigi.com...
Speaking of all this baking... It’s finally ready for you! "Gluten Free Gigi's 2011 Holiday Guide" will be released tomorrow, and I can’t wait for you to get your copy! Make sure you sign up for my e-Letter to receive notification as soon as the Guide becomes available so you can begin planning your worry-free gluten free holiday immediately!
Tuesday, I'll have all-new helpful How-To video for you featuring a simple, affordable seasonal dish that is perfect for the chilly autumn days we’re having! You truly do not want to miss this new recipe and How-To video!
Tuesday, I'll have all-new helpful How-To video for you featuring a simple, affordable seasonal dish that is perfect for the chilly autumn days we’re having! You truly do not want to miss this new recipe and How-To video!
~g~
Thank you for visiting! No matter what your food allergy or health goals are, know what I’m doing here at GlutenFreeGigi.com is for YOU because I understand what being on a special diet means!
Have a look around, get comfortable, and come back often to check out new information and recipes each Tuesday and Thursday. Leave a comment below or get your special diet and food allergy questions answered by sending me an email at mailbox (at) glutefreegigi (dot) com. I’ll always get back to you!
I’m glad we’re sharing the journey!
xo,
Gluten Free Gigi
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