Gluten Free King Cake Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the trick to gluten-free baking? ›

Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.

Gluten-free flour blends don't have the same elasticity as flour containing gluten so often the cakes don't rise as much or will sink after rising. To combat the flat cake problem, I add ½ tsp of bicarbonate of soda to the recipe even when using a self-raising gluten-free flour blend.

Gluten-free baked goods often benefit from extra liquid to hydrate the flour blends, eliminate grittiness, and achieve a less dense or dry texture. However, it's very important to drive off this extra moisture during baking, or you'll wind up with a gummy texture.

What's the best gluten-free flour for baking? Bob's Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 baking mix is my favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for baking. It has a mild texture and plenty of "stick" thanks to a blend of sweet rice flour, brown rice flour, and sorghum flour, plus some starches and xanthan gum.

If the original recipe calls for 260 grams of all-purpose flour, substitute with 260 grams of your blend. Beat the batter more. Because gluten-free flours provide less structure than all-purpose, the batter or dough you make with them may require more beating than that which you are accustomed.

2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup of gluten-free flour is necessary to ensure proper leavening. Baking soda and buttermilk can be used to leaven instead of baking powder, but 1-1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar should be added for each 1/2 teaspoon baking soda used.

Gluten-free goods tend to brown faster and take longer to cook through. So they need to be baked at a slightly lower temperature, for a slightly longer time. Every recipe is different, but in general, try lowering the temperature by 25 degrees and baking the item for 15 minutes longer.

Add extra liquid: Gluten-free flours tend to absorb more liquid than regular flour, so you may need to add more liquid to your recipes to compensate. This can help to keep your baked goods moist and prevent them from becoming dry and crumbly.

We recommend covering your batters and doughs and letting them rest for at least half an hour. Note: This will also help batters become thicker and doughs to firm up.

Can you over mix gluten free cake batter? ›

However, you can actually mix a batter containing xanthan and/or guar gum to a point of diminishing returns. You can overwork the gums and end up with a stringy cake batter or rubbery cookie dough. (Having said that, doing this takes some work. Just don't take your aggressions out on a gluten-free cake batter.)

Ultimately, the toothpick test is just one data source to rely upon: with the trio—toothpick, edges, & centre—you can reliably know your gluten-free baked goods are, well, baked! If your toothpick comes out with wet batter on it, your cake definitely needs more time.

It's very common for gluten free baked goods to sink in the middle and sometimes it's even gummy or looks like it isn't fully cooked. Here's some ways to help avoid that: -Don't over-mix your dough. Mix it until everything is just incorporated and be done.

If gluten-free cakes aren't falling apart, they often turn out heavy and unpleasantly dense. That's because gluten creates little pockets of air, so baked goods turn out springy and fluffy; gluten-free flours and grains are lacking this crucial element.

Avoid using white rice flour when baking. This was one of the first GF flours and I've found the flour to always end up with a grainy texture. Same can be true of tapioca, so I use that flour sparingly. Use three or four different GF flours for baked goods, instead of one.

Flavor. New bakers should try adding extra vanilla and/or spices to recipes. Gluten-free flours often have unique tastes, and adding additional flavoring to recipes will help cover up these unfamiliar flavors.

Owing to the challenge of gluten-free flours to form a protein network that provides structure and strength to dough, breads produced in the absence of gluten tends to be flatter, denser, crummier, less chewy and less tasty.

If the flour you are using doesn't already contain xanthan gum, combining quarter of a teaspoon to every 200g/7oz of gluten-free flour will help to improve the crumb structure of your bake. You can also use guar gum or a combination of the two.