Read Gluten-Free Makeovers for Free Online

this blend.
    • The original recipe called for 2 teaspoons of baking powder. I needed to find out if 3 cups of my blend would yield 2 teaspoons or more of baking powder. The ratio in my blend is 4 cups of flour for 2 tablespoons of baking powder or 1½ teaspoons per cup—no need to add additional baking powder to my makeover but a bit extra won’t hurt in this dense batter.
    • My self-rising blend does not contain baking soda because it is not always an ingredient in quick breads and muffins. I added baking soda to this recipe, but remembering that the dough would be dense, I added a bit more than the original recipe called for.
    • The first time I made this recipe, I had made my own buttermilk, combining vinegar and milk. I used commercial buttermilk the next time and the recipe did not work. I tried again and again before realizing the combinationof baking soda and cider vinegar was critical in producing a delicate sconelike texture in this recipe. I went back to using a mixture of milk and cider vinegar. (I use that combo in several recipes in this book.)
    • Adding raisins with the dry ingredients didn’t seem like a good idea. I feared they would turn to mush when I cut in the butter or blended the liquids with a wooden spoon. Dusting the raisins with the flour blend and folding them in at the end prevented them from sinking to the bottom during baking.
    • For a dairy-free version, I substituted soy milk for cow’s milk and in place of butter, I used non-dairy spread. The spread is softer than butter, so I cut it into pieces and froze them briefly before cutting them into the flour. This created the same texture that cold butter produces as it begins to bake.
    • I made no other changes to ingredients or amounts.
    Here’s the gluten-free version:
Beverly’s Irish Tea Bread
SERVES 8
    1 cup milk, soy milk, or rice milk minus 2 teaspoons
    2 teaspoons cider vinegar
    3 cups self-rising flour blend, reserve 2 tablespoons to coat raisins
    ½ cup sugar
    ¾ teaspoon baking soda
    5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into small pieces
    2 large eggs, slightly beaten
    1 cup dark raisins
    Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly oil or grease a 9-inch springform pan.
    Combine the milk and vinegar and set aside to thicken.
    Combine the flour blend, sugar, and baking soda in a bowl. Cut in the cold butter until the mixture is crumbly. Combine the eggs and milk in a separate bowl. Make a well in center of the dry ingredients and add the milk mixture. Mix with a wooden spoon until the dry ingredients are moist. Toss the raisins with the reserved 2 tablespoons of flour blend until coated. Fold into the mixture.
    Spoon the dough into the prepared pan and smooth the top until even and the battertouches the sides of the pan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
    Let cool for 15 minutes before removing the rim of the springform pan. Serve warm with soft butter and jam or remove the bottom of the pan and let cool before serving. This freezes well and can be sliced and reheated or toasted.
    This is a great example of the approach I took to create all the recipes in this book. Apply this technique in your own kitchen and you’ll have great results every time. Start with one of your favorite recipes and one of my blends and build from there. Before you know it, you’ll be baking like a gluten-free pro and reaping the delicious rewards, too.
Baking Tips
    1.If you make a recipe over and over, make a big batch of the corresponding flour blend. It will save time when you want to prepare the recipe.
    2.Consider using cornstarch as your starch of choice. Over my years of gluten-free baking, I’ve found it produces the lightest cakes, muffins, and quick breads. It stands to reason since cake flour contains cornstarch. Even Julia Child once said that a gluten-free person could replace regular flour one-for-one with cornstarch in any recipe and have good results. I’m not