I'd like to follow all of that up by stating that I love Betty Crocker for making gluten-free (gf) baking mixes. If you haven't already tried them, they're fantastic. The amazing folks at Betty Crocker have four fantastic products - chocolate cake, yellow cake, brownies, and cookies. From what I understand, they're made in a gf facility. All of the products are reasonably priced (between $3 & $5 at my local store) and the final product actually tastes pretty good. So much so, that anything I've made with the gf mixes for various events has been scoffed up often before the non-gf options were finished. Granted, I'm of the mindset that if I'm going to go through the trouble of baking something I'm going to be able to eat, I'm going to put a lot of effort into it and make it worth eating.
I have a relatively creative streak when it comes to baking. I also am blessed with my grandmother's kitchen magic and an innate ability to throw stuff haphazardly in a bowl and have something delicious come out. Giving up baked goods was pretty difficult, so when I could bake again and enjoy it, I came back to the kitchen with a silpat sheet and a vengeance. One of the first cakes I threw together with the Betty Crocker gf mix involved toasted almonds in the bottom of an angel food cake pan, gf marzipan made with almond paste, gf almond extract, and a confectioners sugar, almond extract glaze. Like I said, if I'm putting the effort into it, it should be delicious. And it was!
Some days, the creativity is flowing like a turbulent river. On the days where it's a chore to find a pair of matching socks but baking still needs to be done, that's where "The Cake mix Doctor Bakes Gluten-Free" cookbook comes in. Most, if not all of the recipes call for a box of gf cake mix, which makes life easier, since you don't have to worry about the chemistry of blending 27 different gf flours together with the right amount of xantham gum to get something you can get other people to eat. All hail the gf cake mix!
What I like about this book in addition to using a cake mix that I already love, is the fact that so many of the recipes are comparable to "The Good Housekeeping" tome that has creases in the binding from when my grandmother would use it to make her cakes. With the exception of angel food cake, there seems to be a gf option for just about everything else anyone could ask for, as well as a few things that look intriguing. A simple flip through the index yields recipes for There's also space designated in the margins for notes & recipe reminders.I tried to make the sugar cookies in the Cake Mix Doctor book. They came out pretty good, although they spread a bit more than I wanted them to and they were softer than I wanted. I had been hoping to bake them, decorate them, and use them as wedding (or shower) favors. This wasn't the right recipe for that. I'm guessing it had to do with the 8 tsp of butter that the recipe called for. I guess more cookies will have to be baked until the cookies are where I want them to be.
The pineapple upside-down cake on the other hand came out fairly well, especially if you are gf and miss pineapple upside-down cake.
The book also has options for dairy-options for both cakes and frostings.
Overall, I like this book and recommend it. If nothing else, it'll stoke your creative gf cake-baking fire.
By Anne Byrn
ISBN: 978-0-7611-6098-4
Retail: $14.95, new
(Pssst... If your local mom & pops bookstore doesn't have it, there were several copies on half.com for a reasonable price.)
