So far, one of my favorite things about this blog is the encouragement (read: suggestions and requests) I get from my family and friends. Chad sent over this recipe by Sarah Britton for a nut and seed bread, so I gave it a shot.
Mind you, what resulted in my kitchen did not even come close to what is portrayed in Sarah's beautiful photographs. My biggest setback was that the bread did not actually bind. It fell apart midway through the baking, when the recipe dictates to remove it from the pan, and never really came together after that, despite my haphazard attempts to form it back to shape. I'm not a great baker, and I'm even worse when it comes to gluten-free baking, so I attribute my shortcomings to a lack of practice.
Other than that, the bread is actually quite good, very dense, and very textured. Being Eastern European, I'm used to dense breads, such as rye or pumpernickel, but the texture is something I hadn't experienced yet in a bread. I topped this slice with a bit of jam, perfect for a late night snack :)
Interestingly, I just read that gluten is a natural binding element in baking products so to compensate lack of it in the gluten-free baking, the manufacturers add more fat (a lot of it) to get desired texture, elasticity, etc. Question is: gluten or fat? What's your preference?
ReplyDeleteI definitely prefer gluten over fat. This recipe called for psyllium seed husks to replace the gluten. Psyllium seed husks are very fiber-rich and extremely water absorbent. The idea is to use psyllium to bind all the loose ingredients together, but I'm just not sure if I either (a) used enough psyllium, or (b) baked the bread long enough. I'll have to experiment again to be sure!
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