Customer Reviews

The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread: More Than 200 Wheat-Free Recipes

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have two major problems with the recipes offered in Bette Hagman's latest book: (1) The 'Garfava' flour which is the key ingredient for most of the bread recipes--at $19.95 for 5 lbs. plus shipping (from Authentic Foods)-- is too expensive for my budget. (In this book, she notes that she is starting to experiment with Quinoa & Millet flours. Why didn't she write a recipe book using these common and inexpensive alternatives to rice flour BEFORE she ventured into the garfava kingdom?) (2) The amount of sweetening (sugar, molasses) required in the non-sweet bread recipes is, for my taste & health, quite high. There is a GF recipe world out there which is waiting to be explored by someone who has Bette Hayman's adventuresome spirit (yet not her taste for expensive ingredients or her sweet tooth).

For anyone newly diagnosed with Celiac disease, it doesn't take long to figure out the Bette Hagman is 1st in gluten free cookbooks. Her previous books not only contained recipes, but wonderful information for Celiacs. So I must say I was disappointed to find out that I could not try a large portion of the recipes in this book because they all contain a flour that I am unable to obtain. Bette's latest favourite flour is sorghum flour, and it is produced in the U.S. by JOWAR foods. Neither my local health food store, nor myself via their web page, have been able to get a response on ordering this flour to be shipped to a Canadian address. What recipes I have been able to try have been wonderful, but with the main section of this book based on having sorghum, I would not recommend this book unless you have access to this ingredient.

I have read this book from cover to cover and it is useless because every recipe needs tapioca flour and I cannot get it here in Australia. I'd recommend having a look at the flour mixes on page 40 to make sure that you can get all of the basic ingredients.

Anyone who is a Celiac will understand the frustrations of not being able to enjoy a 'straight-from-the-oven' loaf of soft, fluffy bread. Gluten free flours are by nature 'difficult and bad-tempered!' at the best of times. Bette Hagman's book gives me confidence that eventually I will be able to produce such a thing for my Husband. What I really like is the "What went wrong...?" chapters, detailing specifically what to do when your loaf has turned into another brick!! My first attempt out of the book is already 100% better than anything I've achieved so far from other books or recipes; with some fine-tuning, I'm feeling really optimistic!

I use recipes from this book on a weekly basis for my gluten-free son. It's definitely a worthwhile purchase for the yeast-bread recipes. My son refused to eat sandwiches made on gluten-free bread until I started using Hagman's bread recipes. I like her recipes with garfava flour the best - no gritty rice-flour texture. On the down side, the ingredients are hard to find, as other reviewers have stated. I have to mail-order the flours, and I have not tried many of the recipes because they call for ingredients I just do not keep on hand and would probably not use in other recipes, like NutQuik or almond meal. As for her non-yeast bread recipes, I have had just as much luck adapting wheat recipes myself, and a lot of these recipes are based on mixes that she provides the recipe for. I have not tried these recipes, either, because I am not willing to put my expensive flours into a large quantity of a mix that I'm not positive will turn out well. Overall, this is a very useful book, and considering the limited availability of sources for gluten-free recipes, it's a must-have.

I use this book all the time and the recipes I have tried are excellent. Try adding chopped walnuts to the Quinoa bread recipe on page 70. The poppy seed bread is very good for sandwiches. I find adding a teaspoon or two (depending on loaf size)of baking powder helps keep the bread from collapsing once out of the oven. Always using the minimum amount of water helps, too. All Bette Hagman's books are a godsend for celiacs.

What a relief!!! My husband and two children had been diagnosed with celiacs and because I can't be bothered making food for them and differant food for me, all of a sudden bread was out of my life. They felt so much better that they didn't miss it, but I did. Everything I tried buying or baking tasted, looked, smelled, nothing like bread. In fact some of the receipes smelled a little like wet dog. Then I bought Bette Hagman's "Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread". Easy recipes, easy ingrediants to get, tasty and a huge variety to choose from. Now we all feel better!

I checked out a copy of the book from the library before buying it. After making 3 of the recipes, including some that she says are her regular breads, I found them too time-consuming for the outcome. Roben Ryberg's breads are much simpler for the small difference in taste. If you have the time, though, go for it!

I've been using this recipe book along with a Zojirushi bread maker Zojirushi BB-CEC20BA Home Bakery Supreme, Black/Stainless and have had fantastic results.

The recipes include the instructions for baking in the oven, as well as for the bread maker, and include the ratios for 1lb, 1.5lb and 2lb loaves, so you don't have to do the math.

The recipes use a wide variety of different flours. Some people state they are hard to find...the bulk store near my house had pretty much everything I needed. I don't necessarily like that the author pushes a few particular brands of flour. I've been using a bulk garbanzo flour in lieu of the garfava flour the author talks about in a direct substitution and haven't had any problems. The recipes seem to be quite forgiving...if you mismeasure a bit of flour or water, or are getting a loaf ready quickly. I've accidentally done this a couple times and I can't tell the difference. I also don't love relying so much on corn starch for a lot of the recipes and have been using potato starch as a direct substitution...again without problems. So, although some flours and ingredients may not be available in your area, chances are you can find something that you can substitute with and still get good results. So far I've been using the starch for starch, flour for flour basis for substitutions. Sub any type of flour/starch for another, making sure not to have doubles of any one. Gluten free breads work best with a variety of flours and starches.

I haven't gone through all of the recipes, but they are quite easy to follow...and for those of you using the bread maker, be sure to follow the bread makers guide for the order ingredients are placed in the pan, and NOT the order for adding ingredients to a bowl to mix by hand.

Using this book along with a bread maker will probably pay for itself over time given how expensive commercial gluten free breads are, and how cheap bulk flours and starches are.

Something to note...the vast majority of the recipes use fresh eggs. So you cannot add the ingredients and use your timer function as the eggs will spoil. Also, egg replacer is also added to many of the ingredients. For true gluten free bread, be sure you check the ingredients of the egg replacer, as they often use gluten as the binding agent.

The Garbanzo loaf using buttermilk powder has been my mainstay...great for sandwiches, I can even eat it not toasted!

Finally a book about gluten free baking that has recipes that taste good! The recipes in here are quite good although they have many ingredients.
Check out the types of flours you will need first and then get baking!