oh, wow

i've started experimenting with gluten-free flours, because it seems like everyday someone else turns out to be gluten intolerant. most recently, a cousin's husband found out he can't take gluten, and as the designated baker of thanksgiving, i thought i should start early to figure out a tasty flaky pie crust he can eat.



i found a web page that made reference to jeanne's gluten free flour mix which seemed to understand what i was looking for: no extra fibre or extra nutrients or extra health, just light & flaky goodness.

says she:

I have noticed that many gluten-free bakers have determined that their goal with gf baking is health-related. These bakers use certain flours over other ones because they are more “healthy” than others. So, these folks don’t use rice flours because they feel they’re not as full of nutrients as, say, quinoa flour... It drives me crazy when people tell me they think gf baking tastes weird and then I find out that it’s because bean or some other strong-tasting flour was used... My goals for baking don’t fall into this category. I like to think of myself as falling into more into the Julia Child category of bakers. I don’t bake brownies, for example, because they’re healthy. I bake them because I love to bake, I like the craft of baking, I want a treat, and brownies are yummy.

yes!

now, her recipe called for "sweet rice flour" aka "mochiko" which i didn't find. i did find something called "fancy rice flour" though, and hoped for the best. i also didn't find white rice flour, so doubled up on brown. today i made a trial pie, enjoying possibly the last peaches of the season.




the pie came out of the oven 5 minutes ago, so i haven't had a slice yet. but it looks gorgeous. and i ate a bit of pastry that flaked off the edge - oh, yum! then i broke off more pastry and ate it. yum. looking forward to a late-night pie feast. recipe later. now i'm off to dinner.