Let Them Eat Bread

About two weeks ago, I baked a gluten-free, chocolate birthday cake, slathered it with an excessive amount of whipped cream and piled it high with fresh, local strawberries.  It was Daniel’s birthday.  There were candles.  There was singing.  There were family and friends and pints at a local brewpub.  There was a lovely dinner out at our favourite restaurant with my brother-in-law and his soon-to-be wife.  There were presents for Daniel.  And, there was a present for me…

My mother-in-law arrived on our doorstep with a large box.  It was bigger than a breadbox (surprisingly enough) and it contained a brand new Black & Decker All-In-One Pro Automatic Breadmaker!

Since my diagnosis with celiac, I have tried a number of gluten-free breads.  Some are palatable (but usually only when toasted and smeared with peanut butter).  Others aren’t so great.  A lot of them aren’t particularly nutritious and, so far, none have had the irresistible appeal of fresh baked bread.  Plus, it’s hard to ignore the fact that, if wheat-based breads cost an arm, gluten-free breads definitely cost an arm and a leg.

Hence the brand new Black & Decker All-In-One Pro Automatic Breadmaker.  With this bad boy I’m baking bread that’s not only palatable but really gosh-darn tasty.  I’m baking bread that’s freakishly nutritious (7 grain and 3 seed loaf, anyone?) and, I’m saving some money in the process.  Clearly the pros outweigh the cons.

I made my first loaf from a recipe in Shelley Case’s “Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide” with brown rice flour, tapioca starch flour and buckwheat flour.

And it was a success!

My second loaf used a mix from Bob’s Red Mill and it was fantastic.  Bob, your products never cease to impress me.

I’m still extremely new to gluten-free bread baking and am looking forward to doing some experimentation with different flours and seeds and different types of dough.  My next challenge (per Daniel’s request) is going to be homemade, gluten-free bagels.  I’ll let you know how that goes.  In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for gluten-free baking (recipes or tips from your own personal experience), I’d love to hear them.  Drop me a line and let’s get some recipe swapping started!