Gluten-free Lab #1 - Dove's gluten-free loaf -Crumbly!

So, I did a little research in advance on many breadmaking recipes using just gluten-free plain flour, and this is a patchy recipe that I integrated bits and bits from those sources :)

Last thing first, this bread looks great and tastes good, but turned out very fragile and crumbles a lot as I assume I did the fermentation part wrong, which you will see in a little bit in this post.

Though I wouldn't recommend to follow this recipe, I could definitely learn how difficult it is to make gluten-free bread loaf. Hopefully I will learn from this, and make a better one the next time that I can proudly announce here on this blog* :)

* As it seems like it will take loads of time, I will try these attempts in this so-called series of "Gluten-free Lab" where I try to make stuff with gluten-free substitutes in the method of which I would not necessarily suggest to apply but rather to observe :D

Anyways, here's my first attempt to make white loaf using Dove's Gluten-free Plain White Flour!

Ingredients:

● 420g of Dove’s Gluten-Free Plain White Flour*

● 2 + 1/8 teaspoons xanthan gum

● 4 teaspoons of baking powder

● 1 teaspoon of salt

● 3 tablespoons of sugar

△ 1 tablespoon of sugar for activating yeast

△ 12g of yeast

△ 355 ml warm milk

▲ 2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar

▲ 60 ml of sunflower oil

▲ 2 eggs

* Ingredients: Flour blend (Rice, Potato, Tapioca, Maize & Buckwheat).

△ , ●, ▲

First, heat the milk with a low heat until it's comfortably warm when you put your fingers in :)

And add the yeast & 1 tbs of sugar in the milk (△), and leave it to prove until it becomes foamy.

While the yeast is activating, mix ▲ in another bowl.

●, △ + ▲

Also, mix ● all together in a larger bowl.

Once the △ mixture is ready, combine △ & ▲ together in one, and gently add into ● :)

● + △ + ▲

Combine well until the mixture becomes rather like the batter than the dough :D

This time, I followed the rule of gluten-free breadmaking :)

And pour into a lightly oiled loaf tin!

Tadaa! Now, let it rest for half an hour! :)

And pre-heat the oven for 220℃ :)

At this time, I was very happy and somewhat confident to make another nice white loaf :)

But then,

This happened....

I remember it'd been only 15 minutes since I left it to prove at this point.

Perhaps, the altitude of our flat is high, as we live high up from the sea.

But I reckon the temperature and humidity level of the kitchen was also high as I was steaming stuff for dinner, which might have activated the yeast & baking powder too much.

I guess I will try to reduce the amount of baking powder to 2-3 teaspoons, and leave it to rest in a cooler place next time:)

Anyhow, I made them fit in the loaf tin, and baked for around 30 minutes first, and another 15-20 minutes with the cover on top.

Here's the bread right out of the oven after around 50 minutes :D

This is a picture just after 30 minutes :) Of course, it overloaded again :D

But somehow, it turned out to look alright :)

:)

Looks a bit like cake though...

Perhaps because eggs are in there :D

But the top is nice & crusty!

Apart from this being very very very crumbly, again this tastes lovely more or less like a normal white bread*! I guess I have to adjust the amount of raising agents, change the environment of the fermentation, and pay more attention while making this next time! :D

* I will take this back as it kind of tasted weird when I tried it few days later with a new loaf :D

Gluten-free White Loaf Total: £1.39 + a (appx. ¥230 + a )! :)* 

Flour: £0.94 / 420g (£1.88 / 1kg) 

Egg: £0.30  / 2 egg (£1.75 / 12 medium)

Milk: £0.15 / 355ml (£1 / 4pint)

* This is only a very rough estimate as this excludes the costs of other ingredients.

After all, this is an amazing & very cheap alternative considering how gluten-free bread loaf on the market usually costs around £3! :)

I hope I can do better the next time :) And I will update if I find the better mixture! :)

Have a lovely weekend!

Cheers!

xxxxx