• jenburkholder on September 10, 2023

  For anyone who likes to bake and needs to bake gluten-free, I highly recommend this book. Her recipes really work well, and she gives a lot of the technical info on why to do this or that, and explains it thoroughly - or, skip that part and just make the recipes.

Notes about Recipes in this book

• Super-moist chocolate cake

  • jenburkholder on September 19, 2021

    This is a very good chocolate cake. I used her baking mix flour combo #1, subbing a millet flour/oat flour blend for the corn flour which is mysteriously out at all the stores right now. Using standard American 8" round pans, and I realized when about to pan up the batter that I think her British pans may be deeper than ours - I quickly decided to make it a 3 layer cake, and glad I did - the pans were full after baking. If you wanted a 2 layer cake I'd do a 9" round instead. Baked for 25 minutes due to the decrease in mass. Rather than her plain chocolate frosting I subbed in the chocolate peanut butter frosting from the cupcakes chapter - made 3/4 of the recipe and it was plenty for the 3 layers. She REALLY likes her some frosting! But it was all very tasty and definitely a repeat. I could tell it was a gluten free cake - there's just no way the texture is exactly the same as a gluten-full cake - but I was also a pastry chef for 20 years. It's still very good.

• Simple vanilla cake

  • jenburkholder on October 03, 2023

    This was good. I'd say that the texture was less on the "can't believe it's gluten free" side. Possibly due to the addition of almond flour, which seemed like it added a bit of crumbliness to it? But the coworker that I gave a piece to described it as "ON POINT" and said he liked the texture. Didn't make the frosting (a pound of butter? Just couldn't do it though she clearly likes a lot of frosting).

• Halzelnut + milk chocolate cake

  • jenburkholder on May 29, 2024

    Very good cake. The texture was not super "fluffy" cake but nor was it like a nut torte - more in the middle leaning towards traditional "cake" texture. Used 2 9" pans but could also use 2 8" pans. The frosting I thought would be overly sweet/mild with the very average quality milk chocolate I had available, so I subbed in dark chocolate for about 25% of the milk. Nice cake, not difficult, attractive, and so far seems like it will hold for 3-4 days.

• Carrot cake

  • crandall57 on January 13, 2025

    This gluten free carrot does not taste gluten free. It is moist and delicious and worthy of making again (and again)! I used pumpkin pie spice in place of the "ground mixed spice." Since I can't have cow dairy, I used Danielle Walker's Cream Cheese Frosting using goat chevre. It was an awesome combination.

• Lemon drizzle cake

  • jenburkholder on May 25, 2024

    Very good, definitely repeat. Delightfully lemony.

  • Chefjames1 on May 10, 2026

    Lots of sugar in this recipe

  • Bexxta on June 01, 2026

    Didn't rise much, but very light and fluffy texture. Needed more lemon flavour in the cake.

• Whole orange + chocolate marbled bundt cake

  • jenburkholder on April 20, 2022

    This was excellent. Followed recipe exactly, using Cooks Illustrated flour blend since I always have it on hand. Skipped the glaze. Held up very nicely for two days, but by day 3 it was noticeably less good so plan to eat/freeze within 2 days.

• Chocolate Swiss roll

  • jenburkholder on April 20, 2022

    Good cake roll, filled with just whipped cream flavored with a little Cointreau. Not the most unique dessert ever but straightforward and tasty.

• Triple chocolate cupcakes

  • jenburkholder on July 14, 2024

    Only made the frosting, which looks like the same one on her chocolate cake recipe. It's a very nice frosting - rich and chocolately, without being as decadent as a ganache, and not overly sugary. I used it on the coffee cupcakes, which was a lovely combo. I halved the recipe, however, as she likes WAY more frosting than I do! I actually had 17 cupcakes and the halved amount worked, but the kids said a little more would also be good.

  • jenburkholder on May 08, 2026

    Made the cupcakes this time (plus the frosting). The cupcakes were fine, not my favorite. I prefer a lighter "cakier" texture and these were not. The frosting was still delicious, though. Single recipe made 14 perfect-sized cupcakes and half batch of frosting was enough for a generous piped swirl on top.

• Peanut butter chocolate cupcakes

  • jenburkholder on September 19, 2021

    Did not make the cupcakes, just the frosting (used for the chocolate cake recipe!). Very nice, very rich, quite easy. Not disgustingly sweet. I made 3/4 of the recipe and used it for a 3 layer 8" round cake. It was just the right amount for us for that. She really likes a lot of frosting but personally the whole batch would have been too much for me.

  • jenburkholder on November 10, 2025

    This time I made the whole recipe - cupcakes are quite tasty, nice PB flavor and good texture. I got 15 which was perfect in my muffin pans. Made a half batch of frosting which was plenty for a nice piped layer on top. I might actually prefer a plain chocolate frosting to offset the cupcake, but this was very nice as is.

• Coffee coffee coffee cupcakes

  • jenburkholder on July 14, 2024

    Only made the cupcake part as I topped with her chocolate frosting instead. Nice cupcake, though I scooped to make 17 and could have made them a bit bigger. Really all of her recipes are wins, this is an excellent book if you are GF.

• Blueberry muffins

  • jenburkholder on May 25, 2024

    Very good, kept a day or two.

  • crandall57 on February 08, 2025

    We really enjoyed these muffins. I used goat butter, oat milk and sheep's milk yogurt. I put the leftovers in the freezer.

• Brown butter banana muffins

  • srahndennis on December 06, 2021

    very good! not my favorite banana muffin but my bananas were a bit under ripe, too.

  • jenburkholder on January 21, 2024

    Very good muffin. I used VERY ripe bananas, 2 of them, though they were slightly more than the called-for weight. I also lightly toasted the pecans. She says it makes 12 muffins but clearly likes them huge with an overflowing top. I made 18 more normal-size muffins. By day 4 a brief 15 second visit to the microwave really improved the texture back to almost perfect.

  • crysta_63qusi on January 18, 2026

    Delicious! I ended up with 12 large muffins and 11 minis. I'm glad I counted before my family found them!

  • lena_r0jk5n on March 16, 2026

    Subbed hazelnuts (toasted on stove) for the pecans and used ricotta mixed with half and half instead of yogurt. I got 12 big muffins out of the recipe and weighed out my banana

  • Bexxta on April 10, 2026

    Beautiful rise. Good golden colour, esp for gluten free. Soft and moist crumb. Swapped choc chips for nuts - could have used more choc chips.

• Cheesecake brownies

  • jenburkholder on September 05, 2021

    These are very tasty and quite easy. Only change was in making her flour mix #1, I had no corn flour so subbed millet flour. Baked about 5 minutes less than the recipe specified after adding the cheesecake topping since it was fully set at that time.

• Chocolate chip cookies

  • Melyinoz on August 27, 2023

    For me, these were right on the border of almost too sweet. If I made these again I would reduce the sugar a bit. The salt on top helped balance the sweetness. I opted for the longer baking time for firmer cookies and would do this again. I liked the texture. I subbed the maize flour with sorghum as I can’t find any maize flour in all of Australia without a ‘may contain gluten’ statement.

  • jenburkholder on May 25, 2024

    These were good, not great. Made the tahini version - good flavor, but very flat with crispy edges. I used the Cooks Illustrated flour blend which may have been why.

• Fudgy brownie cookies

  • jenburkholder on October 13, 2025

    Very nice and reminiscent of a brownie. TBD if they hold up as claimed, but quite good on day 1. I'd like to see them a little thicker as they spread and got pretty thin, so may try chilling the batter before scooping to see if that helps. Used her GF blend (rice, maize, potato starch).

• Chocolate-covered digestives

  • jenburkholder on November 25, 2021

    Made these for the purpose of a cheesecake crust, so just the cookies (no chocolate). Rolled into a log and sliced instead of rolling out and cutting with a cutter - less beautiful since not perfect circles but so easy. I really liked these both in the crumb crust (didn't need much melted butter and added another tablespoon of sugar) as well as the cookies themselves - crumbly/tender, not too sweet, a bit salty, and very much to my taste. We don't really do digestive biscuits in the US so can't speak to if they're like the original gluteny version, but I thought these very enjoyable!

• Peanut butter + jam thumbprint cookies

  • crandall57 on May 03, 2025

    Great cookies! I used DIY #1 flour blend and homemade strawberry jam. Yum! Will make these again.

• Chocolate tahini cookies

  • jenburkholder on May 02, 2022

    Quite tasty, enjoyed by all. Although the dough at first seems too oily, they come together and bake up just fine. Worth noting that we used the America's Test Kitchen gluten-free flour blend (always on hand). They were definitely best the first day, but still tasty on the third. Would repeat.

• Rosemary crackers

  • Victoria_from_London on March 13, 2024

    Her description was accurate. Very buttery, and these were too sweet for me but use enough rosemary next time before trying a less sugary version - as sugar is structural. Sprigs were too small, I just picked the tips and couldn't taste! Try a few inches each.

• Peanut-butter-stuffed chocolate chunk skillet cookie

  • jenburkholder on May 23, 2022

    Very tasty and very easy. It was thicker than expected (as in taller). We used Cook’s Illustrated GF flour blend and otherwise followed directions. I’d definitely make again - would consider cutting down recipe and baking in a smaller pan as it was bigger than my family probably needs! My oven may have been running hot but I’d also reduce bake time a bit, keep on the short end of things.

• Flaky all-butter pie crust

  • Beth891 on May 12, 2025

    Omg this pastry is so good! I made as per the recipe using the DIY flour blend 2 but I subbed in sorgum flour in place of millet flour. I think I did about 6 turns in total and made the pastry the day before using (it does take a little while) I made apple pie with it (lattice top full sides) and baked at 180 for 1hr. Absolutely delicious and definitely worth the effort:)

• Artisan dark crusty loaf

  • Victoria_from_London on March 09, 2024

    First thing I made from this book and it worked despite my novice Ankarsrum skills (I used roller to knead about 12 minutes (too much? not enough?), Instant Yeast (used 12g and made sure it bubbled before proceeding). Added a couple teaspoonfuls water because seemed dry but may be wrong - try persevering without, next time, because ended up gluey. Crumb seemed underbaked; crust was dark, hard and heading towards very dark, but try baking longer than the printed time. Used my cast iron pot with lid and forgot the steam element! If it can work despite those drawbacks I'm excited to try again correctly. This takes some hours incl 2 x 1-hour provings (which may extend: my dough did not seem to double at all). For all that, it was delicious, nutty, miles better than shop-bought, even Gail's gluten-free sourdough. Incredible with soft truffle cheese! Clever of her to include notes on what the cooked loaf should weigh. Mine was 3g over - observe this next time, and it underbaked.

  • crysta_63qusi on March 09, 2026

    Quite good, baked exactly as described. It didn't rise as much as I would have hoped, and I think the brown teff made it heavier in taste. I will seek out ivory teff and try again.

• Sandwich bread

  • Victoria_from_London on January 26, 2025

    Book version used tangzhong, online updated one doesn't. Both work but need longer baking than I think. Biggest loaf tin. I subbed about 20% buckwheat which tastes great. Accidentally did following and worked: Extra 160ml milk. Extra 153g flour (buckwheat) and big pinch salt. Put what I thought was excess in my smallest loaf tin. 25°C in the proofer for 1h15. Mini loaf got 40 mins bake, large one 1h then 10 mins bake without tin. Consider putting half dough in each because I struggle to bake GF loaves through well. I would have formerly said this was a bit gummy, but I see commercial GF leaves can be same, so as long as it's really solidified it's ok. The small one is the best GF I've made.

• The perfect baguettes

  • crandall57 on August 19, 2024

    These are "perfect baguettes" with awesome flavor! I will make these again (and again). Going to see how it freezes.

• Burger buns

  • srahndennis on October 04, 2021

    These are great! probably the best hamburger buns I've made. A bit time consuming but shaping after the first rise was so easy - not a sticky mess. Perfect size for us, too.

  • jenburkholder on November 21, 2021

    Agree they were very good. I found them to stay as round balls, so would flatten a bit after shaping to get a more traditional burger bun shape. Also they did not have any oven spring, so keep that in mind when assessing if it's time to bake - I'd probably proof longer next time to see if they'd get a bit larger and fluffier.

  • crandall57 on August 23, 2024

    Delicious buns! When divided into 6 portions, they weighed about 115 g each. I used goat butter to brush on the finished rolls and in the batter. Will make these my "go to" burger buns.

• Proper boiled + baked bagels

  • srahndennis on December 06, 2021

    dough a bit sticky and hard to shape but i'm no expert. nice and soft with crispy bottoms. would make again!

• The perfect pizza

  • srahndennis on January 02, 2022

    Really great recipe! Time consuming but completely worth it.

  • crandall57 on September 14, 2024

    This is our favorite gluten free crust (and we've tried many!). This one is the most like "real" pizza crust that we've tried.

• Rosemary focaccia

  • crandall57 on October 13, 2024

    Excellent! We dipped it in garlic olive oil. I will definitely make this again. We cut some of the focaccia into squares about the size of a hamburger and used them as hamburger buns. I also made some of the bread into croutons; I sprayed them with olive oil, sprinkled them with garlic powder and salt, and put them in the air fryer.

• Pitta breads

  • jenburkholder on July 05, 2022

    So, mine definitely didn't puff and form a pocket. That said, it was a tasty flatbread eaten alongside falafel and dipped into tahini sauce. Would repeat when needing a nice flatbread.

• Cinnamon rolls

  • MLudwig8 on December 18, 2023

    Used Cup4Cup instead of flour mix + xantham gum

• Dried fruit soda bread

  • crysta_63qusi on March 19, 2026

    The dough was very sticky and hard to work with - but the results tasted great. I used dried cherries instead of sultanas.

• Chocolate chip banana bread

  • jenburkholder on February 25, 2025

    Very good like basically everything from Kat. Only change I made was to use mini chocolate chips and added toasted pecans.

• Tiramisù

  • Jane on February 04, 2025

    I just made her sponge fingers as I was making Nigella’s Irish cream tiramisu. They were easy to make and turned out very well.

• Kavey Eats

  In summary, there wasn’t a duff bake from this book. It’s hyper-informative for people who love that stuff but a great everyday cookbook for those that, like Cindi Lauper, just wanna have fun.

  Full review