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What makes a really good gluten free bread?

1/12/2014

4 Comments

 
PictureHomage to Borodinsky - a 100% buckwheat bread inspired by the famous Russian Borodinsky bread.
How do you answer this question? 

Is it the taste? The texture? The aroma that fills the air as it bakes? Is it the crisp, flaky crust that has that special bread taste?

So often gluten free bread is judged in a category all of its own, because, well, because it is different, and generally nothing like real bread.

Over the past few years I have been entering bread in the cooking section at the Devonport Show. Two years in a row my bread (Brown Rice Bread) was placed 2nd. Now, I should add that I was competing with bread made with wheat. There was no 'gluten free' class!

Last year a 'gluten free' class was added. I entered 3 loaves, one in each of the sections for 'bread' and one in the gluten free section. None of my loaves were placed. To be fair, I had entered my favourites, and, in the rush to bake had not paid attention to detail!

This year I entered 3 loaves, 'Homage to Borodinsky' was entered in the Gluten Free class. 

This loaf took a lot of work. It uses a roux as well as malted buckwheat. (I am still working on the process for malted buckwheat. Producing a powdered malt is demanding, but not too difficult.)  The bread has moderately strong buckwheat flavour, with a slight malt overtone, and a complex, almost citrus background from the coriander seed.




PictureKindred Buckwheat - another 100% buckwheat bread, made with locally grown buckwheat.
My 'Kindred Buckwheat' was entered in the 'any other bread' class. This is a 100% buckwheat bread with leatherwood honey. If you like strongly flavoured honey, you will find the honey and buckwheat work well together. Being made with local honey and local buckwheat (grown by 'Kindred Organics') makes this a local artisan bread - perhaps a first for our part for the world!

This bread is one of my favourites, but to be honest, it is probably an acquired taste, and not a smart choice for a relatively conservative competition! 

My third bread for the competition was Quinoa Miche. I entered in the 'white or brown bread' class. The dough is a beautiful, flexible dough, almost like a regular bread dough to handle, and it behaves very well.

The Quinoa Miche was awarded 1st place. This bread was judged against bread that is not gluten free. That is: a bread made without gluten or gum was awarded 1st place ahead of bread made with wheat!

(That recipe will be one for the book I am working on!)

Picture
Quinoa Miche - awarded 1st place in the 'Bread - white or brown' class at the 2014 Devonport Show.
Picture
I didn't get a photo of the crumb of the prize winning loaf. This loaf is made to a similar recipe, but with millet leaven (instead of baker's yeast) and a little home made millet malt.
4 Comments
Tristan link
3/1/2015 09:26:49 am

This is all very interesting. What is the recipe for the Quinoa bread? Or, if you don't want to divulge, could you at least post a photo of the inside? That's some impressive oven spring for a gluten free bread!

Reply
Chris
3/1/2015 08:52:58 pm

Hi Tristan, thanks for your interest. I'm not making this recipe available yet as I am working on a book that will include it. I didn't have a picture of the inside of that loaf, but I have finally remembered to take a picture of a similar loaf today.

Reply
Lisa link
10/8/2016 11:32:07 pm

Wow! What a crumb shot! I dream of aeration like that! Bravo!

Reply
Chris
11/8/2016 12:02:42 am

Hi Lisa,
Thanks. I don't get that every day. There are just a few of my recipes work like that. I had the ingredients and method about right. The details of that recipe remain a secret for now.

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    When I had to go gluten free I was disappointed at the taste and texture of gluten free baked foods that were available. Packet mixes were very disappointing. So I started to develop recipes that are good to eat.
    There was so much to learn along the way. Eventually I made progress with bread that looked, felt, smelled and tasted like real bread!  From there I have been exploring and learning more about basic gluten free ingredients to make a range of bread, pastry and pasta!

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