Baking SCD Breads -- Marilyn's thoughts

[Guest guest]

The first thing to realize, when you are making SCD bread is that it's

just not going to be light and fluffy like wheat bread.

The reason is several fold.

First, in wheat bread, when it is kneaded, the gluten is worked into a

dense, sorta rubbery mass which in turn holds in the carbon dioxide given

off by the yeast. The carbon dioxide makes all sorts of little pockets

throughout this rubbery matrix -- and these little pockets of air are

what make the bread light and fluffy. The yeast will keep multiplying and

making carbon dioxide as long as there is sugar or honey in the mix for

it to feed on and as long as the temperature doesn't go too high.

In SCD breads, made without grains, and therefore without gluten, there

is no rubbery matrix to contain the carbon dioxide given off my the

baking soda. And the baking soda has a finite chemical reaction time --

when it's spent, it's spent. Baking soda can't produce more baking soda

the way yeast produces more yeast. (BTW, this rubbery matrix is what the

non-SCD

so-called " gluten free " breads try to replicate by using SCD

illegal guar gum or xanthan gum. If the starch in those so-called breads

doesn't get you, the gums will for sure.)

The other thing is that almond flour is pretty dense, not like wheat

flour.

Between the lack of yeast and the lack of gluten (both Good Things), the

best you're going to get is a bread which resembles corn bread. You CAN

lighten it a bit by adding a teaspoon of vinegar or lemon juice to the

mixture and stirring it in just before you add the making soda. You can

also use separate the eggs and beat the egg whites firm before folding

them in. This will help lighten the loaf, but you're still going to have

a loaf which is more like corn bread than wheat flour.

Something to consider is what size egg are you using? To read the typical

cook book or recipe, you'd think an egg is and egg is an egg -- but they

aren't. Most recipes are predicated on the idea that you will of course

be using large eggs. If you happen to be using extra-large or jumbo,

well....

http://www.aeb.org

has more than you ever wanted to know about eggs, freshness, buying,

and equivalent amounts of eggs. THe latter is pretty far down the

page.

http://www.georgiaeggs.org/pages/buying.html

is also useful, because it tells you that, per dozen, Jumbo Eggs

weigh 30 ounces, Extra Large weigh 27 ounces, Large weigh 24 ounces,

Medium weigh 21 ounces, Small weigh 18 ounces, and Peewee Eggs weigh 15

ounces.

So you can see that the size egg you use can make a major difference in

the moistness of the dough. The first couple of times I made Krivel

Krackers, I darn near lost my mind because the dough was so WET it just

wouldn't firm up in the freezer, and I had globs, not slices. I happened

to ask Krivel what size egg she and her mom, Sue, used. Large, she

said. Oh. I was using jumbos.

(see http://www.uclbs.org/recipes/bmc/suecrackers.php for the cracker

recipes)

Well, that answered THAT question. I threw in more almond flour, and a

bit of extra spices to compensate for extra flour, and presto, my

crackers worked.

Another issue is " How much almond flour constitutes a

cup? "

Every cook book I've ever seen tells the cook to measure the flour, then

sift it, then remeasure because sifting fluffs the flour and increases

the volume. Then it tells you to carefully level off the measuring

cup.

Don't bother with almond flour. In fact, most of my recipes using almond

flour call for a " firmly packed cup of almond flour " because

what works best for me at sea level is a cup packed with 6-7 ounces of

flour. I squash the almond flour into the cup, and then dump it through a

course sieve to get out the lumps.

SCD bread doughs should not be batter-like (unless the recipe specifies

that they will), like a corn bread batter. They should be quite firm. So

if you mix a bread dough, and it's very soft, almost wet, add an extra

half cup of almond flour, maybe even a full cup. Heck, one time, with

home-ground walnut flour, I ended up with almost double the flour a

standard recipe called for.

For baking a loaf of bread, the best pan I've found is the Danish Loaf

Pan available from

www.bakerscatalogue.com. This has apparently been discontinued,

but they do have a ceramic pan of the same dimensions. I have one, but

have not yet tested it.

I can also recommend the hot dog bun pan and the hamburger bun pan. Note:

I have no financial affiliation with The Baker's Catalogue.

Danish Loaf Pan

http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp?id=5131 & pv=1104856074474

Hot Dog Bun Pan

http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp?id=5190 & pv=1104856260965

Hamburger Bun Pan

http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/detail.jsp?id=5185 & pv=1104856274385

The Danish Loaf Pan is longer, narrower, and not as tall as a

so-called " standard " loaf pan, and between it and adding extra

almond flour to the bread dough, I've not had a bad loaf. Well, at least,

not since I figured out egg sizes and adding extra almond flour if

needed.

Another way that works really well is to make mini-muffins instead of a

loaf or regular muffins. And yet a third method is to turn the recipe

into a well-buttered Bundt pan or even an angel food cake pan. Using the

Bundt pan has the advantage of funneling heat into the center of the

bread as well as on the outside, so it cooks much more evenly.

Here's my Basic Bread Recipe:

Basic Bread

This recipe is essentially the same as the Lois Lang Bread in BTVC. I've

made some adaptations for my climate and kitchen, including the fact that

I usually can't find dry curd cottage cheese, and that in my oven, the

recipe as written turned out burnt on the outside and soggy on the

inside. This one, baked in the Danish Loaf Pan (#5131) from

www.kingarthurflour.com

turns out nice and golden on the outside, and tender-chewy on the

inside. Like all nut flour loaves, it has the heavier consistency one

expects of a corn bread, not a wheat bread.

3 firmly packed cups almond flour

1 cup firmly packed, well-drained yogurt cheese

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) melted butter

1 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch salt (not optional)

3 extra large eggs

Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter a Danish Loaf Pan (12 " x 4 " x

2= " ) lightly, then place a cut-to-size piece of parchment or wax

paper on the bottom, and butter over it.

Place almond flour in a large mixing bowl.

In a blender or food processor, combine yogurt cheese, melted butter,

baking soda, salt (not optional) and eggs. Blend until mixture is a

thick, buttery yellow. It will expand dramatically, so be certain your

container is large enough to hold double the amount of the original

ingredients. (I didn't make sure the container was large enough the first

time. And had buttery-yellow egg and cheese mixture spewing all over my

counter, and dripping down on the floor. The dachshunds thought this was

wonderful. I started over... )

Pour the mixture in with the almond flour, scraping everything out of the

blender or food processor with a spatula or spoonula.

Mix completely. This should make a medium-soft dough. If it is too wet,

and looks more batter-like, add almond flour by the half cups until you

achieve an actual dough - and keep a record of how much you add for next

time. Depending on the weather, or the precise size of the your eggs, or

the amount of liquid remaining in the yogurt cheese, it has been

necessary to

add up to two cups extra almond flour. Bread making is an art, backed up

by science.

Place the loaf pan on the center rack of the oven, and bake for about 1

hour. Bread will be golden, with a crack across the top. Check to be sure

it is done by inserting a cake-tester or toothpick in the center.

Remove from oven and loosen sides by sliding a thin-bladed knife or

spatula down along the sides. Turn over onto a long platter, remove pan,

remove paper, and allow to cool. Bread will crumble if you try to cut it

while hot, but it is excellent when served just warm, with plenty of

butter.

—

Marilyn

New

Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Undiagnosed IBS since 1976, SCD since 2001

Darn Good SCD Cook

No Human Children

Shadow & Sunny Longhair Dachshund

Recipe

from Louisiana SCD

Lagniappe (forthcoming)