Whats The Blend Good For
Cup4Cup is really a pastry flour. High in starch, lower in protein, its just a dream for pastry. Light and airy, it does just what pastry flour is meant to do: surround the cold butter in a recipe smoothly, and then puff effortlessly when the cold butter hits the heat of the oven and gives off steam.
Cup4Cup does have enough protein and structure to trap the steam given off in the oven, which is important. If you just use a high-starch blend that doesnt have the other attributes of Cup4Cup , it wont trap steam and you wont get the flaky goodness of the beautiful biscuits, scones, pie crusts and puff pastry.
Gluten Free Olive Oil Cake Ingredients
The ingredients youll need to make this olive oil cake are similar to those we use in most of our cakes, with a few notable exceptions:
- Gluten free flour I made this recipe with a combination of Better Batter gluten free flour and cornstarch, but Cup4Cup would work well in place of both, by weight. And yes, you have to sift it!
- Olive oil You dont need to spend a ton on olive oil, for this or any other purpose. Just use one you like the smell and taste of, for all your purposes. Baking will only intensify the flavors, like with wine.
- Buttermilk Be sure to use real buttermilk, or a real buttermilk substitute , not milk with a bit of lemon juice, which doesnt mimic the texture properly.
- Lemon zest The finely grated zest of 1 lemon is essential to the balanced flavor of this cake.
What If I Only Want To Use One Blend
If you only want to use one all purpose blend for everything but bread, Id make it my Better Than Cup4Cup .
Youll still need a Gum-Free Gluten Free Flour Blend, though, for some applications. So two blends? Oh, and to make bread flour, I suggest you buy Better Batter. So just 3. Thats all. 🙂
Recommended Reading: Gluten Free Liquor Brands
What Is An Olive Oil Cake Anyway
An olive oil cake is just a simple cake made with olive oil instead of butter. The liquid in the cake is usually buttermilk, which helps provide structure and extra tenderness.
Olive oil has a distinct flavor, so its not commonly used in baking sweets. In fact, even oil-based cakes, like our gluten free carrot cake, are typically made with a neutral-tasting oil, like canola, vegetable, grapeseed, or peanut oil.
In this gluten free olive oil cake, we fully embrace the flavor of good olive oil. We work the whole recipe around it, to brighten and enhance its flavor, so use an olive oil that you really enjoy tasting.
Celiac Central: Bits And Bites
Tweets at:Like her at:On the bookshelf:Gluten-Free on a Shoestring: 125 Easy Recipes for Eating Well on the Cheap. Available wherever books are sold.
Why were fans: We like saving money . We also like witty writing thats easy-going even when xanthan gum is part of the mix. With Nicoles blog, we get both. Her posts like The Promise of Pita are as entertaining as they are delicious, and the special page marked Shoestring Savings has oodles of links to coupons from some of your favorite gluten-free food manufacturers. Earlier this month, Nicole was featured in a news segment on ABC 7 in New York to promote her cookbook and put Celiac Awareness Month in the spotlight.
Nicole Hunn
Nicoles Story: My son Jonathan, who is now 7 years old, has celiac disease. We keep a gluten-free house, which includes me, my husband, and all of our 3 children eating gluten-free at home.
According to Nicole: The most unexpected part of going gluten-free was having it take me in the direction of cookbook author and food blogger, instead of practicing lawyer!
A taste of Gluten-Free on a Shoestring:
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Gluten Free Bread Flour
Gluten Free Bread Flour can be made by combining all purpose gluten free flour with whey protein isolate and Expandex modified tapioca starch in specific proportions.
We do have a complete discussion of gluten free bread flour for you to read. Here are the highlights. The proportions are:
- 100 grams all purpose gluten free flour
- 15 grams Expandex modified tapioca starch
Expandex modified tapioca starch can be replaced with Ultratex, another type of modified tapioca starch that is sold online at amazon.com in two strengths: Ultratex 3 and Ultratex 8.
Ultratex 3 is not as strong as Ultratex 8, but both are considerably stronger than Expandex modified tapioca starch. You can also try purchasing the same product, Ultratex 3, here.
Since Ultratex 3 is approximately 3 times as strong as Expandex, Ive arrived at a formula for building Gluten Free Bread Flour to use in the recipes in Bakes Bread. It is as follows :
1 cup Gluten Free Bread Flour Using Ultratex3105 grams Mock Better Batter all purpose blend 30 grams unflavored whey protein isolate5 grams Ultratex 3
Gluten Free Classic Snacks: 100 Recipes For The Brand
Everyone should be able to enjoy a Kit Kat from time to time. This book shows you how to make tons of famous snacks from Gold Fish to Thin Mints.
My fourth cookbook, Gluten Free Classic Snacks, is filled with copycat recipes for all the packaged cookies, crackers, breakfast and fruity treats, snack cakes and even candy bars like Twix and Kit Kats. I develop gluten free recipes with one goal in mind: to help people to enjoy their gluten free lives fully. Can you live the rest of your life without ever again having a Pop Tart, now that youre gluten free? Of course you can! But what about when your kid says My friends eat those bags of little chocolate muffins called Little Bites a lot during lunch. What do those taste like? Sooner or later, what you cant have begins to take on special importance. Im here to tell you that you can have it all back!
Also Check: Gluten-free Substitute For Breadcrumbs In Meatloaf
What Would You Tell Someone Considering Working With Grace + Vine Studios
Madison is a talented designer with a beautiful aesthetic, and absolutely no ego problems that might get in the way of making things right. She is open to all ideas, from me as the client, and from other professionals I work with on my blog. Shes super thoughtful about the design decisions she makes, and a great problem-solver. It was a unique experience, and Ive been doing this a long, long time!
Dont Want To Build Your Own Blend
Use Better Batter gluten free flour everywhere my recipes call for an all purpose gluten free flour. You can purchase it on their website , and youll get the best price when you buy in bulk.
You can also use Cup4Cup gluten free flour blend, but it is relatively high in starch and wont produce best results in my recipes . But it will still work anywhere my recipes call for an all purpose gluten free flour.
Other blends: Im afraid that I dont care for Jules Gluten Free , Tom Sawyer blend , Namaste , Krusteaz , Bobs Red Mill , Pillsbury Betty Crocker Rice Flour Blend , or Trader Joes Blend .
If you use any of these blends, especially Bobs Red Mill or Namaste, your recipe simply will NOT turn out.
King Arthur Flour multi-purpose gluten free flour blend is perhaps the most widely available blend, and I would give anything to be able to use and recommend it. Unfortunately, its very high in starch so its unbalanced, and the rice flour in it is grainy. *whomp whomp whomp*
Want to build a blend but dont want to do any math? Scroll down for a downloadable Excel file with a calculator for each blend!
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More Gf Olive Oil Cake Ideas
This cake recipe, as written, is a beautiful blank canvas for your favorite toppings, as discussed above. For a little variation, try one of these flavor twists:
Gluten free lemon olive oil cake
To add a true lemon flavor, add another tablespoon of finely grated lemon zest, and replace 3 tablespoons of your buttermilk with freshly squeezed lemon juice. You can also use the easy lemon glaze from our gluten free lemon pound cake recipe.
Gluten free chocolate olive oil cake
To add a chocolate flavor to your olive oil cake, top your cooled cake with the simple chocolate ganache topping from our peanut butter pie. To keep things even simpler, make a simple chocolate sugar glaze.
Whisk together 1 cup confectioners sugar and 2 tablespoons Dutch-processed cocoa powder. Drizzle in milk or water by the drop, and mix until you have a very thick paste. Add more liquid by the micro-drop and mix until thickly pourable, and pour over the cooled cake.
Powdered sugar topping
Skip the extra granulated sugar on top of the raw cake instead, dust the top of the cooled cake with powdered sugar.
Freezing Gluten Free Olive Oil Cake
For longer storage, I dont like refrigerating cake, as I find the refrigerator can dry out baked goods. Instead, wrap each cooled slice tightly in freezer-safe wrap and place in the freezer for up to 2 months.
Defrost at room temperature, or by unwrapping, sprinkling with water, and in a 275°F toaster oven until fragrant and defrosted in the center.
Read Also: Alcohol That Has Gluten
Can I Make Gluten Free Olive Oil Cake With Almond Flour
If youd like to. make an almond flour olive oil cake, youll need a separate recipe. Almond flour cant be used in a recipe like this, which is developed for a rice-based all purpose gluten free flour blend.
I recommend trying extra virgin olive oil in place of the coconut oil in our Paleo chocolate cake. For a plain almond flour cake, our almond flour sponge cake wont disappoint!
Better Batter As Cup4cup Hack
Nothing compares to the light and flaky pastry that you can make with that Cup4Cup makes. Since its such a spendy blend, I found a way to hack Better Batter gluten-free flour into a pastry flour, as another Cup4Cup alternative:
- 113 grams Better Batter Gluten-Free Flour
Since Cup4Cup is a dairy-containing flour, I also created a dairy-free way to hack Better Batter into pastry flour:
- 104 grams Better Batter Gluten Free Flour
- 18 grams gluten free cornstarch
Recommended Reading: Gluten Free Weekly Menu And Shopping List
Gluten Free Olive Oil Cake Serving Suggestions
I love this simple cake with simple fruit and cream toppings. Here are some more serving suggestions to turn a simple cake into a tiny celebration:
- Serve each slice with berries and fresh whipped cream, like you see in the photos here
- Serve with a fresh sprig of mint and some grapefruit or orange slices, supremed
- Plain, with a hot cup of coffee or bright lemony tea
What Is The Blend Good For
Better Batter is what I use when I need a bit more structure and/or a bit more chew .
Mock Better Batter is also good for recipes like the devils food cake cupcakes since I want them to rise evenly, and a lower starch blend is very helpful in that endeavor. Higher starch blends dont usually hold together as well or rise as evenly.
Finally, with sturdy cookie recipes like the soft batch chocolate chip cookies, the butter in the blends tenderizes the heavier Better Batter flour perfectly. This is my go-to blend for standard drop cookies.
One more important thing about Better Batter: It is the flour that I use to build my High Quality Gluten Free Bread Flour for alllll the amazing breads in Gluten Free on a Shoestring Bakes Bread.
But when I make that bread flour, I use Better Batter itself. I dont build a mock Better Batter for that.
Its actually more economical to buy Better Batter than to blend it yourself, and way easier. It cuts the bread flour down to 3 components: Better Batter, whey protein isolate, and Expandex.
Recommended Reading: Is There Gluten In Mozzarella Cheese
How Do I Use The Infographics Below
To prepare each all purpose gluten free flour blend below in whatever quantity youd like, simply apply the various percentages listed for each component gluten-free flour to the total quantity, one by one.
For example, if you wanted to put together 140 grams of flour , using the Mock Better Batter Blend, heres the math:
30% BRF = 30% x 140 grams = 42 grams Superfine Brown Rice Flour30% WRF = 30% x 140 grams = 42 grams Superfine White Rice Flour15% TS/F = 15% x 140 grams = 21 grams good quality Tapioca Starch/Flour15% PS = 15% x 140 grams = 21 grams Potato Starch5% PF = 5% x 140 grams = 7 grams Potato Flour3% XG = 3% x 140 grams = 4 grams Xanthan Gum2% PPP = 2% x 140 grams = 3 grams Pure Powdered Pectin
If you add up all of the numbers, it will equal 140 grams . So make as much or as little as you like. I generally make 10 cups at a time of my favorite blend .
**ETA: I added the High Quality Gluten Free Bread Flour Blend from GFOAS Bakes Bread to the Excel calculator worksheet!
**Reader Ryan Hunt also provided us with this handy Excel document that does the calculations for you for most of the following blends, in case youre math-phobic!
Click download and save it to your own computer, then use it to do the calculations for you:
The Best Gluten Free Olive Oil Cake Recipe I Promise
This gf olive oil cake is not only full of flavor with a tender, springy crumb, its also super easy to make in one bowl. Youll need a mixer to beat the olive oil with sugar, and then eggs, until creamy, but then youll sift the dry ingredients right into the same bowl.
Beyond the flavor of good olive oil, we also add vanilla extract and the finely grated zest of a whole lemon. But instead of giving the cake a strong lemon flavor, the zest just serves to enhance the brightness of the cake.
If you dont have a lemon to add the zest, you can leave it out and the recipe will still make a super moist cake with a perfect crumb. The overall flavor will simply be a bit muted.
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