gluten and dairy free = tasteless

[teta]

Aibu in expecting the above to taste as nice as ordinary food bearing in mind its often more expensive.Is anyone up to a name and shame/praise thread for food that actually tastes good?

[TerrorMeSue]

I have made this chocolate chestnut cake before with pure sunflower spread, goats milk (though coconut would work too) and dairy-free chocolate. It was lovely!

[TerrorMeSue]

chocolate brownies delicious when made with coconut oil and coconut milk, and best stored in fridge for 24hrs, then microwave for 30 secs and serve with cream. Yum!

[CaptainUndercrackers]

I cook a lot of GF food as have a few friends with coeliac disease. I have found that for cakes any really moist recipe works well - think banana bread, Nigella's dense chocolate loaf etc. For sponge cakes I would add an extra egg and substitute dove's farm flour. They've always turned out really well. Are you lactose intolerant or milk allergic? Because the lactofree range is great and you can freeze the milk in portions. I've also made great shortcrust pastry using dove's farm - tasted the same, if not better, as the normal version. I found that it was much lighter, although you do need to eat it on the day as it dries out quickly. I made it with butter but you could easily use lard and would have a lovely light pastry.

A cookbook that works well for GF and dairy free is the 'clean and lean diet cookbook'. Has lots of easy + tasty recipes which are largely GF and fairly low in dairy - you could easily substitute almond milk etc. And if you want to bulk it out just add extra rice etc (it is a diet book so portions are small, but it is VERY tasty stuff and all easy peasy).

[freddiefrog]

My DD is coeliac and I do a lot of gluten free baking

I just replace flour with Doves GF and add a teaspoon of Xantham Gum. Makes a huge difference with cakes, etc. Makes it crumby and more cakey

[teta]

I've had a lovely time googling and bookmarking all these recipes.Love all these tips.Some of these cakes look amazing.Thank you terrormeSue those cakes sound gorgeous-i didn't know you can bake with coconut flour and oil.Its been a revelation.Captain I use lactofree in cooking as one of my dc's is lactose intolerant.Though I prefer to use coconut or almond milk(though I do like the cheese as the substitutes I've found so far have been rank).Clean and lean cookbook sounds lovely especially if the food tastes really good.Freddiefrog I have bought the Doves flour and will get some gum tomorrow.Have you tried Red Mills flour?some people say it produces better results and a lighter loaf.

[TerrorMeSue]

You're welcome . Coconut flour is v tricky to bake with unless yo have a recipe you know works. It is extremely thirsty, and sucks th moisture out! Generally you need more moisture and eggs, so it's not one to substitute willy nilly. However, the brownies are ace

[TerrorMeSue]

I've yet to find an acceptable bread recipe that makes any kind of loaf (with any GF flour) rather than a kind of cake-bread

[neunundneunzigluftballons]

Gluten free is icky with some limited exceptions. SIL is coeliac and she often bakes gluten free cakes for us all. Obviously we tell her they are lovely after all the effort but bar none they have been awful. I agree with others up thread who suggest using naturally gluten free recipes instead of replacements, they just do not taste good. I feel so sorry for SIL as she was diagnosed in her late 20s and so has had to make massive adjustments.

[PrimalLass]

I don't agree at all. I just substitute the Doves Farm flour in and it is fine for baking. A bit grittier but OK.

[Thumbwitch]

When I was still in the UK I was using Doves' Farm GF flour - use the recipes off the site as well, because sometimes if you use a normal wheat flour recipe, you need a bit extra fluid to make it work properly. Other than that, it was fine and no one noticed the difference (trust me, my sister would have no compunction in mentioning it if she had!)

You can also use bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar for GF baking powder - 1tsp bicarb : 2tsp cream of tartar is the ratio you need.

Don't do what I did and accidentally buy tartaric acid because the cream of tartar was missing though, it's, um, interesting in cakes!

[SaggyOldClothCatPuss]

well I dont knoe ehich vile things that you lot are eating...
DD is GF and complains like mad because people keep nicking her stuff, its generally lovely!
Warburtons make tonnes of excellent bread products, the plainer biscuits are a bit naff but anything a bit fancy is great.
The white mix/fibre mixes that you get on prescription are excellent and make brilliant cakes. the victoria sandwich almost floats away and the lemon drizzle cake is strictly rationed round here!
and as for Aunt Bessies ready made GF yorkshires...
We all eat the pasta, it's much nicer and less bloat inducing!
I cook a lot from scratch too, its easy once you work out what to omit. The favourite here is chicken nuggets/fish fingers. Cut into strips, dip in egg, then polenta and deep fry. They're brilliant!

[CMOTDibbler]

GF is not icky. Its really not. I have won cake competitions (blind judged on taste) against gluten cakes, made many celebration cakes where people who don't know I made it have been raving about it and the first thing people know that its gf is when I'm eating it.

Doves farm GF SR flour already has xanthan gum in it, so no need to add any in.

I've used Red Mills, and didn't like it very much. But a lot of things are personal choice.

Good places to look for interesting gf food are farmers markets, delis, farm shops, and keep an eye out for gf food fairs. You can find small producers who do fab food - I can buy gf scotch eggs, pakoras, onion bhajis, waffles, pasties and some amazing sausages locally. Theres a few gf cake makers round me, but mostly I prefer to make my own, though I am partial to the pretty gf vegan cupcakes in Wholefoods.

[Apileofballyhoo]

There is a product in Ireland called Helen's Brilliant Scone Mix - you add oil, egg and milk. I use rice milk and I find it the scones to be a very acceptable alternative to Irish brown scones (soda bread scones). I make plain white scones with Doves Farm sr flour and a little extra baking powder. Also rice milk. Maybe an extra egg (makes them softer). Eggs are your friend when it comes to gluten free baking - adding moisture and helping to bind. DH eats these scones no problem and he usually won't touch gluten free stuff.

Gluten free bread is tricky as it tends

[Apileofballyhoo]

Oops - bread is tricky as it tends to be cake like in texture. Cakes I have no problem with. I always use Doves Farm sr flour and rice milk. There is a recipe for brownies on the back - I use extra chocolate and they are yum. Pancakes work fine, again using rice milk. Crumbles work well instead of pies or tarts. Gluten free pastry is difficult - shortcrust isn't too bad but never managed anything else! White sauce works fine with Doves Farm and rice milk. How dairy free do you have to be?

[teta]

Thank you Thumb witch.I never thought of looking on the Doves flour website.The tartaric acid cake must have been a big disappointment!I've managed to buy gluten free baking powder luckily.So all I need to do is start baking.Apileofballyhoo I will also attempt the scones and brownies.I can have lactofree products if required but I quite like almond and coconut milk as a substitute.Pure is also OK tasting as well.CMOT I am going to Ludlow food fair this weekend.I will investigate the gluten And dairy free stalls.Saggy I have only recently developed food intolerances due to IBS (though we have a family history) and this is a relatively new game for me.I also live in the sticks so don't have a great deal of choice in foods.I am happy to do an online order of nice tasting GF alternatives with recommendations though.

[CMOTDibbler]

Of the exhibitors at Ludlow, I can see Churchfields (have gf cones and lovely df sorbets), the Fab Food company (alas, their amazing gf cheesecake isn't df), and Rachels dairy (again gf cones and sorbet) as companies I really like. I don't know about some of the others - but ask everyone as you never know.

Sometimes its worth a bit of a trek to stock up with specific things - I live in Worcestershire and will do a shop in Cheltenham to go to Wholefoods, or a trip to a Morrisons for something in particular. And Tescos for Warburtons gf wraps

[ouryve]

The advice to avoid substituting for dairy and gluten as much as possible is sound. DS1 is unable to eat cheese, so instead of going for a nasty, artificial tasting and smelling fake cheese, i just avoid cheese recipes for the family. eg. no point making lasagne - I'll just make spag bol (it's less faff, anyhow). I've no experience of gluten free pasta, but would probably use rice or taties if I couldn't find one I liked.

That said, I'm lactose intolerant and do prefer porridge made with unsweetened (and maltodextrin free) soya milk to lactofree. I can't stand the stuff in anything savoury, though.

[ouryve]

And if you're feeling lazy (or just tired of cooking absolutely everything from scratch) OP, M&S do gluten free sausages, crispbakes, coated fish & chicken, stuffing etc. You'd need to visit a larger store, though, for some of those things.

[Thumbwitch]

For pasta, I have issues with corn as well, so the pasta I use is rice based. My favourite is Orgran's Rice and Millet pasta twists. The rice and vegetable pasta twists are nice too, but a bit floppier and easier to overcook - but they are tricolour, so prettier. Rice and millet has more substance to it and is also higher in protein. You can bulk buy them from Amazon if you can't find them in the supermarkets or H&B

I do like the brown rice penne as well, they're nice.

But the main thing to remember with all GF pastas is to NOT overcook them, or they will almost certainly disintegrate.

[Thumbwitch]

Orgran is a pretty good brand for GF stuff, tbh. I forgot to mention that they also do rice crumbs which are a good sub for breadcrumbs and lots of cake mixes (although I always bake from scratch so haven't tried them, I have other friends who have and think they are pretty good).

[teta]

Thank you Ouryve.I have investigated the M&s website.Is useful to know that I can preorder these foods in and order a special cake.Dd's like baking so will get them to try some of the simple cakes first.I get your point about avoiding alternatives If at all possible.Some are OK though such as Tamari sauce instead of soy sauce(tastes really good).Thumb witch I think I,be tried the tricolour pasta-it was OK with a meat sauce on but a much softer texture than wheat based pasta.I really prefer soba noodles to the rice pasta though.Have just made Pho noodle soup inspired by the soup thread and it was delicious.Some of the soup recipes come from some really good Vegan blogs that are truly inspirational ( to me at least!).

[Thumbwitch]

Yes, the rice only/ rice and vegetable is softer. Try the rice and millet though - it's got more "bite" to it, more like wheat pasta. :) DH even likes it and he doesn't need to eat GF!

[teta]

OK will do Thumb witch.I currently have to make 2 lots of pasta as dc's refuse to eat mine.

[CMOTDibbler]

I like the Rizopia brown rice pasta, It holds together really well and is fairly solid. Am not keen on the Orgran personally, but love soba noodles.

[ouryve]

I'm not GF, but love soba noodles. Where do you go for purely buckwheat ones, Throat, because all the ones I've ever seen have wheat in, too?