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Best Gluten Free Pastry Flour for Flaky Pies and Tender Tarts

6/27/2016

Wheat does not = Flour it's only one of many flours

What if we used other flours besides wheat not just because we can't tolerate wheat, but because they out preform wheat in taste, function and nutrition in certain areas? What if they weren't a substitute, but exactly what we wanted for the job? This is a radical idea, but we're getting closer to realizing that wheat isn't flour, it's just one type of flour, and doesn't always do the best job.

I love the versatility and ease of my gluten free all purpose flour mix. It makes superior to wheat, no kidding, baked goods. Especially, baked goods where you don’t want the gluten to form as in: cakes, muffins, cookies, tea breads, and quick breads. I use it with confidence in a one to one substitute for wheat flour in most recipes.
While my gf all purpose makes ok pastry, and can be used in a pinch, I felt the need to develop a pastry flour that I could count on to perform reliably. I’m proud to say I’ve done it, and best of all it’s such a simple straightforward ratio, I love it.
  I need a pastry flour that works for either flaky or tender doughs. It needs to brown, stand-up without being tough, and not crumble. It needs to taste mild, like white flour, and not be grainy or too starchy. In fact, I wanted people to not even notice it's not wheat unless told. I just want them to think it's the best pastry they’ve ever eaten.
  Tall order, but I’ll let you in on my thinking on how I came to my pastry flour mix that fits all of the criteria.
I like a two parts protein flour to one part starch flour in my gluten-free mixes. The protein flour provides structure, and the starches moisture and glue. I also add a gum for an extra hold things togetherness.
  My all purpose mix uses sorghum flour as its structural protein component. I use it because of its health and nutritional benefits, its mild flavor, and because it doesn’t have the grainy grit of rice flours. I use potato starch as the starch, because it lends moisture, and a tender quality while having as much ability as corn starch to stabilize. Potato starch also tolerates higher baking temperatures. It's a resistant starch, that when cooled is an excellent prebiotic. Have you noticed that glue and gluten sound alike?
  I knew only using potato starch was what needed to change to make a good pastry flour. I decided to add tapioca starch and ground flaxseed to the mix. Tapioca helps to add crispness to crusts, and chew to baked goods.
  When I first started playing around with gluten free baking,
I made some terrible inedible experiments by using an excess of tapioca flour, so I’d backed off from including it in recipes.
I recently added it to an oatmeal cookie recipe with good results, an added chew and crisp, so I was willing to give it another chance in the pastry flour.
I added flaxseed meal, instead of my usual xanthan gum for several reasons. One: I was curious if xanthan gum was really needed to hold things together, or if flaxseed would do the job just as well. Two: Flaxseed is a more straightforward ingredient than xanthan gum. I’d have no idea how to make it, whereas I’ve grown flax and it grows locally. Three: Flaxseed significantly adds to the nutrition of the baked good, whereas xanthan, while it has a place, doesn’t.
   I can't tell you how pleased I am by this mix. It holds together, is flaky when wanted, is relatively easy to roll, not like wheat, but with the right rolling tricks you get where you're going. It's mild, not gritty. There's nothing to make you resistant, only a great crust for your next pie.

More about the best gluten free pastry doughs

ratio for pastry flour

2 parts sweet white sorghum flour
½ part potato starch
½ part tapioca starch
1/16 part ground flaxseed

In cups and grams

4 cups sorghum flour
(552 grams)
1 cup potato starch
(152 grams)
1 cup tapioca starch
(113 grams)
2 tablespoons flaxseed
(18 grams) measure and then grind

Flaky Pie Dough teaser

2 ⅓ cup /315 grams gluten-free pastry flour
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
8 ounces/ 2 sticks/ 225 grams unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½ inch pieces
2 large eggs- lightly beaten

“The pie is an English institution which, planted on American soil, forthwith ran rampant and burst forth into an untold variety of genera and species.”
Christopher Crowfield (Harriet Beecher Stowe)

No reason to stress just enjoy what's right in front of you

6/21/2016

Sorry NO new posts until next Monday

It's enough for me to run a camp, keep a family fed, plus write up and develop 10 new British Isles bread recipes, with company in the house. So, I won't be posting for the rest of the week, but please come back next Monday and have a cup of tea with me. I love your support and encouragement, it means the world!

Yummy Delicious Wonderful

Something to Spark You

Fantastic Lemon Levain Shortbread

6/20/2016

Summer Solstice &Strawberry moon

It’s the morn of the Summer Solstice, and the strawberry full moon. Rye bread is rising in the warmed crock pot, to be put to steam when it reaches the top of the bread pan. The only sounds at 6:16 are my fingers hitting the keyboard, chickpeas bubbling on the stove, and a bird twilling somewhere. It is the peace before, when nothing has manifested.
My first camp of the summer will begin at 10 am, and could potentially be anything, but I have my high hopes, and 20+ years experience facilitating people through hands-on, exploratory learning.

Immersion into story art and song

The Bard part of the camp is an immersion into storytelling, the Irish myths--the children of Lir to Finn Mac Cool. Arthurian legends, Child Ballads….I will tell stories, they will learn to tell stories, and recite poetry, and sing. We’ll also be working on drawing and painting Celtic spirals, and knotwork. Paint miniature wooden character dolls, and learn some basic crewel embroidery.

Fantastic lemon Shortbread

I’m sharing my Levain Lemon Shortbread recipe with you today. It’s the one we’ll make at camp, and is unique with its overnight fermentation. I think it’s the best shortbread, but I’m probably prejudiced.

What You'll Need

Overnight Fermentation Ingredients
2 cups (267 grams) gluten free flour mix
¼ cup (56 grams) firm active levain
½ cup (100 grams ) unprocessed whole cane brown sugar--rapunzal
¾ cup cold unsalted butter (1 and ½ sticks )
(169 grams) chopped into small chunks

Before Baking Ingredients
fine zest of one lemon ( 2 tablespoons )
3 drops lemon oil or 1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon sea salt

Download of lemon shortbread recipe

Camp Begins today!

At Bards and Bread Camp, an offshoot of FEAST’s Folk Arts and Food Camps, with a team of 10 and 11 year olds, boys and girls, I’ll be baking throughout the week 10 different, and to me fascinating, traditional regional British Isles breads: scones, crumpets, pikelets, bara brith, barley bannock, Yorkshire tea cakes, barmbrack, Irish soda bread, Maids of Honor
( not a bread but a pastry), and Scottish shortbread. They will all use flours besides wheat, all be fermented in some way or another, and delicious.
The children will begin to learn the magic and rhythms of bread making, and will carry this experience and the confidence they gain throughout their lives, or at least that’s the intention.

My talented Assistant

My son Pan, aged 22, and home from college will be my assistant. I’m so thrilled that he can make it because he’s a storyteller, home baker, and so good with children. He also weaves baskets out of vines, and eats and forages wild foods, so maybe he’ll introduce them to all of those wonderful pursuits.

Levain Lemon Shortbread

There is a magic that shines through when a shortbread is given an overnight fermentation. Shortbread should be a clean, simple and straight to the heart cookie.
The levain fermentation process opens up the subtle flavors of the grain bringing out a depth of flavor--buttery, just sweet enough with a touch of lemon.
Makes: two ( 7 inch rounds)
Days To Make: 2
Prep. Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 10 minute prep, 12 hour overnight fermentation, 45 minutes chilling time plus 15 minutes baking and 10 minutes cooling time

Overnight Fermentation Instructions
In the work bowl of a food processor, add flour, crumble firm levain into work bowl and pulse 6-8 times until combined, add sugar and pulse, add butter chunks and pulse several times.
Empty contents of work bowl into a large mixing bowl. It should be a buttery dough and hold together easily. Gather dough together into a ball.
Cover the bowl with a clean cloth and let ferment overnight or ( 12 to 24 hours ) at room temperature. We turn our oven to warm, then turn it off, and ferment the dough in the oven, especially in the winter.

Before Baking Instructions
Look at the fermented dough, open it up with your hands, it should be puffy with some bubbles, it will taste slightly sour--not too much. If none of this has happened then it needs more time to ferment--try putting it into a warm, but turned off oven for another 1-2 hours. If fermented then proceed.
Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle portion and preheat the oven to 350F/ 180C
Mix salt, lemon zest, lemon, and lemon extract together in a small dish.
Break the dough up and work in the salt and other ingredients in with your hands so they’re evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Split the dough in half and press each ball into a seven inch flat even round on parchment paper with your palms.
Chill for 15 minutes. After chilling prick a design with fork tines, or a cookie stamp, lots of fun can be had here experimenting with fun designs. Crimp the edges as for a pie. Cut rounds into 12 even pieces. Chill for ½ hour on the parchment paper, transfer to a baking sheet, with rounds evenly spaced apart.
Bake until they are golden, 15 minutes, do not overbake.
Remove and let rounds cool for 10 minutes on cooling racks before serving.
Enjoy! Stored in a moisture proof tin they will keep for 2 weeks.

Please credit Society for Revisionist Baking for any use of this recipe and its techniques

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Best Gluten Free Pastry Flour for Flaky Pies and Tender Tarts

Wheat does not = Flour it's only one of many flours

other Posts about revisionist baking Methods

ratio for pastry flour

In cups and grams

Flaky Pie Dough teaser

No reason to stress just enjoy what's right in front of you

Sorry NO new posts until next Monday

Fantastic Lemon Levain Shortbread

Summer Solstice &Strawberry moon

Immersion into story art and song

Fantastic lemon Shortbread

What You'll Need

Download of lemon shortbread recipe

Camp Begins today!

My talented Assistant

Levain Lemon Shortbread

Categories

Archives

Author

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

​​

Best Gluten Free Pastry Flour for Flaky Pies and Tender Tarts

Wheat does not = Flour it's only one of many flours

other Posts about revisionist baking Methods

ratio for pastry flour

In cups and grams

Flaky Pie Dough teaser

No reason to stress just enjoy what's right in front of you

Sorry NO new posts until next Monday

Fantastic Lemon Levain Shortbread

Summer Solstice &Strawberry moon

Immersion into story art and song

Fantastic lemon Shortbread

What You'll Need

Download of lemon shortbread recipe

Camp Begins today!

My talented Assistant

Levain Lemon Shortbread

Categories

Archives

Author

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” ― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”
― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own