Oh Lord, don't make me taste it!

[mixfinder]

I am on a mission to make palatable sugar free and gluten free goodies. I let the intolerant diets make me intolerant for a while and just recently reconnected with a high school friend who has diabetes and Celiac's disorder. It feels very good to make food that he can enjoy and eat without fear of reprisal. The largest hurdle is recreating moisture in batter without having the liquid attracting ability of sugar in the recipe. Second challenge is trying to find a sugar substitute that aerates when being creamed. The final hurdle is making something beside rubber doughnuts in gluten based batter. I am using Splenda, rice syrup, malt syrup, agave, an institutional sugar substitue made from chicory. For flours I am using cocnut, oat, potato, bran, tapioca and rice flours and to replace texture using modifiers like dried whey, xanthan gum and powdered milk.

 

[mixfinder]

Reverse Creaming

The lack of gluten in baking causes textural and structure challenges but its a win win for sugar free baking since most gluten free flour replacements don't get tough or rubbery. One approach is using the reverse creaming method. In a normal butter cake recipe all the dry ingredients are crumbled with the butter which coats the flour particles and inhibits the formation of gluten strands.

 

[mixfinder]

Drink Please!

After the shortneing or butter is rubbed into the flour the liquid portion of the recipe is added in two parts and then whipped until smooth before beating in the eggs one at a time.

 

[mixfinder]

Portioned and Ready

Using a scoop, filling muffin cups uniformly and without dripping is a breeze.

 

[tlee618]

Kelly, want a good friend you are!! Let us know how these products work out for you.

 

[mixfinder]

Chocolate Lovers delight

The procedure for the next cake more closely follows the norm of creaming, adding eggs and then alternating with wet and dry ingredients. Creaming butter with Splenda and Brown Rice Syrup whips up nicely.

 

[mixfinder]

A Little Bit of This and That

Buttermilk and dry ingredients are added alternately beating until smooth after each addition.

 

[mixfinder]

Spice Island

Gingerbread evokes memories of the rich aroma of baking and then the juxtaposition of warm spicy cake with cool and soothing whipped Cream. This recipe is a triple banger since it uses Barley Malt Syrup for Sweetner, Tapioca and Oat flour and applesauce as a fat replacement. Its almost like running into the wind with your mouth open!

 

[mixfinder]

No Mercy

Sugar and oil can continue to attract moisture after a cake is baked. Carrot Cake and Zuchinni bread owe the moist sticky texture to Wesson oil. With out sugar and using a proper balance of fat to flour ratios it is easy to over bake sugar free cakes. Riding the edge like a trapeze act pulling it just after its gooey in the middle and before its overbaked takes some practice. The moment the cakes come out of the oven I cover them with Saran Wrap to hold in moisture and then wrap them tightly for storage. When putting together a sugar free cake it works best to brush the cake with a sugar free "syrup" to add flavor and aid in keeping the cakes moist.

 

[mixfinder]

Off to the Races

I'm off with the test cakes to get feed back and then tweak the procedures and ingredients.

 

[foraloysius]

This is a very interesting thread. Thank you very much for sharing, I hope these recipes will work out. Really Kelly, you're a genius!

 

[mixguy]

Interesting and Wonderful

Kelly,

It is great of you to find way to help people with food allergies to find a way to enjoy such treats! Also you are to be commended in sharing with others your gifts. I have read your many contributions in the Kitchenaid Conversations, WACM and here, We are truly blessed to learn from your knowledge.

 

[gansky1]

Nice work, Kelly, they look scrumptious. I have a couple of friends trying to live gluten-free and it certainly isn't easy.

 

[mixfinder]

Hiding

When we were in junior high we watched my friend give himself injections of insulin in his stomach and legs. He was a cultist hero and yet even then I felt sorry for all the things he couldn't partake in. My 40th class reunion is coming and we connected through a Facebook page trying to collect as many of us as possible. I've been upbeat and cheerful and yet so often need to look away so he cannot see my face as I react to the changes, amputations, weight loss, limited vision and mobility. The underlying diabetes causes bouts of gluten intolerance to become more debilitating. Gluten shows up in soy sauce, vinegar, almost every condiment and in a cazillion places where you might not expect. I keep thinking of the old proverb, "I cried because I had no shoes and then I met a man who had no feet."

 

[mixfinder]

The Bitter Twist

I've been working for a couple weeks finding sugar replacements for butter type cake. First, to be fair, one might assume there is no perfect or "same" replacement for sugar. Batter moisture is the first obstacle, baked texture is another and then stale out is playing a much bigger role than I had imagined. Sugar makes batter more liquid or slack and allows it rise evenly. Sugar allows baked good to continue to absorb moisture after baking and most importantly sugar activates salivary glands allowing baked goods to roll more easily in the pallet. I've reached a point that I feel good about texture although sugar free items dry out quickly. The sweetness factor seems to lessen the longer the cakes are out of the oven, tasting pretty good while warm, hardly sweet the day after and then beginning to take a bitter finish. I'll head to food science to find more answers and continue to perfect the process. Pies and cookies are much easier and sponge or foam type cakes while being shorter still feels like the real McCoy. It is the butter cake that proving more difficult.

 

[mixfinder]

Too Good to be True

Research has led me to many options but several amazing finds. Polydextrose is used in food processing for added fiber. Milled from plants for it's fiber it is also quite sweet. In addition to adding fiber and seetness it also adds the moisture component missing from many sugar substitues. Cakes can be almost fudge like in consistency without reducing the fat in a recipe. It is sold undermany names but one more easily found is Poly D Fiber. Another sweetener in the same community is erythritol. Both Poly D and erythritol are sweeter than sugar and the sweetness seems to grow or become more pronounced as the product sits. Another product which dovetails with healthier eating and reducing glycemic index is resitance starch. Made from corn fibers it bulks foods and also "seals" the calories so they are more difficult to digest or clean calories from. Sold under labels of Hi-Maze 5 in 1, Resistance Corn Starch and Konjac Fiber, glucomannan replaces a portion of the flour in baking adding again to moisture, fiber content and bakability. Its important to note these still contain calories but they are defined from sources other than cane or beets. I am fortunate to live in an area infiltrated by the "Earth Muffins" so there are many stores readily carring the products. If you're interested in looking further discussions are found at Wikepedia and and online sources abound.

 

[foraloysius]

Kelly

Have you ever tried using Stevia? Or Xylithol? I would like to know more about possibilities of baking with them.

 

[retropia]

Salba/Chia

Kelly, have you ever tried baking with salba (aka chia) flour? It's supposed to be gluten-free and also beneficial in regulating blood glucose. I've never tried it, but I've been curious about it.

 

[mixfinder]

More Options

Louis, I have used Stevia in the past. It is extremely sweet and known to have a harsh after taste. Mere drops or grains of stevia can sweeten a large mix making it better suited to pudding, custards and fruit desserts and not so great for cakes or cookies. There is a new formulation designed to have less of the bitter finish. I currently have and have used a product called Xylo Sweet. It is much like PolyD and made in the same fashion. Xylo Sweet is more potent than sugar so cut back a touch on the measurements. Xylo Sweet produces a moist and cakey texture in most things so it's not the first choice for some cookies but lends itself well to biscuit, genoise, cakes, and sponge. I'll get a Chia Head for my family and then on their birthday we'll cut the hair and bake a cake! I haven't used chia flour before. We're headed to Jackson Hole for a week and when we get back I'll give it whirl. Imagine the pleasure of eating all the cake you can hold and it's good for you.