Another autumn has passed, which can only mean one thing; Great British Bake Off has announced another winning baker in the big white tent. Season 15 has given us an uncannily realistic duck cake, a few dropped showstoppers and a lot of tears and laughter. What is hasn’t delivered on is free from baking. It seems the free from week aired in Season 12 is yet to make a comeback, which is why I have baked along week after week to recreate each Technical Bake in gluten free form. Not only to provide non-gluten eaters with adapted recipes, but to also show everyone how simple making free from adaptions can be.
In this article you will find an adapted recipe for each week, making them all both gluten and oat free. And while my memory of the ‘real thing’ is in the far distance, I have rated each recipe on how I think it holds up to the original Paul or Prue recipe.
Week 1: Mini Battenbergs, Week 2: Mint Chocolate Biscuits, Week 3: Seven-Strand Plaited Wreath & Week 4: Pear Tart Tatin
Week 1: Mini Battenbergs
Gluten Free rating: 10/10
Luckily all of this recipe, par the sponge, is naturally gluten free. To make these Mini Battenbergs gluten free, simply follow the GBBO recipe and make the following amendments:
Week 2: Mint Chocolate Biscuits
Gluten Free rating: 10/10
Again we have a simple gluten free adaptions on our hands. All of this recipe par the biscuit is gluten free, therefore follow along with GBBO recipe and method, making the following adaptations to make gluten free:
Week 3: Seven-Strand Plaited Wreath
Gluten Free rating: 6/10
Now here is when it gets more complicated. We all know how far gluten free bread has come in recent years, thanks to new flour blends and psyllium husk doing the heavy lifting in recreating the elasticity of gluten. Saying this, however, this technical was difficult. Our gluten free dough doesn’t have the same structural integrity and therefore is much more delicate. Incomes plaiting… and flipping… and forming into a circle. But, I do believe I made a fairly close and delicious alternative following GBBO method. And here’s how:
Week 4: Pear Tarte Tatin
Gluten Free rating: 10/10
Caramel week was a gooden. Back to far easier gluten fee adaption territory. Full admission, I am without an ice cream churner so a trip to Waitrose was chosen over attempting ice cream. However, Prue’s recipe was naturally gluten free so no adaption work is needed there. I followed the GBBO recipe fairly to the T… with a few minor adjustments to get the gluten free pastry just right:
Week 5: Spanakopita, Week 6: Vegan Parkin, Week 7: Spotted Dick and Custard & Week 8: Banoffee Pie
Week 5: Spanakopita
Gluten Free rating: 5/10
Back to screaming, crying, swearing. Gluten free filo pastry? Something I have avoided like the plague. But thank the lord for the angel that is Loopy Whisk and her AMAZING filo recipe. Follow the GBBO recipe, and head to Loopy Whisks Filo Pastry Recipe to make gluten free.
The rating on this is lower then the others. Here is why; getting the layers of filo pastry without the assistance of gluten is hard, really hard. While phyillium husk is hugely helpful, getting the ultra ultra thiness is difficult. This means that the middle of the spanakopita was fairly doughy, which isn’t what we were after.
It is also worth flagging for the IBS sufferers out there, the garlic in this recipe is PUNGENT. I had heartburn for days. I would either omit or swap for garlic oil.
Week 6: Sticky Vegan Parkin
Gluten Free rating: 10/10
I hear the fear. Vegan AND gluten free? Trust me, you wouldn’t know. This recipe from Prue is packed full of spice and stickiness, and no eggs or gluten were harmed. To make gluten free (and sadly for me, oat free) I made these simple swaps:
Week 7: Spotted Dick and Custard
Gluten Free rating: 10/10
My first EVER steamed pudding. Well, not eating. Just making. Or baking? Word of warning; adding bicarb to citrus currants smells VILE. Also, who knew suet isn’t gluten free? Here’s some easy peasy swaps to make this classic, gluten free:
Week 8: Banoffee Pie
Gluten Free rating: 10/10
Finally something I had in my recipe book already. All you need to do to make this DELICIOUS banoffee pie gluten free is follow the GBBO recipe and swap out Paul’s pastry for my Shortcrust Pastry recipe, and that’s it!
Week 9: Opera Cake
Gluten Free rating: 10/10
Week 9 and we are getting faffy. Real faffy. Opera cake isn’t something you’d normally just eat for post Tuesday dinner dessert, so I felt very fancy. Layers and layer of different coffee and chocolate flavour fanciness, this recipe is naturally gluten free apart from 50g of flour which needs swapping for 45g of gluten free plain flour, and the addition of ¼ tsp xanthan gum.
Week 10: Afternoon Tea
Gluten Free rating: 10/10
And I thought week 9 was faffy? Boil these recipes down and they are relatively simple for a confident baker. However, all three in a short time frame was less than ideal.
First, we have Prue's Egg & Cress rolls. Back to bread, but don't let that put you off, because I can’t emphasis just how delicious these curried egg cress sandwiches are! Follow these simple steps to make them gluten free:
Next up, we have Strawberry Custard Tarts! Here are the easy changes you need to make to make them gluten free:
Last but certainly not least, the absolute classic that is lemon cake sandwiching a tangy lemon curd!
To make this technical challenge gluten free, all you have to do is swap the flour 1:1 to a gluten free self-raising flour and add 1/4 tsp of xanthan gum!
Week 9: Opera Cake & Week 10: Egg & Cress Rolls, Strawberry Custard Tarts & Lemon Cakes
