It’s easier than you think to make your favourite recipe allergen-free! By Niki Bezzant.

Gluten

Feel like gluten is in all of your favourite recipes? Don’t worry – you can make many recipes gluten-free-friendly with a few swaps.

Substituting in main meals

Instead of breadcrumbs for coating, use:

• polenta
• LSA (linseed, sunflower seeds, almonds)
• crushed rice crackers

Instead of flour for coating (e.g. fish, schnitzel), use:

• rice flour
• cornflour (check that it's made from maize)
• use equal amounts for substitutions

Instead of flour for thickening (e.g. gravy, stew), use:

• cornflour
• arrowroot
• use half quantities ( e.g. 1/2 tablespoon cornflour instead of 1 tablespoon plain flour)

Instead of couscous, use:

• quinoa

Instead of stock powder, use:

• homemade stock
• gluten-free stock powder (e.g. Vegeta, Massel)
• gluten-free soup mix

Substituting in baking

When baking, you can successfully substitute gluten-free flour or baking mixes for wheat flour, but some recipes adapt better than others. Substitutions will work well in recipes that have a heavier, moister texture (which will compensate for the dryness of gluten-free flour), such as:

• recipes with only small amounts of flour
• recipes with ground nuts, e.g. almonds (but watch the fat)
• recipes with high fruit content, e.g. carrot or banana cake
• recipes with coconut

However, you’ll find substitutions more difficult with:

• recipes with high flour content
• recipes that are traditionally light and fluffy, e.g. sponge, scones
• bread

You can find more information on the different types of gluten-free flours, and when to use them, in our article Gluten-free grains.

Ready-made baking and bread mixes

Ready-made gluten-free bread and baking mixes are especially formulated to give you good baking results. They’re great for convenience and consistency, you know there’s no risk of crosscontamination and mixes can be substituted in the same quantities as wheat flour. It is also possible to make your own baking mix of flours. The type of flour mixture you need will vary between recipes, but this is a good standard recipe.

• 1 part cornflour (made from maize)
• 2 parts soy flour
• 2 parts rice flour
• 3 parts potato starch flour

Putting it into practice

Below are just a few examples of how easy it is to make meals gluten-free, using recipes from this issue.

Floret fritters
Substitute the 2/3 cup plain flour with the suggested flour recipe on the previous page or with a ready-made baking mix. Substitute the tzatziki for gluten-free sour cream, mixed with a little lemon juice and fresh dill.

Apple crumble cake
This cake is very moist and contains ground almonds – so it’s a ‘safer’ baking recipe to try adapting. Replace flour with the suggested baking mix, left, or use a ready-made baking mix. Make sure you’re using gluten-free yoghurt.

Teriyaki salmon noodle salad
You’ll need to check the label to make sure that the teriyaki marinade you use is gluten-free. Replace the soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce with gluten-free versions.

Apricot clafoutis
Replace plain flour with the suggested baking mix, left, or use a ready-made baking mix – try Orgran’s gluten-free all-purpose plain flour (www.orgran.com).

Eggs

Substituting eggs in recipes is relatively simple – except in omelettes!

Substituting in main meals

Instead of eggs in batter, use:

• yoghurt (about 1/4 cup, depending on size of egg and texture of mixture)
• buttermilk (as above)
• egg replacer (e.g. Orgran) – 1 teaspoon + 1 tablespoon water

Instead of eggs for binding (e.g. mince mixtures), for 1 egg use:

• 1–2 tablespoons oil
• egg replacer (as above)
• 2–3 tablespoons mashed potato or instant potato flakes
• rolled oats
• finely crushed breadcrumbs
• wholemeal flour
• cornflour
• arrowroot
• tomato paste
• cooked red lentils

Substituting in baking

Instead of eggs for binding (e.g. biscuits, loaves, muffins, denser cakes), use:

• egg replacer (as above)
• 1 tablespoon cornflour/custard powder + 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup silken tofu blended with the liquid ingredients in the recipe
• 1/2 small banana, mashed
• 1/4 cup apple purée; mashed pumpkin; or puréed dates/prunes.

*For a lighter texture, add an extra 1/2 teaspoon baking powder to the mix.

Tip: If a recipe calls for 3 or more eggs, consider using a different recipe as these substitutions won't work in the same way.

Instead of eggs as a raising agent (e.g. sponge cakes), use:

• any of the above suggestions, plus extra 1/2 teaspoon baking powder per egg in recipe  

Putting it into practice

To give you a few examples of how simple it can be to substitute eggs in any recipe, we’ve done a few ourselves.

Green pea, feta and mint fritters
The two eggs in this recipe are used to bind the ingredients together, and can easily be replaced with egg replacer. Simply follow directions on the pack – use one teaspoon of egg replacer per egg (to make a total of two teaspoons used), mix with two tablespoons water, and proceed with recipe as per instructions. 

Apple crumble cake
The egg in this dense cake is used to bind ingredients together. Substitute it with any option from our ‘subsituting in baking’ column – such as egg replacer, mashed banana or apple purée.

Scrambled eggs
Okay, so there is no scrambled eggs recipe in this issue – but we couldn’t ignore this brekky staple! Replace each egg with 60g diced firm tofu, and cook in the same fashion: spray the pan with oil first, then ‘scramble’ tofu with a dash of milk (optional) and your favourite ingredients. We like red capsicum, black olives, semi-dried tomatoes, reduced-fat feta and parsley.

Dairy

Ditch the dairy, but still keep all the taste. Many recipes that call for dairy don’t require it in huge quantities, making it relatively easy to find appropriate substitutions.

These substitutes* will work in most recipes

Instead of milk or cream in sauces, use:

• soy milk
• stock
• evaporated soy milk 

Instead of milk or cream in baking, use:

• soy milk
• rice milk
• tofu – mashed, puréed or silken
• evaporated soy milk 

Instead of cheese as topping, use:

• breadcrumbs mixed with herbs and spices
• tofu puréed and flavoured with herbs and spices

Instead of butter in most recipes, use:

• oil
• reduced-fat table spread (check that it’s dairy-free)

Instead of yoghurt, use:

• soy yoghurt

*Substitute equal amounts for all.

Putting it into practice

As with so many recipes, all it takes is a little know-how, combined with a little imagination, to make these recipes dairy-free. 

Apple crumble cake
Use dairy-free table spread, and swap the yoghurt for soy yoghurt in both the batter and the crumble topping.

Peachy plum shortcake
Use dairy-free table spread, soy milk and instead of Frûche, blend 300g silken tofu with 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons sugar.

Potato egg pots
Instead of regular milk, use soy or rice milk. Replace parmesan cheese with 1/4 cup breadcrumbs mixed with garlic powder and dried oregano.