Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Allergies and intolerances

Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

Original poster

Can gluten & wheat intolerant people have baking powder in their cakes???????

27 replies

Snowstorm · 22/04/2008 18:03

I made a surprise birthday cake for one of my closest friends who I don't get to see too often because she lives abroad but who's in the UK and is visiting me on Thursday .... BUT, just when I was feeling all organised and smug, I suddenly realised that her 9 year older daughter is gluten and wheat intolerant .... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Back to the drawing board. Am going to remake the cake but with proper allergy friendly flour and she's okay with eggs and butter BUT ... and please excuse my ignorance, I don't know whether that means that I can't use baking powder in the allergy friendly cake or not .... can I?

TIA!

OP posts:
staryeyed · 22/04/2008 18:06

Not the normal stuff but you can buy gluten free baking powder from health food shops. GF flour and baking powder cooks differently though so get a good recipe.

Twiglett · 22/04/2008 18:07

you can buy gluten free baking powder

may I suggest Nigella Lawson's clementine cake .. it's yummy and really nice for a cake for tea

Twiglett · 22/04/2008 18:09

here

if not, and you're baking with gluten free flours then the addition of a teaspoon of xanthan gum (can get it in asda) really makes a huge huge difference to the texture .... gluten free cakes can be very dry / crumbly otherwise

Original poster
Snowstorm · 22/04/2008 18:09

Oh ... have only got time to nip to Sainsbury's ... and was hoping to be able to just make a normal cake with the replacement ingredients ... I'm not very good in the kitchen at the best of times but if the GF stuff is going to be tricky ... Oh dear.

OP posts:
PeachyHas4BoysAndLovesIt · 22/04/2008 18:11

sainsburys sell gf baking powder, you should be fine.

NorthernLurker · 22/04/2008 18:14

I bought baking powder on saturday from Sainsburys - I had to get gluten free as it was the only one they had. The cake I made - also a Nigella one was fine - but of course the flour did have gluten in it

lackaDAISYcal · 22/04/2008 18:14

If you can't get all the stuff you need, M&S do a lovely Gluten free chocolate and black cherry cake which is just deeeeeeelish. you wouldn't know it was GF unless someone told you, and it is really lush

Twiglett · 22/04/2008 18:16

nip down the free from aisle and buy some gluten free shortbread with jammy bits .. delicious .. they may also have a cake .. I'm sure as long as she has something sweet to eat she'll be fine

Wordsmith · 22/04/2008 18:17

Second the tip about Xanthum gum. My mum made a fab birthday cake for DS2 - I had several txts from kids' parents saying it was the best cake they'd had in ages. It was this one - absolutely fantastic! She made it with butter icing instead of fresh cream so it lasted for days and didn't get dry.

lackaDAISYcal · 22/04/2008 18:18

JS have a good GF section and you should get four there. There is usually a recipe on the back of the flour packet as well....or google GF cakes and you'll get lots of links.

VanillaPumpkin · 22/04/2008 18:19

Tesco's only had gluten free baking powder when I went there too .
Good Luck.

Wordsmith · 22/04/2008 18:19

You should be able to get it all in Sainsbury's.

ELR · 22/04/2008 18:20

tesco sell gluten free

BitLessTiredNow · 22/04/2008 18:21

India Knight's cookery book has some awesome recipes in it - gluten free by default. The chilli bake with a sponge type topping was so good my Dh asked for it 5 days in an row.

tkband3 · 22/04/2008 18:38

Supercook Baking Powder (the only one I can find in Tescos, Sainsburys or Morrisons) is gluten free. If you get Doves Farm GF flour, there is a recipe on there for a victoria sponge which is very nice. All my family now prefer GF cakes to the other kind!

Had never heard of adding xanthan gum to GF cakes - will give that a try for our next one.

Original poster
Snowstorm · 22/04/2008 18:43

Do Sainsbury's (or Tescos) sell a gluten free cake that's tasty ... I'm thinking about maybe ditching the making it myself bit, to make my life easier .

OP posts:
Original poster
Snowstorm · 22/04/2008 18:52

Just went to have a look in my cupboard - have Gluten Free Baking Powder in there - HOORAY.

But [Snowstorm is embarassed about her ignorance] ... is Gluten Free Baking Powder okay for people with Wheat allergies?

OP posts:
Wordsmith · 22/04/2008 20:05

I should think so as it will have no wheat in it if it is gluten free.

Original poster
Snowstorm · 22/04/2008 20:08

Phew - okay - well that's a start!

OP posts:
cmotdibbler · 22/04/2008 20:10

Sainsburys sell Xanthan gum in their FreeFrom section.

The brownies on the Doves Farm packet are gorgeous.

Or if you have the Nigella Domestic Goddess book, the cherry chocolate cupcakes work really well gf too

PinkTulips · 22/04/2008 20:12

actually, wordsmith, alot of the gf stuff is made from de-glutanised wheat starch so not ok for wheat intolerant people (made that mistake with dd )

baking powder should be fine though, it usually says wheat free and gluten free but either way i think they just use corn starch to replace the wheat, check the ingredients label

Original poster
Snowstorm · 22/04/2008 20:15

Yes, I think the gluten free baking powder did say it had corn starch in.

Bit of a minefield for the uninitiated isn't it ...

OP posts:
PinkTulips · 22/04/2008 20:20

a year and a half on and i'm still at the reading every packet 20 times stage, lol!

Wordsmith · 24/04/2008 07:56

Corn starch is OK

Wordsmith · 24/04/2008 07:57

So is cornflour.

Swipe left for the next trending thread