I need HELP from anybody who eats gluten free and bakes

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samcarter14

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Or even if you’re just gluten free, or bake, and/or have baked prosphora!

I have been diagnosed with gluten intolerance. I cannot eat anything with gluten in it, without suffering the consequences! My priest is very understanding and allows me to receive Communion through wine.

Today he came to bless our home and to have lunch with us, and he turned to me and said, “I want you to find a gluten free recipe for prosphora (the leavened altar bread used in the Eastern Church), try it out, and bring it to me if it works.” Apparently the lady who has baked the prosphora for our church is going to be moving away, and I am to be the new prosphora baker! I asked him about validity of gluten-free altar bread, since in the Roman rite this has been a controversy. He said he would take a loaf of the gluten free bread to a meeting of the Eparchy and talk to them.

I was a very, very good prosphora baker prior to my diagnosis. The loaf needs to be dense, but not gummy, and to hold the impression of the prosphora seal on the top during rising and baking.

But I have yet to bake a loaf of gluten free bread! I have just been avoiding eating bread and using corn tortillas instead. So any and all tips for making a reasonably good gluten free loaf, one that preferably can be kneaded a little bit (doens’t have to be light and fluffy, either, because remember, it needs to take the stamp and keep the details during rising and baking.
 
Get yourself a cookbook: Analise G. Robert’s Gluten Free Baking CLassics, or Bette Hagman’s Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread.
Brown Rice flour-called Powder at your local Asian grocery- and Xanthan Gum, found at health food stores. It’s expensive but you only use a teaspoon per 2 c flour mix.
A Kitchenaid mixer is awesome if you’ve got it. Unlike wheat products, GF flour is very fine, don’t let the floury mess discourage you!
Millet Flour, also at health food stores, makes GF bread more like non-GF bread.(Baking Classics tells you about it with bread flour mixes.)

I never heard of prosphora, what is it?
 
If I use Bob’s mixes, I use parchment paper to line the pans, otherwise no matter how well I’ve greased them, the bread sticks. (I don’t usually, as they’re pricey.)
 
ajcoley1 said:
Get yourself a cookbook: Analise G. Robert’s Gluten Free Baking CLassics, or Bette Hagman’s Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread.
Brown Rice flour-called Powder at your local Asian grocery- and Xanthan Gum, found at health food stores. It’s expensive but you only use a teaspoon per 2 c flour mix.
A Kitchenaid mixer is awesome if you’ve got it. Unlike wheat products, GF flour is very fine, don’t let the floury mess discourage you!
Millet Flour, also at health food stores, makes GF bread more like non-GF bread.(Baking Classics tells you about it with bread flour mixes.)

I never heard of prosphora, what is it?
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It’s the Eastern Catholic rite version of the communion wafers. 😃 We use leavened bread, and the priest cuts pieces (called “particles”) and puts them in the cup with the wine. We receive from a spoon.

Here’s a wiki article. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prosphora

Thanks for the tips. I have a Bette Hagman book, but I haven’t yet been able to bring myself to buy all the alternative flours. I guess I have my motivation now!
 
I think before you try making a gluten free prosphora you need to find out if it needs to be made from wheat and not some other grain.

I bake my own breads all the time too. Some of the cookbooks suggested earlier will help you get started with baking gf.

Also check out glutenfree-supermarket.com/ for the flour blends that are out there. These are actually Bette Hagman’s mixes :D.

Brenda V.
 
After reading the article you gave and one I found by googling it I don’t know if you can make a gluten free one :(.

I do make a “french bread” loaf on my baking stone and I use a bent ring from a spring form pan that my dad bent for me recently. It helps the loaf hold its shape and rise otherwise you end up with something more like a focacia (flat bread that has risen slightly).

Wheat free flours do not get elastic like wheat does - that is because of the lack of gluten. Because of this the only way I can see an impression remaining in it is if you bake it in (what is the impression maker made of? If clay or metal then just spray well and press into the top and leave there to bake - all this supposes that the prosphora can be made with something other than wheat as the flour).

Brenda V.
 
Calliso said:
I think Xantham gum should help with the elascity. bobsredmill.com/product.php?productid=3683&cat=129&page=1
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It does but not to the same extent gluten does. All the recipes I saw even called for “high gluten flour (wheat)” in our every day parlance that generally means bread flour made from wheat.

I add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum for every cup of flour blend (no wheat flour involved) it still won’t make it like regular bread dough which you knead, you don’t knead any of the breads I make.

Something else I have found that helps is adding unflavored gelatin (knox) to my breads - not other baked goods - because it gives it a better mouth feel that is more like regular yeast breads.

Best wishes on this experiment and if it turns out you can make your sacred bread with non-wheat flours then maybe we will see some who have celiac become orthodox 😉 (I say this in all seriousness!)

Brenda V.
 
frugalabundance.wordpress.com/

And check her list of sites for gluten free cooking/baking, (scroll down on the rigfht side).
She is also casein free, which you obviously don’t have to worry about, so that should make things even easier than a lot of these sites…
 
Brenda_V said:
It does but not to the same extent gluten does. All the recipes I saw even called for “high gluten flour (wheat)” in our every day parlance that generally means bread flour made from wheat.

I add 1 teaspoon of xanthan gum for every cup of flour blend (no wheat flour involved) it still won’t make it like regular bread dough which you knead, you don’t knead any of the breads I make.

Something else I have found that helps is adding unflavored gelatin (knox) to my breads - not other baked goods - because it gives it a better mouth feel that is more like regular yeast breads.

Best wishes on this experiment and if it turns out you can make your sacred bread with non-wheat flours then maybe we will see some who have celiac become orthodox 😉 (I say this in all seriousness!)

Brenda V.
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Somehow I can’t see our Eastern brothers NOT having the same ‘wheat only’ rule that Catholics do
 
LilyM said:
Somehow I can’t see our Eastern brothers NOT having the same ‘wheat only’ rule that Catholics do
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When I baked prosphora, all the articles I found (no yiayias to teach me at our old church!) stated that the only ingredients to use were white flour (not whole wheat), water, yeast and salt.

I am scratching my head because I found nothing about the prosphora being invalid if other ingredients were added; it was just that if oil were added, the bread did not absorb the wine properly and was difficult to cut as well. Same with sugar or other additives.

All the gluten free bread recipes I’ve found suggest eggs and oil for binders…I think I could substitute flax seed, boiled in water, for eggs, and omit oil. FIrst I have to bake regular prosphora to see if it is the consistency my priest prefers, and then work on the gluten free recipes.
 
samcarter14 said:
When I baked prosphora, all the articles I found (no yiayias to teach me at our old church!) stated that the only ingredients to use were white flour (not whole wheat), water, yeast and salt.

I am scratching my head because I found nothing about the prosphora being invalid if other ingredients were added; it was just that if oil were added, the bread did not absorb the wine properly and was difficult to cut as well. Same with sugar or other additives.

All the gluten free bread recipes I’ve found suggest eggs and oil for binders…I think I could substitute flax seed, boiled in water, for eggs, and omit oil. FIrst I have to bake regular prosphora to see if it is the consistency my priest prefers, and then work on the gluten free recipes.
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White flour = bleached wheat flour.

On the one site I found there was a side note that nothing else was to be added so, if you have white (wheat) flour, yeast, salt and water you are changing it by making it - white rice flour, cornstarch and potato starch. Call me a purist but that is how I read it.

I’ll have to find that site for you. In the end it will be your Priest and the Hierarchy who can say one way or the other.

Brenda V.

Brenda V.
 
samcarter14 said:
When I baked prosphora, all the articles I found (no yiayias to teach me at our old church!) stated that the only ingredients to use were white flour (not whole wheat), water, yeast and salt.

I am scratching my head because I found nothing about the prosphora being invalid if other ingredients were added; it was just that if oil were added, the bread did not absorb the wine properly and was difficult to cut as well. Same with sugar or other additives.

All the gluten free bread recipes I’ve found suggest eggs and oil for binders…I think I could substitute flax seed, boiled in water, for eggs, and omit oil. FIrst I have to bake regular prosphora to see if it is the consistency my priest prefers, and then work on the gluten free recipes.
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As I suspected and have just confirmed through research, it is a matter of Canon Law that the Eucharistic bread be made of wheat only. Canon 706 of the CCEO states:

“In the Divine Liturgy the sacred gifts which are offered are bread made of wheat alone and recently made so that there is no danger of corruption and natural wine of the grape and not corrupt.”

Of course yeast would be permitted, that’s a necessary ingredient of bread. Not so with the flax seed. It certainly wouldn’t be allowed in the Latin Rite under our corresponding Canon Law provision. Unless, possibly, it’s a VERY VERY small amount - but I don’t think a maker of prosphora should take any risks with the Eucharistic bread.
 
Spelt flour is an excellent gluten-free alternative to wheat flour. You can substitute it easily in any recipe, and it will taste and look identically to the wheat flour version. My mom has gluten intolerance as well, and that’s what we use to bake at our house. Bread, muffins, cookies, waffles, you name, you can do it. 👍

ETA: I have no idea if it’s liturgically allowed, though, for Eucharist… but for your other baking, it’ll work nicely.
 
pumpkinbeast said:
Spelt flour is an excellent gluten-free alternative to wheat flour. You can substitute it easily in any recipe, and it will taste and look identically to the wheat flour version. My mom has gluten intolerance as well, and that’s what we use to bake at our house. Bread, muffins, cookies, waffles, you name, you can do it. 👍

ETA: I have no idea if it’s liturgically allowed, though, for Eucharist… but for your other baking, it’ll work nicely.
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Spelt is NOT gluten free and it is not allowed on a gluten free diet.

The reason it tastes and looks and acts like wheat, is because it is wheat.
I hate to quote Wikipedia but sometimes it is the quickest.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelt
Spelt is closely related to common wheat, and is not suitable for people with celiac disease. Some people with wheat allergy or wheat intolerance tolerate spelt.
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If you have Celiac you should stay away from Spelt.
 
maryjk said:
Spelt is NOT gluten free and it is not allowed on a gluten free diet.

The reason it tastes and looks and acts like wheat, is because it is wheat.
I hate to quote Wikipedia but sometimes it is the quickest.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelt

If you have Celiac you should stay away from Spelt.
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Weird, my mom eats it. 🤷 but she isn’t Celiac, maybe that’s why.
 
Pretty much your only option is going to be wheat starch purified enough that nearly all the protein is gone, and with it, the gluten. I would suggest you start with the western Church, and get in contact with the monasteries that make very low gluten hosts. They don’t have to leaven them, which is a big bonus. I haven’t a clue how to leaven it with only starch, because you’ll just get a crumbly mess. I wish I had a better answer. I’ve been baking gf for quite a while, and I still can’t make anything reliable if it doesn’t at least have eggs in it.
 
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