food substitutes

[ranchette7]

 I've read that gelatin can be used successfully as a substitute for xanthan gum. In an apple cake recipe (gluten free) it calls for 1 tsp of xanthan gum. Doesn't seem like alot if I just leave it out but it's for special guests so I'm going to try the gelatin substitute idea. Any idea of the correct ratio when substituting? Should I put in 1 tsp of gelatin powder? Thanks!

[SweetSilver]

Dissolve 1/2 to 1 tsp in cold water or juice and stir to avoid lumps.  I have some trouble getting it perfectly smooth to avoid weird chunks.  I have one cake recipe (not gluten free necessarily, we use oat flour or ground rolled oats) but didn't notice how it helped (it was also egg-free).  I am never very fond of all these substitutes (and allergic to corn) and have had better success skipping them for some reason.  If you can use eggs, then I would add an extra egg and skip the xanthum gum or the gelatin.  Eggs are a baker's magic ingredient, I wish I could still bake with them.

[kjbrown92]

We use karaya gum (Wilton's Gum-Tex, found with the cake decorating stuff at craft stores) because we don't do corn (most xanthan gum) and for a while DS couldn't do guar gum either. Gums are supposed to be 1 tsp. to 1 cup of "flour" for gluten free (it's the glue that holds it together). We also use flax eggs (1 Tbs. ground flax + 3 Tbs. water, let sit for 10 minutes or microwave on high for 1 minute - turns gel-like) to hold things together (like the cookies I made today).