School ends, and the whole operation's in shambles. Honestly.
This kid can't wait for school to end, that one is shocked and outraged at the idea that she can't see her best friends every day over the summer.
The summer weather can no longer be ignored. Attention must be paid.
I'll still have my oven on most every day, no matter the weather outside (recipe testing waits for no woman), but I know most of you will turn to your grills for stress-free, heating-up-the-house-free meals. Although it's not exactly a point of pride, I won't use a propane grill. It's a long story, but the short version … I'm afraid of propane.
I'm all about the charcoal grill. The fire's temporary (less scary to me), and the taste can't be beat.
Either way, oven or no oven, grill or no grill, there must be gluten-free pastry crust, or there are no pies and tarts. And if there are no pies and tarts, it's just not summer.
Cup4Cup gluten-free flour is such a nice all-purpose gluten-free flour.
Especially for Gluten-free Puff Pastry
… that you can turn into these little raspberry tartlets.
Now I had already hacked Better Batter into Cup4Cup.
And already done a D.I.Y. Mock Better Batter flour blend.
Building a recipe for a Mock Cup4Cup all-purpose gluten-free flour from the ground up just seemed, well, like a natural next step. After all, no matter how you look at it, Cup4Cup just isn't shoestring-friendly.
If you're inclined to blend your own flour, I think you're really going to love this blend, especially with superfine rice flours. Just follow the links, and whisk away…
D.I.Y. All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour: Mock Cup4Cup
Ingredients
- 43 g superfine white rice flour 31% of total
- 35 g cornstarch 25% of total
- 21 g tapioca starch/flour 15% of total
- 20 g superfine brown rice flour 14% of total
- 14 g nonfat dry milk powder 10% of total
- 4 g potato starch 3% of total
- 3 g xanthan gum 2% of total
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a large bowl, and whisk to combine well. Store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to use.
- The recipe can be halved or used in multiples easily. Just be sure to whisk fully in a large enough container.
Nutrition
D.I.Y. All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour: Mock Cup4Cup
Ingredients
- 43 g superfine white rice flour 31% of total
- 35 g cornstarch 25% of total
- 21 g tapioca starch/flour 15% of total
- 20 g superfine brown rice flour 14% of total
- 14 g nonfat dry milk powder 10% of total
- 4 g potato starch 3% of total
- 3 g xanthan gum 2% of total
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a large bowl, and whisk to combine well. Store in an airtight container at room temperature until ready to use.
- The recipe can be halved or used in multiples easily. Just be sure to whisk fully in a large enough container.
candice says
This is amazing! I can’t wait to try. Just bought cup4cup with a gift card this weekend, but it’s SO expensive to use on a regular basis. And I love to bake!
Zie0202 says
My daughter has type 1 diabetes and celiac disease. I discovered cup4cup flour and cried the first time I made a cake for her that looked and tasted normal. It has given me back the chance for a real birthday cake. Of course it is expensive and the one store I could buy it at to save myself the shipping charge closed down. Is your mock recipe for it in your cookbook?
gfshoestring says
Hi, Zie,
This mock recipe is only on the blog. My recipe for mock Better Batter is, however, in my second cookbook.
xoxo Nicole
Jokoho5 says
I can’t eat corn either, so what di I replace the corn starch and xanthan
gfshoestring says
I don’t have ready answers for substitutions, as my recipes are tested and work as written. If you need to change it, you’ll have to experiment!
Nicole
Mnadcock says
Do you have a substitute for Zanthan gum?
Molly Kimball says
Nicole – is there a good substitute for the milk powder? My son and I both can’t tolerate milk protein (casein). Thank you for your great recipes!
Molly
gfshoestring says
Hi, Molly,
I haven’t tested this recipe with any substitutions, and as of right now I don’t believe there is a good milk-free sub. I’d recommend you try my recipe for a dairy-free pastry flour hack of Better Batter.
Molly Kimball says
(removed duplicate post)
sarah says
You are awesome. For those of us outside of the US, this is excellent. I don’t have access to a single good GF flour blend here in OZ, and I’ve used this blend twice now and LOVE it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Nicole says
I’m really glad, Sarah! To be honest, when I created this blend, I was thinking more about the cost of Cup4Cup, and hadn’t thought about how useful it might be to those who live outside the u.S. But judging from the response from you and others, it’s doubly useful. Bonus!
xoxo Nicole
Linda says
Thank you for the flour blend recipe!! It’s so nice of you to share and I’m glad it doesn’t have sorghum in it, hurray!! I have Crohn’s and it doesn’t agree with me, so many blend and products have it…. :)
Pam G says
Nicole…
using this blend for bread…does fluffy = dry texture?
Scott loves the Japanese Milk Bread. It’s yummy, but still, he’s wishing for a moist, springy, light textured bread.
Nicole says
Hi, Pam,
Nope. Fluffy just means that it doesn’t have a very tight crumb. Take a look at the pictures of my gluten-free ciabatta bread when it’s made with Cup4Cup. That should give you an idea.
xoxo Nicole
Pam G says
Oh, by the by…..nice pic in the Delight mag! :) Scott now has a visual for the 2nd woman that’s changed his life!
Nicole says
What picture in Delight? Is it the gluten-free blogger thing? These things tend to have a relatively long lead time, so by the time it comes out, I’ve all but forgotten about it!
xoxo Nicole
Pam G says
Yepper! Summer 2012 issue pg. 16
:)
Ligea says
Nicole, you are truly my hero! Love the book, too!
Nicole says
Thanks, Ligea!
xoxo Nicole
Nyssa says
Any idea if you can replace the milk powder with something else ? say coconut milk powder? I know it would change the taste, but would it change the consistency ?
Nicole says
Hi, Nyssa,
There’s no one perfect substitute for milk powder, I’m afraid. You’d have to experiment!
xoxo Nicole
Nicole says
did you try it? did it work? I’m allergic to regular milk and was wondering if it could be left out or what I could do… I hope to experiment sometime in the future with gluten free stuff…
Nyssa says
I haven’t yet Nicole, but I will come back and update when I get a chance! :)
sarah says
I made this with soy milk powder and it worked brilliantly. I know that offers no comfort if you are allergic or averse to soy, but I think it may indicate that other types of replacements might work!
Christin says
Nicole, could you put regular rice flour in the blender to make it super-fine? Unfortuately we can’t use several of the ingredients in your mix, but it looks really good!
Nicole says
Hi, Christin,
The flours must be milled superfine at the source. You can’t accomplish the same result at home with consumer blenders, etc. Sorry!
xoxo Nicole
Peggy says
Nicole, I’m so glad I’m not the only one afraid of propane…in fact, I’m a bit terrified of the stuff! I don’t want it anywhere near me, my house or my car! I have a cast-iron flat pan with ridges I put over my oven burners for grilling indoors if I just have to have something grilled. I know, I know…it doesn’t taste the same but I’m not really that much into grilling anyway so I’m ok! Prefer to do all my cooking inside & then take outside to eat!!!
Thanks for the DIY all-purpose flour mix!!!
Nicole says
You might like a charcoal kettle grill, Peggy. I love mine. It takes a bit more time, since you have to wait for the coals to heat, but the fire burns out and it has such a nice flavor — and it seems much, much safer to me. They’re not very expensive, either. I’m going to do some posts this summer about it. Maybe I’ll convince you!
xoxo Nicole
Pam G says
better to roast marshmallows, too!
Peggy says
Like how you think, Pam! Love roasting marshmallows!
Peggy says
I’m looking forward to seeing your posts, Nicole!
Nicole says
Thanks, Peggy. As always. :)
xoxo Nicole
Heather P says
Would you be able to use regular(as in, not superfine) flours and just break them down more or is the “superfine” more than just ground down again? I love the idea of a great flour, just seems still high for my budget :(
Nicole says
Sorry, Heather, but the superfine consistency is not something that you can mimic at home, starting with a less finely ground flour. It’s simply milled that way.
Nicole
Heather P says
Now, one more question!!! I was assuming when I took a quick look that they were like 1lb bags. So in hindsight, it is a pretty good deal on flour!!!! But the question is: Do you know if they ever do shipping deals? Cause it was estimating my shipping at $20 which was almost the cost of what I was gong to purchase!
Nicole says
I honestly don’t know, Heather. I don’t work with them at all, so I’d suggest contacting them directly!
xoxo Nicole
Lisa @ GF Canteen says
I love that you made this mix. Authentic flours are super smooth and I bet this is even better than c4c not to mention a heck of lot less expensive and you get a whole lot more for your money. (sorry c4c). Looks like it makes fantastic tart/pie crust.
Nicole says
Lisa! I thought you might enjoy this one. It’s nice that making this yourself means you can make it with superfine flours, as you mentioned. The truth is, though, that I’d prefer if they just started using superfine flours and lowered the price themselves. That would suit me just fine!
xoxo Nicole
Lisa @ GF Canteen says
That would be great, wouldn’t it?!
Karen says
Awesome Nicole – I’ve been waiting for this ever since you told me about it last night :) Can’t wait to try it out!
What was the place that you thought was great for sourcing flour again? Teff etc ..
Nicole says
Hi, Karen!
Great to see you last night at the meeting/party. I have been buying some gluten-free flours at nuts.com. I really like their service and products, but they don’t have superfine rice flours. For that, you still need to turn to Authentic Foods!
xoxo Nicole
Joan Funk says
I think you must be a genius!!! I love everything you post, and have your first book in digital form for my kindle and can’t WAIT for your next one!!!
Nicole says
Hi, Joan,
Aw, shucks. Not a genius. Just tenacious. :) Thank you so much for buying a copy of my cookbook, and for being excited about the next one! I really and truly appreciate your support.
xoxo Nicole