By Donna Washburn and Heather Butt

Makes 15 slices (1 per serving)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sorghum flour – 175 mL
• 2/3 cup amaranth flour – 150 mL
• 1/3 cup flax flour – 75 mL
• 2/3 cup potato starch – 150 mL
• 1/3 cup cornstarch – 75 mL
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar – 60 mL
• 2-1/2 tsp xanthan gum – 12 mL
• 2 tsp bread machine or instant yeast – 10 mL
• 1-1/2 tsp salt 7 mL
• 1/2 cup cracked flaxseed – 125 mL
• 1/2 cup unsalted raw sunflower seeds – 125 mL
• 1-1/4 cups water – 300 mL
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil – 45 mL
• 2 tsp cider vinegar – 10 mL
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten

Method

1. In a large bowl or plastic bag, combine sorghum flour, amaranth flour, flax flour, potato starch, cornstarch, sugar, xanthan gum, yeast, salt, flaxseed and sunflower seeds; mix well and set aside.
2. Pour water, oil and vinegar into the bread machine baking pan. Add eggs and egg whites.
3. Select the Dough Cycle. As the bread machine is mixing, gradually add the dry ingredients, scraping bottom and sides of pan with a rubber spatula. Try to incorporate all the dry ingredients within 1 to 2 minutes. When the mixing and kneading are complete, remove the kneading blade, leaving the bread pan in the bread machine. Quickly smooth the top of the loaf. Allow the cycle to finish. Turn off the bread machine.
4. Select the Bake Cycle. Set time to 60 minutes and temperature to 350°F (180°C). Allow the cycle to finish. Do not turn machine off before taking the internal temperature of the loaf with an instant-read thermometer. It should be 200°F (100°C). If it’s between 180°F (85°C) and 200°F (100°C), leave machine on the Keep Warm Cycle until baked. If it’s below 180°F (85°C), turn on the Bake Cycle and check the internal temperature every 10 minutes. (Some bread machines are automatically set for 60 minutes; others need to be set by 10-minute intervals.)
5. Once the loaf has reached 200°F (100°C), remove it from the pan immediately and let cool completely on a rack.

Tip: we tried this bread with sprouted flax powder, flax meal, ground flaxseed and flax flour. All yielded acceptable loaves.

Variation: Substitute raw hemp powder for the flax flour and Hemp Hearts for the flaxseed.

Gluten-Free Cycle

If your bread machine has a Gluten-Free Cycle, you will need to make these adjustments:

1. Warm the water to between 110°F and 115°F (43°C and 46°C).
2. Warm the eggs and egg whites (see the Technique Glossary).
3. Follow the recipe instructions, but select the Gluten-Free Cycle rather than the Dough Cycle and Bake Cycle.
4. At the end of the Gluten-Free Cycle, take the temperature of the loaf using an instant-read thermometer. It is baked at 200°F (100°C). If it’s between 180°F (85°C) and 200°F (100°C), leave machine on the Keep Warm Cycle until baked. If it’s below 180°F (85°C), turn on the Bake Cycle and check the internal temperature every 10 minutes. (Some bread machines are automatically set for 60 minutes; others need to be set by 10-minute intervals.)

Excerpted from 125 Best Gluten-Free Bread Machine Recipes by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt.

Like this recipe? See the Ancient Grains Bread recipe.

By Donna Washburn and Heather Butt

Makes 15 slices (1 per serving)

Ingedients

• 1 cup sorghum flour – 250 mL
• 3/4 cup amaranth flour – 175 mL
• 3/4 cup cornmeal – 175 mL
• 1/4 cup quinoa flour – 60 mL
• 1/2 cup tapioca starch – 125 mL
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar – 75 mL
• 1 tbsp xanthan gum – 15 mL
• 3/4 tsp bread machine or instant yeast – 4 mL
• 1-1/2 tsp salt – 7 mL
• 1-1/4 cups water – 300 mL
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil – 30 mL
• 1 tsp cider vinegar – 5 mL
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten

Method

1. In a large bowl or plastic bag, combine sorghum flour, amaranth flour, cornmeal, quinoa flour, tapioca starch, brown sugar, xanthan gum, yeast and salt; mix well and set aside.
2. Pour water, oil and vinegar into the bread machine baking pan. Add eggs and egg whites.
3. Select the Dough Cycle. As the bread machine is mixing, gradually add the dry ingredients, scraping bottom and sides of pan with a rubber spatula. Try to incorporate all the dry ingredients within 1 to 2 minutes. When the mixing and kneading are complete, remove the kneading blade, leaving the bread pan in the bread machine. Quickly smooth the top of the loaf. Allow the cycle to finish. Turn off the bread machine.
4. Select the Bake Cycle. Set time to 60 minutes and temperature to 350°F (180°C). Allow the cycle to finish. Do not turn machine off before taking the internal temperature of the loaf with an instant-read thermometer. It should be 200°F (100°C). If it’s between 180°F (85°C) and 200°F (100°C), leave machine on the Keep Warm Cycle until baked. If it’s below 180°F (85°C), turn on the Bake Cycle and check the internal temperature every 10 minutes. (Some bread machines are automatically set for 60 minutes; others need to be set by 10-minute intervals.)
5. Once the loaf has reached 200°F (100°C), remove it from the pan immediately and let cool completely on a rack.

To make this recipe egg-free, omit eggs and egg whites from the recipe. Add 4 tsp (20 mL) powdered egg replacer with the dry ingredients. Increase yeast to 2 tsp (10 mL). Increase water by 1/4 cup (60 mL). This flavorful egg-free loaf is shorter than some.

Tip: You can use 1/2 cup (125 mL) liquid whole eggs and 1/4 cup (60 mL) liquid egg whites, if you prefer.

Gluten-Free Cycle

If your bread machine has a Gluten-Free Cycle, you will need to make these adjustments:

1. Warm the water to between 110°F and 115°F (43°C and 46°C).
2. Warm the eggs and egg whites.
3. Follow the recipe instructions, but select the Gluten-Free Cycle rather than the Dough Cycle and Bake Cycle.
4. At the end of the Gluten-Free Cycle, take the temperature of the loaf using an instant-read thermometer. It is baked at 200°F (100°C). If it’s between 180°F (85°C) and 200°F (100°C), leave machine on the Keep Warm Cycle until baked. If it’s below 180°F (85°C), turn on the Bake Cycle and check the internal temperature every 10 minutes. (Some bread machines are automatically set for 60 minutes; others need to be set by 10-minute intervals.)

Excerpted from 125 Best Gluten-Free Bread Machine Recipes by Donna Washburn and Heather Butt.

Like this recipe? See the Sunflower Flax Bread recipe.

From the Spring 2010 edition of Allergic Living

Allergic Living gives two thumbs way up for Cybele Pascal’s The Allergen-Free Baker’s Handbook. Pascal had all the right ingredients take on her second cookbook: an accomplished home chef, she earned her stripes in restaurant kitchens, and she lives with multiple allergies in her family. Add two more to the mix: she’s a writer by profession and has boundless passion for baking.

With a team of 20 testers to assist, Pascal mixed, baked, tweaked and rebaked. Everything had to live up to her standards. The result is a truly superb recipe collection and must-have for those with – or without – diet restrictions. Celestial Arts, $29.95.

I recently spoke to Cybele Pascal about baking allergy-free.

GS: Why baking as the focus of the new cookbook?
CP: “With children, you want to be able to provide delicious treats for them that are safe. I really wanted to make sweets for the kids that were safe and that they could bring to school, that were safe for all the kids with food allergies. On a personal level, I wanted to get better at it, and I felt allergen-free vegan baking was a genre that could use some improvement.”

GS: What didn’t you like that was out there?
CP: First, “I thought too many people were relying on bean flours. I know they create a good structure, but I’m not a fan of the beany aftertaste. I wanted something that mimicked all-purpose flour but didn’t have that aftertaste.
I also felt the texture of the baking hadn’t been perfected. It’s easy to bake without gluten if you can use eggs and it’s easy to bake without eggs if you can use gluten, but it’s not easy to bake without both of them. So I was trying to figure out the alchemy of that: how do you do it without all of them? And create something that’s just as delicious if not more so than it’s traditional counterpart.”

GS: Why do without all of the allergens and gluten? Some books are just free of “some” top allergens?
CP: “I wanted to help as many people as possible. So for both of my books, I’ve eliminated the top allergens that are responsible for 90 per cent of food allergies. I didn’t want some people to have to try to make more substitutions.”

GS: Do you ever feel like a ‘mad scientist’ in the kitchen?
CP: Laughs. I feel like a mad scientist in the kitchen all the time! I became obsessed with figuring out to create a rise without eggs, and how to create the structure without the gluten and the eggs. I got so into – ‘if I add a teaspoon of baking soda and a tablespoon of cider vinegar, it’s all of a sudden going to cause this to blow up and create such wonderful rise.’ Baking, whether allergen-free, vegan or not, is all about chemistry.
CP recalls the bad old days of cardboard-like gluten-free products that crumbled, or had no shelf life. But she says, “I think we’re getting to a good place with this now, though.

GS: What was the hardest dessert to get right?
CP: My fudge brownies – gluten-free, allergen-free and vegan – were the most difficult recipe to perfect. That’s also the recipe I’m proudest of.

GS: What made that one difficult?
CP: “In terms of alchemy, I did this one over and over again. I didn’t feel that there was a really true fudgy, allergen-free, gluten-free, vegan brownie in any of the books yet. I wanted that crunchy, glossy brownie crust with the chewy, fudgy interior. I made this over and over and over again, adjusting this or that. Finally I figured out that if I used plum purée, that would replace the egg.”

GS: We’re reprinting your Red Velvet Cake in the Spring 2010 issue of Allergic Living. For those not on a gluten-free diet, can all-purpose flour be substituted?
CP: “You can use an all-purpose flour and then omit the xathan gum. I also find it will bake a little more quickly and might be a slightly denser cake. So yes, you may use regular all-purpose flour. But do not use whole wheat flour.”

Next page: Making baking easier

Free of:  Free of gluten and top allergens. Does constain sulphites (in fruit, liquor).

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup (175 mL) golden raisins
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) dark raisins
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) dried currants
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) dried apricots, chopped
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) dried cherries, chopped
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) honey
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) brandy
• 1 cup (250 mL) gluten-free or regular bread flour
• 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) salt
• 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) ginger
• 1/2 tsp (2.5 mL) cinnamon
• Pinch ground cloves
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) sugar
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) dairy-free alternative [we used Earth Balance] or butter
• 2 large eggs or egg replacers

Method

1. In a large bowl, combine the dried fruit, honey and brandy. Cover and let soak overnight.
2. Pre-heat oven to 275º F. Grease and flour 8×3-inch loaf pan.
3. Sift flour, salt and spices together. Set aside.
4. In a stand mixer, cream together sugar and butter alternative for five minutes on medium speed, scraping down bowl as needed.
5. On low speed, add eggs one at a time (or all of replacer at once), until fully incorporated.
6. Add sifted dry ingredients to the bowl, combining thoroughly.
7. Add the soaked fruit and brandy, folding into mix.
8. Scrape mixture into prepared pan and bake for 2 hours, or until a toothpick in the center comes out with a few moist crumbs.
9. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack to cool completely.

Recipe by Simon Clarke

First published in Allergic Living magazine.
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Baking at Its Best

With a team of 20 testers to assist, Pascal mixed, baked, tweaked and rebaked. Everything had to live up to her standards. The result is a truly superb recipe collection and must-have for those with – or without – diet restrictions. Celestial Arts, $29.95. See Allergic Living‘s interview with Cybele Pascal. – Gwen Smith

Enjoy Life’s Cookies For Everyone!

Leslie Hammond and Betsy Laakso; Fair Winds Press; $21.95

Warning: Do not peruse while hungry; you may try to eat the scrumptious pages. This book is a great idea: the manufacturer known for its snacks, bars and breakfasts without top allergens (including gluten) teamed up with Leslie Hammond, a culinary expert with an allergy-friendly focus, and a collection of 150 awesome safe cookie recipes was born.

Young children will be over the moon for: Gimme S’more Bites, the Fantastic Fairy Cookies and Caramel-icious Apple Cookies. And for your own safety, don’t stand between allergic women and the Especially Expresso Brownies and Ludicrously Lemon Bars. – Gwen Smith

Go Dairy Free

Alisa Marie Fleming; Fleming Ink; $19.95

Author Alisa Marie Fleming calls this a “guide and cookbook,” and what particularly impresses is the depth of the former. This is no quick gloss-over: it’s a comprehensive, must-have resource for those avoiding dairy. The author, who’s well-known for her website Godairyfree.org, walks the reader through the dairy allergy basics and offers extensive lists of both hidden dairy sources and ingredients that will inspire.

There are thorough sections on dairy substitutes (homemade margarine, anyone?) and creative recipes, from soups to salads to curries and Make Your Own Pizza (without cheese.) Baking without dairy is usually a challenge, but Fleming rises to the task with the likes of Coconut Fudge Brownies, Orange Chocolate Chunk Cup- cakes, and Pumpkin “Cheesecake”. – Gwen Smith