Alternative Baker

by Alanna Taylor-Tobin

  MAKES ABOUT l½ CUPS (400 G)

  8 oz (225 g) kumquats (2 cups)

  ½ cup (100 g) organic granulated cane sugar

  ½ cup (120 ml) water

  ¼ cup (60 ml) mild honey

  ½ vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped

  Trim the ends off the kumquats and slice them ⅛-inch (3-mm) thick, removing the seeds as you go. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, water, honey and vanilla pod and scrapings. Bring to a boil over medium heat, swirling occasionally to dissolve the sugar. Add the sliced kumquats, and shuffle the pan to submerge them; there will barely be enough liquid to cover them at this point. Return the mixture to a simmer, simmer for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat, cover the pan and let the mixture steep for 15 minutes. Strain the kumquats, reserving their syrup, and place the fruit in a heatproof bowl or jar. Return the syrup to the pot and simmer over medium heat, swirling frequently, until it bubbles thickly and measures about ½ cup (120 ml), 10–15 minutes. Pour the syrup over the drained kumquats, and chill until cold. They will keep in the refrigerator for up to 1 month.

  ALTERNATIVE GRAINS AND FLOURS

  Alternative grains and flours have the ability to add not only structure but also a host of varying flavors and textures to baked goods. I’ve divided the flours used in this book into categories based on their common flavor profiles—neutral, earthy and grassy. Within those categories are unique flours with their own tastes and textures, histories and applications.

  I’ve used Bob’s Red Mill brand flours when possible for consistency, since different brands grind flours differently and this can have drastically different effects in baking. For the best results, I suggest sourcing the brands with which I’ve developed these recipes. Many can be found in your local health food store and all can be ordered online. And if you need to use a different brand, no worries—the results will still taste delicious even if the texture needs tweaking.

  A NOTE ON SUBSTITUTING FLOURS

  Alternative flours can vary hugely in weight, absorbency, starch, protein and fiber contents and thus can have dramatically different results in baking. For instance, 1 cup of oat flour weighs close to 100 grams, whereas the same amount of teff flour weighs 30 percent more, or 130 grams. For tried and tested results, make the recipes as written the first time around. If you need to substitute due to allergies, availability or personal preference, your best bet is to pick a flour with similar flavor characteristics and a similar weight per cup, and to substitute by weight rather than by volume. That said, I do hope you’ll become comfortable enough with these recipes to experiment, and that you’ll share your results and variations with me and my readers on AlternativeBaker.com and BojonGourmet.com.

  NEUTRAL

  These mild flours are easy to love and pair well with nearly everything; it’s no wonder they’re used frequently in alternative baking.

  SWEET WHITE RICE FLOUR

  AKA: Glutinous rice flour, sticky rice flour

  Flavor profile: Sweet, bland, mild

  Consistency: Soft, fine, starchy, sticky

  Brand tested: Koda Farms’ Blue Star Mochiko Sweet Rice Flour

  Weight per cup: 5½ ounces (155 g)

  Find it: In Asian markets and at health food stores with the other alternative flours or Asian foods

  Store it: Airtight at room temperature in a cool, dry, dark place (such as a kitchen cupboard) for up to 1 year

  Use it: In nearly anything; sweet rice has a neutral flavor that goes with everything. Don’t use more than 50 percent sweet rice flour in any given recipe, or in recipes with a lot of moisture or acidity, which will often make for a gummy texture.

  Health benefits: Sweet rice flour is mostly starch, with little nutritional value beyond ample carbohydrates and little fat.

  Sweet white rice flour is my alternative baking secret weapon. Commonly used to make Japanese mochi and many other desserts throughout Asia, it is finely ground from a specific variety of rice referred to as sticky rice or glutinous rice (though it does not contain gluten). It helps hold baked goods together without the need to add many other starches or gums. Its sticky power is similar to gluten in that working or agitating the flour with liquid increases the stickiness. In contrast to gluten, acidity also seems to increase the stickiness, as I’ve found when I’ve added acidic ingredients (such as citrus juice, cocoa powder, rhubarb and cultured dairy) to recipes. For instance, biscuits made with buttermilk consistently baked up dense and gummy. But when I traded in regular milk, the texture improved dramatically. In other recipes, however, the extra stickiness is a boon. Either way, sweet rice flour makes possible many of the recipes in this book, such as fluffy biscuits and scones, flaky pie dough and pillowy cakes.

  If you can’t find sweet rice flour, you can order it online. In a pinch, try substituting a GF all-purpose, rice-based flour blend such as Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 (in which sweet rice flour is the first ingredient) or King Arthur’s GF Multi-Purpose Flour. Or substitute regular or superfine white rice flour by weight, though the texture will be much more brittle, especially in recipes that call for a lot of it. In this case, you might try adding in some tapioca flour or ground chia seed.

  OATS AND OAT FLOUR

  Flavor profile: Creamy, sweet, wheaty, nutty, a little earthy

  Consistency: Soft, tender, starchy, delicate

  Brand tested: Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Oat Flour and Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats

  Weight per cup: Oat flour, 3½ ounces (100 g); old-fashioned rolled oats, 3¼ ounces (90 g)

  Find it: With other alternative flours and/or in the bulk section at health food stores. Be sure to look for certified GF oats and oat flour, as they are traditionally grown and processed with wheat and can be contaminated with gluten. All oats used in this book are the old-fashioned rolled variety.

  Store it: Airtight at room temperature in a cool, dry, dark place (such as a kitchen cupboard) for up to 3 months, or refrigerated airtight for up to 1 year

  Use it: Anywhere you want a touch of whole-grain flavor and soft, delicate texture. Oat flour pairs well with comforting flavors such as apples, bananas, winter squash, spices, chocolate, caramel, brown sugar, honey, maple, nuts and dried fruits. When used in conjunction with sweet rice and millet flours, it makes an all-purpose-like flour with a fairly neutral taste and pillowy texture. Do note that some people with celiac disease or other severe gluten-intolerance also can’t tolerate oats, even the certified GF variety.

  Health benefits: Higher fat content than most cereal grains, high in fiber, only grain to contain globulin, a legume-like protein that can be a boon to vegetarians. These properties give oatmeal its “stick-to-your-ribs” reputation. Oats are also an excellent source of manganese, which helps build connective tissue in the body, regulate blood sugar and absorb calcium, and are a good source of other minerals.

  It was a happy day when we all learned that oats are actually gluten-free. They were so commonly grown and processed with wheat, where they picked up fairly large amounts of gluten, that they were thought to inherently contain gluten. In fact, oats used to be considered weeds that grew among wheat and barley only to be uprooted and burned. They thrive in cool, wet climates such as northern Europe, Canada and the northern United States. They are particularly loved in Scotland, where they feature in soups and stews, breakfast porridge, oatcakes and scones. We have Scottish settlers to thank for bringing oats to North America in the 1700s.

  NEUTRAL FLOURS FROM TOP: SWEET WHITE RICE, ALMOND, COCONUT, OAT

  I now make frequent use of oat flour in alternative baking. It adds nutritional value and a bit of hearty depth to any and all baked goods. It absorbs moisture fairly well and bakes up soft and smooth, adding necessary starch to many GF baked goods and keeping them moist and tender due to its high fat content and stable protein. It makes pillowy biscuits and scones, springy cakes and hearty muffins. Old-fashioned rolled oats, which are made by steaming and rolling the grains flat, star in crisps, streusel, granola bars, oatmeal coo
kies and a pumpkin cranberry bread packed with seeds.

  ALMOND FLOUR

  Flavor profile: Mild, nutty, rich, buttery

  Consistency: Slightly coarse and nubby, but soft and delicate, tends to clump

  Brand tested: Bob’s Red Mill Blanched Almond Flour/Meal

  Weight per cup: 4¼ ounces (120 g)

  Find it: With other alternative flours at health food stores

  Store it: Refrigerated airtight for up to 6 months. Due to its volatile oils, almond flour can go rancid if left at room temperature.

  Use it: In almost anything where you don’t mind a slightly nutty flavor and a bit of nubby texture. Particularly tasty with stone fruit, berries, figs, apples, pears, citrus, chocolate, coffee, other nuts, honey, vanilla and spices. Do warn your dessert eaters of the presence of nut flour in baked goods in case of nut allergies. Don’t use more than 50–75 percent almond flour in any given recipe lest you wind up with a dense, macaroon-like texture and assertive almond flavor (unless that’s what you’re going for).

  Health benefits: High in protein, vitamins B and E, minerals, particularly calcium in levels nearly as high as in milk, fiber and good fats that purportedly lower cholesterol and blood pressure and decrease risk of blood clots.

  The almond is not a true nut, but rather the seed of a fruit related to stone fruit (apricots, cherries and peaches) called a drupe. Almond trees are native to the Middle East and South Asia, and they have sustained Silk Route traders, Egyptian kings and biblical figures for millennia. King Tut was buried with almonds to munch during his journey to the afterlife. In Genesis, Jacob sends his sons to buy grain from the Egyptians, offering them almonds, among other gifts, in exchange. Almond-shaped halos surround saints in Renaissance paintings and frescos. Almonds played a part in nearly every ancient civilization and continue to be used in cuisines around the globe, particularly India, the Middle East and along the Mediterranean. They’re pureed into a refreshing milk substitute, blended with sugar for marzipan and almond paste, ground into frangipane, made into macaroons and amaretti, candied, roasted and fried for snacks and coated in sugar and given at weddings to symbolize the sweetness of love coating the bitterness of life.

  Today, almonds thrive in California’s Mediterranean-like climate, where 80 percent of the world’s almonds are produced. Recently, almond flour has become a popular ingredient in alternative baking and touted for its many health benefits. Blanched almond flour comes from almonds that have been slipped from their papery skins prior to grinding; it bakes up smooth, mild and light in color, and its high protein content handily replaces the missing proteins in gluten-free baking. Its high fat content produces tender, rich baked goods. Bob’s Red Mill brand, used here, is advertised as finely ground, but it still has a bit of texture, which makes a pleasant addition to the tart crust and clafoutis in this book as well as many cakes such as financiers, buckle, olive oil cakes and madeleines.

  HAZELNUT MEAL

  Hazelnut meal has similar characteristics to almond flour. It is sold unblanched, thus has a higher fiber content, darker color and earthier flavor, but can often be used interchangeably where these characteristics are desired. I particularly like it with pears, buckwheat flour, chocolate and warming spices. The financier variation in this book was developed with Bob’s Red Mill Finely Ground Hazelnut Flour/Meal.

  COCONUT FLOUR

  Flavor profile: Mild, sweet, slightly floral and tropical

  Consistency: Powdery, fibrous, tends to clump

  Brands tested: Let’s Do Organic, Bob’s Red Mill

  Weight per cup: 4¼ ounces (120 g)

  Find it: With other GF flours and/or the bulk section at health food stores

  Store it: Airtight at room temperature in a cool, dry, dark place (such as a kitchen cupboard) for up to 1 year

  Use it: In just about anything where you don’t mind its distinctive taste and fibrous texture. Its light, floral flavor pairs especially well with other tropical, bright flavors, such as citrus, mango, berries, ginger, vanilla and chocolate. Don’t use more than 30 percent coconut flour in a recipe or the results may be dry, crumbly and slightly gritty. Even with a small amount of coconut flour added, you will need to increase the moisture content in order to appease this thirsty flour.

  Health benefits: Very high in fiber, nearly double the protein of wheat flour, high in healthy fats that are said to be antiviral and antimicrobial, rich in trace minerals

  Like almonds, coconuts are not nuts at all, but the seed of a palm tree fruit, or a drupe. The name coconut comes from the Spanish word coco, meaning “skull,” named for the three indentations in mature coconuts that resemble a face. Coconut palms thrive in hot, humid climates and are cultivated throughout tropical Asia, parts of India and Sri Lanka, the northern coast of Australia and in the United States (namely Florida and Hawaii). In Thailand and Malaysia, primates called pig-tailed macaques are trained to harvest coconuts. Culinarily, coconuts have many uses, including coconut oil and butter, shredded coconut, coconut milk and cream, coconut water and coconut flour.

  Coconut flour is made from dried, unsweetened coconut that has had a large amount of its fat removed, making it very high in fiber. It ranges in color from stark white to beige. The texture of coconut flour from different brands varies wildly. All the recipes in this book were tested with Let’s Do Organic, which is ground medium fine. Bob’s Red Mill is ground more finely and will also work in these recipes.

  Coconut flour is different to work with than other flours and takes some getting used to. The first cake that I tried, a chiffon recipe with some coconut flour traded in, went straight into the compost. The batter soaked up moisture like a parched sponge, but I soldiered ahead, folding the whipped egg whites into the cement-like batter and baking the cake. The abomination that I pulled from the oven was an inedible brick. The moral of this sad story is that coconut flour is thirsty, thirsty stuff that soaks up liquid like nobody’s business. However, when tamed, it adds a delightfully hearty texture to baked goods and perfumes it with its delicate flavor. The blondies have a pleasing chew that smacks of macaroons, and when baked into a (successful) chiffon cake and soaked with rum-kissed coconut milk, it makes a dreamily tender tres leches cake of sorts. And it makes a tender, shortbread-like crust for a coconut cream berry tart that also happens to be vegan.

  EARTHY

  I have a weakness for any and all earthy flavors: black tea, coffee, chocolate, caramel, mushrooms, smoke, molasses, you name it. The flours in this section are some of my very favorites. All boast rich, warm flavors, along with their nuanced textures and colors, and are particularly well suited to baking. Teff flour, with its malty milk chocolate notes, came as a particularly welcome surprise.

  BUCKWHEAT FLOUR

  Flavor profile: Deep, rich, warm, with notes of spice (cinnamon, allspice), coffee, chocolate, toasted hazelnuts

  Consistency: Soft, starchy, delicate, cakey

  Brand tested: Bob’s Red Mill Buckwheat Flour (Note: Though buckwheat is inherently gluten-free, Bob’s buckwheat flour is not processed in their dedicated GF facility. If you or your guests are highly sensitive, you’ll want to go with a certified GF buckwheat flour, such as one from Arrowhead Mills.)

  Weight per cup: 5 ounces (140 g)

  Find it: With other alternative flours and/or the bulk section at health food stores

  Store it: Airtight at room temperature in a cool, dry, dark place (such as a kitchen cupboard) for up to 3 months, or refrigerated airtight for up to 1 year

  Use it: Where you want assertive flavor and a deep, charcoal hue. Buckwheat’s robust flavor plays well with spices (especially cinnamon and cardamom), dark berries, fall fruits (such as figs, apples, pears and quinces), bananas, coffee, brown sugar, maple, winter squash and sweet potatoes, chocolate and nuts. It can also contrast nicely with lighter, brighter flavors such as rhubarb, red berries and stone fruit. Buckwheat flour can turn mushy if overmixed, so take care when working with it in recipes. With its strong flavor
and delicate texture, I don’t recommend using more than 30–50 percent buckwheat flour in most recipes.

  Health benefits: High in protein, iron and other minerals, as well as the amino acid lysine, said to prevent canker sores. In traditional Chinese medicine, said to have warming properties and to aid digestion.

  If I had to choose one alternative flour to use for the rest of my life, it would be buckwheat. My first experience with this grain occurred when I was about fifteen and went through a bread-baking phase wherein I went to town rummaging through my mom’s flour cabinet and adding in all manner of things. Because of its confusing name, I assumed buckwheat was a variety of wheat, and it wasn’t until many years later, when my interest in GF baking began, that I learned how wrong I was. I still remember that first rustic loaf baked with buckwheat and (thankfully) bread flours, which had a wildly earthy flavor unlike any I had ever experienced.

  Buckwheat’s pretty, pyramidal, greenish gray-brown grains are the seed of an herb plant related to rhubarb and sorrel that’s native to northern Europe and Asia, where it has been used since the eighth millennium BCE; in fact, it isn’t even a true grain. When toasted, it is referred to as kasha. Buckwheat flour is made from these toasted grains, thus the rich, roasty flavor and deep color flecked with charcoal-hued specks. Known as blé noir in French, meaning “black grain,” it is commonly used to make savory crepes. In Japan it stars in soba noodles and buckwheat tea, and it’s used widely in eastern Europe as both a flour and the cooked grain dish kasha.

  Bob’s Red Mill makes a finely ground buckwheat flour that doesn’t clump and adds a soft, starchy texture to baked goods. In this book, it makes an intensely flavored and super flaky pie dough, adds tenderness to double chocolate cookies, and creates pliant crepes that are easy to wrap around sweetened cheese for blintzes.