If you haven't already discovered Gluten Free on a Shoestring by Nicole Hunn, leave this page now and check her out! Following her detailed and specific instructions, and you too will (re)discover the utter joy of baking! Yes, buy a food scale (about $20, so worth it!) Do make your own blends - she makes it so easy. And you will be amazed at the deliciousness you will again be able to create. Taste, texture, all the great stuff you remember and thought were gone for good!
Now, her baguette is a regular in my kitchen, and it makes me so happy!
Notes:
In this post, I provide the basic ingredients, and include my additional comments on how to ensure your baguettes turn out like the picture. Nicole provides lots of extra information about ingredients and substitutions, as well as detailed info about creating your own flour blends (which I highly recommend). Please visit her site for all that info. She recommends two flour bends, Better Batter (a brand I can't get, but she tells you how to make it, and Cup4Cup (which she also tells you how to make at home, even how to alter her mock Better Batter to make mock Cup4Cup.) I have had success with both of her mock blends.
Make sure your butter and egg white are at room temperature. The key to gluten free baking is hydration and having these items at room temperature ensures that they will mix in evenly to help hydrate the dough properly. Without it, your efforts will be a complete waste, which is a shame with these pricey ingredients!
Gluten-Free Baguette - from Gluten Free on a Shoestring(makes two 10 inch loaves)
1 3/4 cups (245g) Better Batter GF flour blend (I use her mock Better Batter)
1/4 cup (36g) tapioca starch
2 teaspoons (6g) instant yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 oz warm water (run your hot water until is hot enough to leave your wrist under it comfortably, but not scalding you)
25g egg white at room temperature
21 g honey
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon (14g) butter at room temperature
extra tapioca starch for rolling out
oil for spraying
Combine flour, salt, yeast and tapioca starch in the bowl of a food processor (or kitchen aid with a paddle attachment) and pulse to combine well. Using a food scale that registers grams and ounces, place 2 cup container on scale, tare it to 0, add 6 oz hot water, change scale to grams and tare to 0, then add 25 g egg white, tare to 0, add 14 g butter, tare to 0, add 21 g honey, remove from scale and add 1 teaspoon cider vinegar. Mix well to combine and then pour into the dry ingredients and process until well blended. The dough will begin to ball up, stop machine and break up the ball, spreading it around so that the blade slices through it equally. Process the dough for 1 minute at a time, stopping to break it up, until it begins to be sticky and takes on a whipped look. This may take 2-3 minutes of processing, stopping to break up the dough. When it is done, it will be evenly processing, sticking to the sides of the bowl, but feeling slightly tacky. Scrape it out of the bowl and place in a tightly sealed container that will allow it to expand. If you use a tupperware that doesn't seal well, it will expand out of it, so I generally use a quart size mason jar. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days.
Remove dough from the refrigerator place on a firm surface lightly dusted with tapioca starch. Kneed it into a smooth ball for a minute or so. Cut the dough in half equally and begin to shape it into another ball, keeping the surface lightly dusted with tapioca flour to keep it from sticking. Using your hands, roll out a log, rolling from the middle to the ends, creating a tapered loaf about 10 inches long. Repeat with other piece of dough.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees. Place dough on a baking sheet, spray with oil and cover completely with plastic wrap (or a large plastic produce bag) and make sure no surface of bread is exposed. Allow to rise 30-50 minutes, until it looks like the dough is about to crack open; Do Not Let It Over Rise. Keep an eye on it. Once it is ready, slash 3 cuts evenly on each loaf with a sharp knife, about 1/4 inch deep. If you go too deep, the loaves will crack open in the oven. Spray with oil (or not, the above photo doesn't have oil). To ensure a crusty crust, toss 2 ice cubes on the bottom of the oven when you place the loaves in to bake. Bake for 18 minutes and then allow to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing into it. If you want a softer crust, wrap the loaves in a dish towel while cooling.
Hugs!
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