I have just found a jar of xanthan gum

[Kirk1]

At the back of my cupboard. Does anyone have any idea what it is for or how to use it? I think I bought it when an aunt was diagnosed with Crohn's disease. Years ago!

You can use it the mimic the action of gluten in baking when using gluten free flour. Don't make the mistake one of my students did and missread teaspoons as tablespoons, or you will get cakes the double as bouncy balls :D

Yes, you can use it for making gluten-free bread.

You can also add it to icing to keep it pliable and then set hard when making figures on top of cakes.

You can also use it to create thick non-oil salad dressings. I don't like oil, but do like vinegar-y salad dressings, and balsamic, flavouring and xanthan gum whizzed in a food processor goes nice and gloopy to stick to the salad without the oil.

All sorts of fun things to do with Hydrocolloids available in the Khymos recipe collection

Just don't bring it around here. It's one of the seriously odd things that I'm allergic too