Just in time for Fall… Gluten-Free pie crust!

Fall is here! As we all prepare for Thanksgiving and the upcoming holiday season, we’d like to share a great recipe for an easy, homemade Gluten-Free pie crust. This recipe is simple and quick, and makes a great, flaky shell that you can pre-bake and fill.

1/2 cup bean flour – garbanzo, soy, or Authentic Foods Garfava flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon + baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons milk (rice milk or another non-dairy milk would be fine)
1/2 cup oil – try using a red palm or palm fruit oil blend such as Carotino for a rich, buttery tasting crust

Optional:
1 tablespoon powdered sugar mixed in with dry ingredients

Mix dry ingredients well to avoid lumps. Press into lightly greased pie plate. Bake the crust for 12-15 minutes at around 325 for a fully baked pie shell perfect for cream or other unbaked pies, or pre-bake for 7-10 minutes , cool slightly, fill, and bake for a fruit pie. We’ve never tried to make a top crust using this recipe, but if you’re feeling adventurous, give it a try! We’d love to hear how it goes.

Enjoy the beauty of Autumn, and remember to pick up some Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free desserts from Crave Bakery for all of your special holiday occasions!

Getting Accustomed to Gluten-Free Grocery Shopping

If you are new to Gluten-Free living, the seemingly simple, basic activity of going to the supermarket can seem like an ordeal.  First, you have to search high and low, reading labels to find things you can eat and all the weird new products you will need to make your “new food.”  Then you have to deal with the torture of seeing and smelling all the tantalizing old favorites in which you used to indulge.  Navigating your way through the grocery aisles seems like one of many challenges you will face at every turn in your new life – constantly presented with an array of appealing food options, and knowing that you can freely enjoy only a few of them.

The first few visits to the supermarket may indeed be frustrating and time-consuming.  While it can be a challenge at first, the truth is that with a little willpower, some basic knowledge, and patience, you will soon acquire the skills you need to deftly weave your way through the aisles, identifying good Gluten-Free food choices with speed and confidence.  You’ll find that your focus will soon shift from the things you can’t eat anymore to all the wonderful, fresh, healthy, and, yes, delicious things that you CAN eat.

While they are no substitute for your own thorough research or the advice of a professional, we have a few tips, things to watch out for, and suggestions of some wonderful products that we think you’ll find helpful.

The Basics:

• The cardinal rule of grocery shopping:  You have to read the ingredient labels on EVERYTHING.  Better yet, focus on buying foods that don’t have ingredient labels- as in fruits, vegetables, whole gluten-free grains.  The more unprocessed, and natural a food is, the less likely it is to be contaminated with gluten.
• Gluten only comes from three sources: Wheat, barley, and rye. Some people include oats in this list but only if they’ve been contaminated by wheat.  That doesn’t mean you don’t have to be vigilant, but think of all the other wonderful things there are to eat.  All fruits and vegetables, beans, unprocessed nuts, fresh meats, seafood, and most dairy products are all perfectly safe for Gluten-Free shoppers.
• Many people hold the misconception that the Gluten-Free diet is a low-carb diet.  It can be, but it isn’t necessarily, and we believe that healthy carbs are important.  You can still eat all the potatoes, rice (preferably brown, red, black, or something besides white), and corn that you like, and you’ll discover many wonderful grains like quinoa, buckwheat, and sorghum that will help fill in the holes in your new pantry.
• Wheat – the big, bad, super villain of Gluten-Free living.  You know you can’t have it, and you probably know by now that they sneak it into darn near everything.  Not only that, but sometimes it goes by an alias to try to throw us off its track.  Semolina, Durum, Bulgur, Triticale, and even the seemingly innocent Spelt are all part of the Wheat family.  Don’t mess with them!
• Barley and Rye – also gluten-containing grains.  These are usually more obvious and easier to spot as ingredients.  Watch out for Barley in soups (but soups can be dangerous territory anyway – more on that later).  Also beware of anything with the word “Malt” in it – unless it is specifically labeled as rice malt, it is probably barley malt, and thus contains gluten.
• Gluten in Disguise – when wheat goes incognito in processed foods.  Read the label thoroughly on any packaged commercial food product.  Watch out for ingredients like Modified Food Starch (often from wheat), Malt Vinegar (any other kind of vinegar is fine, though), and Textured Vegetable Protein (gluten is protein, so this stuff is chock-full).
• Keep in mind that any prepared soups, sauces, condiments, and dressings you buy may be thickened with flour or wheat-based starches.  Again, read those labels!  If you can find products that are specifically labeled “Gluten-Free,” you’re totally safe, but awareness in the US is still such that major food manufacturers include that on their packaging.
• Ingredients like Couscous and Orzo may look like grain or rice, but they are really pasta, made from wheat flour.

A few tips on some of our favorite things…

• Instead of soy sauce, which contains wheat, try Bragg’s “Liquid Aminos” which you can find at www.bragg.com.  If you’re a purist, look for wheat-free Tamari soy sauce.  There’s lots of talk about soy sauce from certain countries containing wheat, and others not, but again, the only way to be sure is to read the label. Add links
• Oats are the subject of great debate in the celiac community.  While oats do NOT contain gluten, commercial oats are often contaminated with gluten in processing.  If you can find them, try Bob’s Red Mill Gluten-Free Oats.  They are tested and certified Gluten-Free.   Visit www.bobsredmill.com to see their wide array of GF ingredients!
• For an even healthier hot cereal in the morning, try Quinoa Flakes.  This ancient supergrain is rich in Gluten-Free protein and fiber Try adding a cut up peach and some sliced almonds, cooking it in fruit juice, or whatever appeals to you, because it needs jazzing up a bit.  Check it out at www.quinoa.net for more info.
• Trader Joe’s carries an extensive and growing selection of Gluten-Free products.  Try their frozen waffles – they come in all kinds of varieties, and most of them are Gluten-Free!  They also make brown rice flour tortillas, which will allow you to have that burrito or quesadilla again!  Visit www.traderjoes.com to begin your culinary adventure.
• For snacking and entertaining, our favorite crackers are Blue Diamond Nut Thins, which you can find at www.bluediamond.com.  Made from brown rice and ground nuts, they are flavorful, crunchy, and kind of addictive.   Also try the variety of delicious snacks from Mary’s Gone Crackers (www.marysgonecrackers.com).  These treats are made from flax, quinoa, and sesame seeds and they are wonderful with cheese – if you can eat it.  Corn chips, nearly all of which are Gluten-Free, are also a good standby.

And the big question….   Bread?

Of course, the big hole in all Gluten-Free diets will be bread.  If you can’t find Crave’s delicious Artisan Bread in your market, the next best answer is to make your own.  It’s surprisingly easy and very rewarding.  Get yourself a copy of The Gluten-Free Gourmet Bakes Bread, by the late Bette Hagman (http://www.amazon.com/Gluten-Free-Gourmet-Bakes-Bread-Recipes/dp/0805060774).  She has truly revolutionized Gluten-Free baking, using previously unheard-of flour blends. If you must buy commercial Gluten-Free bread, there are only a few brands that pass muster. Try Glutino’s corn-based breads (they make great bagels, too – visit them at www.glutino.com).  Kinnikinnick Foods (www.kinnikinnick.com) makes good tapioca and rice-based sandwich breads, and truly yummy “English Muffins,” which are flaky, chewy, and moist but bear no resemblance to any English Muffin we ever met.

And now a little GF Pep Talk:

If you are newly diagnosed with celiac disease, you may find a few consultations with a nutritionist to be a great way to get oriented, get feedback on your food choices, and to learn about alternative foods and eating strategies. Have patience, shop around in stores and online, be willing to experiment, and have the courage to try new foods and cooking styles. But once you get used to this new process and start to enjoy the health benefits of Gluten-Free living, as well as the delicious cornucopia of food options available to you, all the effort will feel worthwhile.

In time, you’ll find that your new diet will become second nature.  You’ll stop thinking of fast food as food – bonus!  You’ll habitually be choosing and eating healthier foods – at first because you have to but eventually because that’s what you WANT to do.  In fact, you won’t feel like you’re missing out on anything.

The truth is that nearly any favorite recipe can be made Gluten-Free, and still be delicious.  Crave products link are a testament to that fact.  You’ll find that if you can’t buy it, you can make it at home, and it’ll be even better!  In future posts, we’ll be discussing recipe adaptation and ingredient substitution so that you can figure out how to keep your family’s favorite recipes in the rotation, perhaps even with a healthy new twist.  Keep reading!

What is Palm Fruit Oil? Is it safe?

Crave Bakery uses organic palm fruit oil in nearly all of its products.  We have chosen this ingredient as an all-natural, non-dairy, trans fat-free alternative to butter or vegetable shortening.  Keeping our products dairy-free means that the millions of Americans who suffer from Lactose intolerance can enjoy Crave’s baked delicacies with confidence.  We also feel that it is important to avoid harmful hydrogenated fats (trans fats), which are included in so many mass-market prepared foods.

Many Americans may have a negative connotation about palm oil in general.  This is probably due to memories of the Tropical oil health scare in the 1980’s.  When palm oil was first marketed in the United States in the early 80’s, it was entering a market dominated by soybean oil, which enjoyed a market share of over 70%.  Upon entering the US market, palm oil became the subject of a massive smear campaign, including negative advertising and allegations that palm oil was harmful to health.

According to the American Palm Oil Council:

“In 1987, a bill was proposed in Congress to impose special labeling restrictions on food products containing tropical oils. The bill was withdrawn following stiff opposition – including criticism by the FDA, the office of the United States Trade Representative, and the scientific community. The campaign against palm oil was unprecedented. Palm oil was used widely throughout the world, and no government had ever labeled it unhealthful. The USFDA criticized the negative advertising campaign.”

More recent news and scientific studies have shown that palm oil’s bad rap was largely unjustified.  However, much confusion remains about palm oil.  So first, some clarification is in order.  There are many different types of oil derived from oil palm trees.  The type that Crave Bakery and many other health-conscious artisan food companies use is palm fruit oil.  This is completely different than palm kernel oil, which is one of the “tropical oils” and truly should be avoided for health reasons. Palm fruit oil is derived from the red, fleshy fruit of the oil palm tree, while palm kernel oil is derived from the white, oily seed at the center of the fruit.  It is important to note the difference in the saturated fat content of these two distinct products: while the fat in palm fruit oil is approximately 50% saturated fat, the fat in palm kernel oil is approximately 80% saturated.

Don’t be scared away by the fact that palm fruit oil contains saturated fat.  It contains significantly less saturated fat than butter does, and we’ve all heard more and more health advocates in the media stating that it is actually better to eat butter than the processed, hydrogenated oil-based margarines and spreads – and butter contains dietary cholesterol as well.  The truth is that palm fruit oil contains a wide variety of fatty acids, as well as a powerful punch of antioxidants, which together make it a healthful alternative worthy of reconsideration:

• University studies in China and Canada show that Palm Fruit Oil can help to increase good cholesterol and decrease bad cholesterol.
• Palm fruit oil contains only 50% saturated fat as opposed to Palm Kernel oil, which is approximately 80% saturated fat.
• Palm fruit oil contains many vitamins – caratenoids (Vitamin A), tocopherols and tocotrienols (Vitamin E) – which  help to remove damaging free radicals from the body.  It contains more vitamin E than any other dietary fat.
• Tocotrienols are reported to aid in prevention of cardiovascular disease, decreasing platelet aggregation, and inhibiting growth of certain types of cancer cells.  Tocotrienols are also thought to actually reverse blockage of the carotid artery and reduce the risk of arteriosclerosis.
• Palm fruit oil is high in oleic acid – same beneficial fatty acid as in olive and canola oil.  This fatty acid is shown to aid on maintaining healthy blood cholesterol levels.
• The plant nutrients and vitamins in Palm Fruit Oil are highly absorbable and readily used by the body because the fat-soluble vitamins are present in the oil medium itself – like taking a Vitamin E capsule.
• Palm fruit oil has a long shelf life and exceptional resistance to the damaging effects of oxygen and heat.  Its high levels of naturally occurring antioxidants help products retain their freshness without using additives or preservatives.
• Humans with palm fruit oil-enriched diets show no increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol or total cholesterol levels.
• Palm fruit oil’s impact on serum lipid and lipoprotein profiles compares favorably to corn and olive oils.
• Most palm fruit oil is non-hydrogenated, and ALL of the palm fruit oil Crave Bakery uses is organic, non-hydrogenated, and sourced from the most responsible, sustainable sources available.

While it is true that in some parts of the world, the spread of oil palm plantations has lead to astonishing levels of deforestation and habitat destruction.  This is a tragic situation, and one which Crave Bakery does not want to support.  Most palm oil harvested from sources like this is mass-market, processed, non-organic oil, some of it is refined and hydrogenated, and much of it is palm kernel oil.  At Crave Bakery, we continually evaluate our suppliers to ensure that our wholesome products are made with responsibly-sourced, natural ingredients that are not harmful to the environment or the people who harvest and produce them.

We believe that our organic palm fruit oil is a healthful alternative to the other oils available for baking, and that its benefits are just beginning to be recognized.  We welcome your questions and comments about our products and ingredients, as we are always looking for ways to make our goodies even better.  Please feel free to drop us an email at info@cravebakery.com.

Why Gluten-Free?

Over the past year, we’ve all heard a lot more about gluten-free diets in the news, on talk shows, and all over the media as more and more health experts and celebrities talk about their gluten-free lifestyles.  Yet most Americans still have no idea what this means.  So what is gluten?  And why avoid it?

Gluten is the protein found in grains such as wheat, barley, and rye.  It is this protein that acts as a binding agent in most baked goods, giving elasticity to dough and that wonderful chewy “mouth feel” to the final product.  It is a protein, so many people even consume gluten as a dietary supplement, and some cultures use pure gluten as the basis for many buns and dumplings.

So what’s wrong with gluten?  For many people, gluten can cause symptoms like digestive difficulty and lethargy.  For some, it may aggravate other medical conditions such as chronic fatigue, multiple sclerosis, attention deficit disorder, migraines, and fertility problems.  And for more and more people every year who are diagnosed with celiac disease, it is downright toxic.

At present, approximately one in 100 is estimated to have celiac disease, also known as celiac sprue.  This is a genetic condition that makes it impossible to digest the gluten which is so prevalent in the American diet.  In individuals with celiac disease who are not on a gluten-free diet, the undigested gluten accumulates in the digestive tract, causing an auto-immune reaction that damages the intestine to the point of non-functionality.

When gluten pollutes the intestine, all the tiny villi, which line the intestinal wall, are blocked – basically drowned in glutinous muck.  The villi are the primary means of nutrient absorption in the intestine, and when they’re not healthy, they don’t do their job.  Thus, the body does not receive the nutritional benefit available from the food it takes in.

Another growing reason why more consumers are opting for a gluten-free diet is to help in the treatment of children with autism.  While this is still the subject of great debate, many parents, doctors, and researchers say children have shown mild to dramatic improvements in speech and/or behavior after gluten was removed from their diets.  One theory is that people with autism can’t process gluten, and it builds up and forms peptides, which act like opiates, in their bodies.  This can alter behavior, perceptions, and responses to environmental stimuli.  (Your child’s doctor can perform a urinary peptide test  which will show if proteins re being broken down properly.)

Whatever the reason for eliminating gluten, it can take up to 6 months for the body to rid itself of the protein after going on a GF diet.   During this period, nutritionists suggest taking Fish Oil, Folic Acid, and Calcium to aid in the transition.  Most people find that this diet gives them increased energy, alleviates many chronic digestive complaints, and even aids in the relief of many other conditions.

In the US, demand for gluten-free products has increased exponentially in the last few years.  Studies show that approximately 8% of the population looks for gluten-free products when shopping.  Nielsen Co., the same company that tracks TV ratings, also tracks gluten-free food in US grocery, drug, and mass-merchandiser retail settings.  They report that the gluten-free sector increased 20% in the 12-month period from June 2008 to June 2009.  In 2004, 214 gluten-free products were introduced n the US.  In 2007, that number grew to over 7000 new products.  Over the next few years, a 15 – 20% annual growth rate is expected.  All of these figures show how this health issue is becoming more and more a focus of attention in America, and bode well for the many people with celiac disease who have found it difficult to find the specialty products they need.

All of Crave Bakery’s products are completely gluten-free and most are dairy-free. They are all-natural, free of hydrogenated oils, and made with fresh organic ingredients including whole free-range eggs.  The best part is that they are delicious enough for anyone to love, regardless of their health concerns.  Look for our products online or ask for them at your local retailer.  You will find that Crave’s delicious cakes, tarts, cookies, and brownies make it easy and safe to give your whole family the treats they love – and Crave.