Online Pastry School - Gluten Free Bread Baking Course

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GLUTEN FREE BREAD BAKING

This is a basic bread making course with a focus on using gluten free recipes. You’ll first learn about yeast -- it’s desired temperature and how it ferments. Then you’ll learn about gluten and its function in baking. Next, Chef Marco will show you how to recreate the gluten structure, and he’ll recommend the ingredients that are suitable for gluten-free baking.

This course will help you enjoy and stay on your gluten-free diet. These recipes use real ingredients which nourish, and use no preservatives or additives. The recipes will bring excitement and interest to your diet, and allow you to be creative beyond what is store-bought. While most of the recipes are made from scratch, you’ll also learn how to get a jump-start using pre-mixes.

This is a back-to-back course and the second part of this course will continue the next day at the same time. This is also a hands-on course and your bread can be either consumed in class or taken home for your enjoyment. Bring boxes on both days to carry your creations home.

We will be working on the following bread recipes, however, depending on the seasonal items, the course outline could change slightly.

Gluten Free Bagels

Gluten Free Rosemary Foccaccia

Gluten Free Breakfast Waffles

Gluten Free Scones with Jalapeno & Cheddar Cheese

Gluten Free Healthy Trail Mix Bread

Working with Gluten Free pre-mixes

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT YEAST!

Yeast is a living organism that needs suitable conditions to thrive. Commercially sold baker’s yeast is of the strain Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which has been determined to be the best suited for bread making. Yeast needs warmth, moisture, and food (carbohydrates) to begin fermenting.

By definition, fermentation is the anaerobic respiration of microorganism. The process converts carbohydrates into alcohol and carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide acts to leaven a dough or batter as the gas is trapped in the web of protein (gluten) strands that developed during the mixing process.

The alcohol acts to tenderize the gluten strands, improving the overall texture of the product; it cooks out during baking leaving no undesirable flavor.

The fermentation process is important in building the internal structure and flavor of the dough. Given the proper environment, yeast cells will continue to ferment until they either run out of food or the by-products of fermentation begin to poison them and they die.

For these reasons, as well as the necessity of maintaining production schedules, it is easy to see why time is an important element in making quality yeast-raised products. Consequently, it is important to understand how the fermentation of yeast can be controlled. Yeast cells are sensitive to the temperature and the environment.

The ideal temperature for fermentation is between 27°C and 32°C. Lower Temperatures will retard or arrest yeast development.

Temperatures at or above 41°C will also slow fermentation. Yeast dies at 59°C.

Proteins in Flour and their functions in Baking

Gluten is formed by the proteins present in wheat flour (wheat is the only grain that forms measurable amounts of gluten, making it an indispensable grain in the kitchen or bake shop). Flour gives strength to and acts to absorb the bulk of the moisture in most baked goods.

As the flour takes up water, gluten strands begin to form. To further develop these strands and make them more cohesive and elastic, the mixture is agitated (mixed). Gluten development is essential for certain baked goods, such as breads, in which a somewhat chewy texture is desirable ; in other baked goods, however, such as cakes that should be tender and moist, excessive gluten development is a flaw.

The difference among desired outcomes for the textures of different types of baked goods led to the development of flours with varying gluten levels. While the gluten level of the flour has a very significant role in the final texture of a product, the amount of mixing a dough or batter undergoes, particularly if the flour has a moderate to high percentage of gluten, will also have a marked impact.

Gluten is composed of two distinct proteins: glutenin and gliadin. When flour is mixed with water, the glutenin and gliadin begin to join together (with the water intermingled) to form strands or sheets of gluten. The glutenin provides the elasticity; the gliadin the extensibility. The formation of these strands provides the structure for many baked goods. If a flour with too little or no gluten is used in bread making the bread will not rise.

Yeast is the catalyst for risen bread, but it is also necessary to have well-developed gluten to trap the gases produced by the fermenting yeast for bread to rise.

If you are unsure about the exact amount or percentage gluten is contained in your flour, you can make a very simple experiment to determine how much gluten your flour has.

Knead a very simple dough out of 100 g Flour, 60 ml Water and one pinch of Salt, let the dough rest for 20 min. Then continue to knead, gently and carefully, the dough under a light stream of water, preferably over a strainer in a mixing bowl. Out off the dough a white colored liquid will run out - which is your starch.

Continue kneading the dough until only clear water runs out. What remains is wet gluten, to determine the exact amount of gluten in your flour you only have to dry your wet gluten (at 105°C overnight) and to scale it.

If you used a Pastry Flour for this experiment you should have around 9 g Gluten in your 100 g Dough.

• Soft Cake Flour→ 8.5 % Gluten
• Pastry Flour→ 9.5 % Gluten
• Hard Bread Flour→ 12.5 - 13.5 % Gluten
• (Canadian Winter Wheat up to → 20 - 24% Gluten)
• French Bread Flour→ 14 % Gluten
• Rye Flour→ 8.5 - 10 % Protein

Gluten Free Flours & Starches:

Rice flour: white & brown

White rice flour is ground from rice after the bran and germ have been removed. It has a bland taste and sandy consistency, and is lower in nutrients and fiber than brown rice flour. White rice flour is the most common ingredients in gluten-free baked goods and recipes because of its subtle flavor, relatively affordable cost and long shelf life.

Brown rice, which contains the bran, is higher in fiber, nutrients and fat and contains more protein than white rice. It adds a slightly nutty flavor to baked goods and can increase the nutrient value, but the oil it contains makes it more perishable.

Potato Starch

Potato starch is a finely textured starch made from raw white potatoes. Do not substitute potato flour for potato starch – they are two very different substances. The flour, made from cooked potatoes is much heavier than potato starch.

Tapioca Starch

Tapioca starch and tapioca flour are the same thing; ground from the starchy, tuberous root of the cassava plant. Tapioca adds body and a chewy texture to gluten-free baked goods. It is a key ingredient in most gluten-free flour blends.

Albumen (egg whites)

Powdered albumen, or egg white, is added to dry ingredients in a recipe to help leaven the product and to increase a batter’s viscosity and protein content. Egg white powder tends to have a strong flavor so it is best used in small amounts.

Whey powder

Whey is the watery component of milk left over from cheese making. It contains protein and other nutrients. A powdered version can add strength and color to gluten-free blends.

Gums (Guar vs. Xanthan)

Gums such as guar gum and xanthan gum improve the viscosity of gluten-free batters and determine the ‘mouth feel’. Guar gum, ground from the endosperm of guar seeds, tend to have a lot of fiber and some people have trouble digesting it. Xanthan gum was created in a lab using natural ingredients and is a widely used food additive. You can substitute guar and xanthan gum one to one. Be sure to add your gums to your dry ingredients in your recipes as once combined with a liquid both gums become extremely sticky.

Soya Flour

Soya flour is ground from roasted soya beans and is high in proteins. It has a strong yellow color and a distinctive soya taste and should be stored in the fridge or for longer term use in the freezer.

Bean Flours

Bean flours may be made from any legume. Some of the most widely used in gluten-free baking include navy, pinto, garbanzo and garbanzo-fava bean blends. Bean flours are made by grinding up whole dry beans into a fine powder.

Cornmeal

Cornmeal is coarsely ground from whole dried corn and is available in yellow, white and blue varieties. It can be combined with gluten-free flour blends to create cornbread and muffins. Corn flour is more finely ground than cornmeal and has a lighter texture and detectable corn taste.

Cornstarch

Cornstarch is a highly refined product made from the endosperm, or starchy portion of the corn. It has a bland flavour and works well as a thickener in pastry cream and fruit pies.