Gluten-Free Baking Classics (Paperback)

by Annalise G. Roberts (Author)
Key Phrases: brown rice flour mix, active dry yeast granules, ground brown rice flour, Gluten-Free Baking Classics, Cook's Note, Traditional Pie Crust (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
Perfect chocolate chip cookies, crisp yet yielding texture, we dare anyone to detect they weren’t made with traditional wheat flour. -- Gourmet Magazine, November 1, 2005

Rich but light, this cake loses absolutely nothing from the absence of white flour. -- Gourmet Magazine, November 1, 2005 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

“Gluten-Free Baking Classics contains a recipe for chocolate chip cookies that Gourmet magazine claimed were ‘perfect’ and ‘dared anyone to detect that they weren’t made with traditional wheat flour.’ I took the challenge and tried a test recipe on chocolate chip cookie-lovers…only to find that Gourmet was right and I didn’t have enough taste samples to keep up with their enthusiastic appetites.”
—Sue Ade, Morris News Service

“[Roberts’s] kitchen tested recipes make her baked goods lighter, and fluffier than the rest.”
—Donna Gray, Calgary Herald

“We were captivated by these perfect chocolate chip cookies, [with their] crisp yet yielding texture, and we dare anyone to detect they weren’t made with traditional wheat flour…[the] rich but light…cake loses nothing from the absence of white flour.”
—Gourmet

“This remarkable cookbook contains mouthwatering recipes, the directions are easy to follow and the hints are a welcome extra bonus.”
— Elaine Monarch, Executive Director, Celiac Disease Foundation

“This wonderful book by Annalise Roberts is very readable, and the recipes taste great!”
—Peter H.R. Green, M.D. and Anne R. Lee, R.D., Celiac Disease Center, Columbia

“An excellent cookbook. This is rare. I've seen some absolutely dreadful gluten-free
cookbooks....As far as the dishes, YUM! Not a single flop so far and that's saying a lot.”
—C. Allison, CookingHelpWeb

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Agate Surrey; 2nd edition (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572840994
• ISBN-13: 978-1572840997
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (110 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,557 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #2 in	Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Special Diet > Low Fat
  #5 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Diets & Weight Loss > Special Conditions > Gluten-Free
  #5 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Nutrition > Food Allergies

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

82 of 82 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "No apologies" gluten free baking, July 2, 2006

By	Susan - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gluten-Free Baking Classics (Paperback)

I had the great good fortune of meeting Annalise about eight months ago at a celiac support group meeting. I had previously used a recipe of hers (available on her Foodphilosopher website) for angelfood cake. I was impressed with it and was really looking forward to the publication of this cookbook.

This is gluten free baking with no apologies. Annalise is a very wise lady, passionate in her quest for excellence in gluten free baking. She has gone into the kitchen and rethought how we bake with gluten free flours. The result is an amazing collection of recipes that can go anywhere with the wheat-eating crowd and pass as the "real" thing.

Texturally her products are moist and don't have the grainy mouth feel for which gluten free baked goods are notorious. And taste - she points out in her introduction how much flavor wheat flour has, and then proceeds to compensate for the lack of flavor in the gluten free flours by carefully rethinking her porportions of fats, liquids and flavorings. The result is, product after product, items that not only look beautiful but truly taste delicious. I used to call the lack of flavor in a gf product the "dead spot" - something was missing in my gf baking, but I didn't know what. Annalise's recipes fill that spot completely.

I've been baking for over 40 years. I've been baking gluten free for almost 7 years. I've bought breads ready made, baked from mixes and from scratch. I have had the great pleasure of tasting Annalise's breads, made by her own hand, on a few occasions at our local celiac support group meetings. These are outstanding in terms of crunch, crust and flavor. She has made a real breakthrough with her French/Submarine bread recipes.

I have personally baked the chocolate chip muffins, lemon squares and chocolate ricotta muffins from this book. They are all unbelievably good. I have had a wonderful time making her angelfood cake in the past, and have had the pleasure of helping her test out new recipes for cinnamon buns and a crumb cake. My family of five (three gf eaters) are all impressed. And my non-allergic daughter, who still can and does eat wheat, can't wait for me to bake the crumb cake again - she probably ate 1/2 of the first one by herself.

A word of warning - while Annalise's flour blend for cakes and muffins may look "traditional" to you, it is not. Don't think that this is the "same old same old" - it is not. And, when Annalise advises using a specific brand of brown rice flour (Authentic Foods) in her blend because of the fine grind, pay attention folks! It really makes a difference in the end product.

Did I mention that Gourmet Magazine ran a November, 2005 article spotlighting her recipes? Go buy the book and bake all these goodies you've been missing. That's what I'm doing for my family.

Susan
Northern New Jersey Celiac Support Group

41 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baking for fun again!, May 9, 2007

By	SusieQ (Orange, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gluten-Free Baking Classics (Paperback)

When my kids and I were diagnosed, my first thought was, "How am I going to do this?!" I have always loved baking, and it's something my kids and I would do together --they really look forward to our baking days. I really thought that all of that was over. And, WHAT ABOUT SCHOOL LUNCHES?! The gf bread from the store is disgusting, and it crumbles if you try to use it for sandwiches. Well, my kids have sandwiches in their lunch boxes, and we are back to our baking days, thanks to this FABULOUS book! I've tried many other gf cookbooks, and this is in a totally different league -- an excellent baking book on par with conventional, wheat-based, baking books (of which I have many, as well!). Annalise, the Food Philosopher, has really devoted herself to studying gf baking and thank goodness for her! My kids can help me cut out Christmas cookies again. And, at their recent birthday party, we featured sugar cookies, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, and chocolate chip pound cake -- all to rave reviews from our guests who couldn't believe they were eating gluten free. Kudos and many, many thanks to Annalise Roberts for her work! Seriously, don't bother with any other gf baking book -- you won't find any that are better than this one.

38 of 38 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One word... Incredible!, June 5, 2006

By	JLK - See all my reviews

This review is from: Gluten-Free Baking Classics (Paperback)

I recently went to a cooking demo given by Annalise Roberts and after tasting the submarine sandwich bread she made, I decided to buy the book and give it a try of my own.

I was amazed that when I tried to make the bread myself it came out just as good as hers. I have never even made bread before (gluten free or regular) and I couldn't believe with her precise instructions it made it so easy that it was a huge success on my first attempt. This bread is incredible. You can use this bread for countless things (sandwiches, garlic bread, bruschetta, even pizzas) If you have been longing for a great GF bread... you've found it.

This past weekend I decided why not try another recipe. So I made the Coconut Layer cake. OMG - AMAZING!!!!!! My mom (non-celiac) is not talking to me at the moment because she blew her diet because of this cake. She took one bite to try it and loved it so much she ate an entire piece!

If you only buy 1 GF cook book...this is absolutely the one!