It’s been about a decade since I learned I have a gluten intolerance, and until the last several years it was the rarest of treats to enjoy a piece of gluten-free cake or a cookie. The pickings were slim or simply nonexistent.
Thankfully, those days are no more. Most every supermarket now carries at least a few gluten-free options, from flour, pasta and crackers to cake, brownie and pizza dough mixes.
Better yet, more and more bakeries are saving a little space in their glass cases for a wheat-free pastry or two.
WHAT IS GLUTEN
Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and sometimes oats, plus countless commercial products, from sauces and snacks to vitamins, toothpaste and lip balm. Those with a gluten intolerance can struggle with digestive issues, allergy symptoms, fatigue and more. For folks with celiac disease, a more serious condition, gluten causes the body’s immune system to attack the small intestine.
— National Institutes of Health
In fact, gluten-free eaters can include a gourmet cake to celebrate any special occasion. Some of the isles’ finest cake designers and pastry chefs are producing gluten-free versions of their cakes, while others have devoted their talents to strictly gluten-free baking.
But if you want to try baking your own cake, two local pastry chefs at the top of their games share a few tips.
ABIGAIL LANGLAS, CAKE WORKS
A great cake starts with a great recipe, no matter what kind of flour you use, said Langlas, owner and pastry chef at Cake Works in Moiliili.
At her bakery, where she and her crew produce 30 to 40 custom cakes a week, a butter cake, the base of many of their creations, is easily adapted into a good gluten-free product.
“It’s an easy and versatile recipe,” she said. From that recipe, they’ve developed such cakes as red velvet, pistachio, chocolate and more.
When baking gluten-free cakes, the chef substitutes wheat flour with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1-to-1 Baking Flour.
“It took a little adjusting — the cake didn’t rise nicely so we added a bit more of the flour,” she said. “Nothing else is different.”
CAKE WORKS
2820 S. King St.
946-4333 or 946-4335,
cakeworkshi.com
(Note: Cake Works’ gluten-free cakes are made in the same kitchen as its traditional cakes, so there may be exposure to wheat dust)
Another way to boost a cake: “Just concentrate on using good ingredients — good vanilla, good chocolate, good cocoa powder. Use a nice buttercream.”
Langlas said many cake recipes call for either all butter or all oil, but she prefers a combination of both. Using exclusively oil provides a moist texture but falls short on flavor, while all butter delivers flavor but a drier crumb. The combo of the two creates a cake with both flavor and moistness. Experiment with your recipe to get the proportions right.
Up the ono factor with a good filling.
“A flavorful filling is going to go a long way,” said Langlas. “My gluten-free cakes have a bit of a different texture, but people say they wouldn’t have known if they weren’t told because the flavors are there.”
Cake Works cakes are embellished with filling flavors — often incorporating fresh fruits — such as lilikoi, mango, strawberry, coffee and much more.
Decorating that cake into a thing of beauty doesn’t have to be complicated, she said.
“Old-fashioned buttercream on the outside is beautiful. Or decorate with fresh flowers. Chef Zone sells edible flowers. If not, wash the flowers you pick and be sure they’re not toxic. And fresh fruit makes a cake look beautiful.”
Final tip: Let a cake cool at least six hours before cutting it.
“It needs to set, or it will break and crumble. It should be totally cooled.”
MARIE CASSEL, SWEET MARIE’S HAWAII
“I love that it’s alchemy — taking nothing and turning it into gold,” Cassel said about baking gluten-free cakes, and desserts specifically customized according to clients’ allergies.
Diagnosed with celiac disease herself, the pastry chef works in a gluten-free, allergy-friendly kitchen and welcomes the challenge of creating delicious desserts while avoiding — depending on an individual’s sensitivities — ingredients such as gluten, soy, nuts, dairy, seeds or eggs.
Cassel avoids premixed flours because she likes to keep things “clean, straight across the board — no potato starch, no tapioca starch.”
She uses only what she knows is not an allergen for her client, and everything is made from scratch from quality ingredients.
“I use fresh fruit to make fresh purees and I grind my own flour,” she said.
As to that flour, she usually uses brown rice flour in her cakes since few are allergic to brown rice. If someone is, she replaces it with chia seed flour.
Cassel said the grind of the flour must match what you’re trying to achieve.
“For a light and fluffy cake, you need a finer grind. For something the texture of cornbread, use a coarser grind.”
To grind your own, Cassel said a Vitamix works well — “Be sure to keep fluffing the flour as you’re grinding” — but in a pinch, a coffee grinder works, too. Grind to an almost powdery consistency.
Another trick to a nicely textured cake is to use a whisk attachment on a mixer rather than a paddle, since a whisk incorporates air into the mix.
But the key to successful gluten-free baking, she said, is educating yourself.
“You must be super familiar with the ingredients you’re using and the person you’re feeding,” she said. “You must really understand the ingredients. Read up, know what you’re working with.”
Then, work on mastering your recipe. Always use good techniques, like creaming the sugar and fat, and adding eggs one at a time.
Beyond those universal techniques, “there will be trial and error — lots of it. It’s not inexpensive; that’s just a reality. But don’t give up.”
Options abound for eating gluten-free, now that more markets, restaurants and bakeries are expanding offerings to accommodate specialized diets. “Going Gluten-Free” will explore the world of gluten- free cooking and eating with spotlights on ingredients, seasonings, and packaged and prepared foods.
