Gluten free flour sub for this cake recipe?

[TorontoJo]

I'm making this cake for someone with celiac:

http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2010/0...

It only has 3 Tbs. of flour and I thought it would be easy to sub out a gluten-free substitute. I don't really have any experience with the subs, so would love some guidance. I originally thought I could use spelt flour, but hey, it's turns out it's a species of wheat and contains gluten! Doh.

So...what's my best bet: rice flour or potato flour? Something else?

Thanks in advance!

[maxie]

A little late, but just for the record, I've made this with both corn starch and arrowroot powder, each because it's what I had. They were both delicious. The flavors of the pecans, brown butter, and cornmeal are prevalent, and the flour amount is very small.

[TorontoJo]

Not too late at all -- I'm making the cake next week. Thank you! :)

[TorontoJo]

Thank you, everyone! I do have rice flour at home so I'll probably use that, though I may go ahead and buy a gluten free flour mix just to be safe. And she is ok with the non gluten free kitchen, so that part is fine.

Thanks again, as always, the home cooking 'hounds save the day!

By the way, I should add that if anyone is interested, the cake recipe is fantastic, though I do double the amount of pecans.

[jvanderh]

If it's regular white rice flour, subbing by weight, I think you want 3 tbsp + 2 tsp to replace the 3 tbsp AP flour.

I'm sure she will appreciate it- I know I would!

[TorontoJo]

Oh, that's a great tip about the quantities, thank you so much!

[Emme]

as has been said, i wouldn't sweat it. i don't know what you have on hand... me, i'd probably use a combo of almond flour or possibly brown rice flour or sorghum flour, and cornstarch. maybe even just the almond.

[chefathome]

Same here. I have over 20 GF flours in the freezer but in this situation I would use almond, brown rice, sorghum or even coconut flour (but it is expensive). Oh, chestnut! Chestnut flour is so lovely.

[jvanderh]

From what I've read, potato flour tastes like potatoes. Potato starch doesn't and is probably a fine choice, as is rice flour. Do make sure your friend is ok with eating something prepared in a non gluten free kitchen before you go to the trouble, and find out whether she needs flours that are certified gluten free, or if she's ok with unknown or prepared in a facility that also handles wheat products. You may also want to check on the density of whatever you use. It's usually better to sub by weight rather than volume.

[eperdu]

With that little amount you could probably just grind up more pecans and make it nuttier overall. I wouldn't worry about buying something special. A little more cornmeal probably wouldn't hurt, it just might be a little drier. The flour is probably just to get it to rise a bit.

[Nyleve]

Just use 3 tbsp of some commercial gluten-free flour blend.

Truth is, If I were doing this myself, I'd use brown rice flour or cornstach because I'd be prepared for failure. It's only a small amount of flour and there's also cornmeal in it...plus pecans.You know what - use rice or potato or cornstarch - I'm sure it'll work. Looks like a sort of European-esque torte-ish thing, many of which are made with nothing but nuts and eggs to hold together anyway.