Reviews for Gluten-Free Baking with The Culinary Institute of America: 150 Flavorful Recipes from the World's Premier Culinary College

The average rating for Gluten-Free Baking with The Culinary Institute of America: 150 Flavorful Recipes from the World's Premier Culinary College based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-11-02 00:00:00 Donald Johnson The recipes in this cookbook are based on five gluten-free flour blends, some combination of which are used in almost every cookie, cake, bread, or pastry in the book. That's fine if you're ready to dedicate your entire life to this cookbook, but if you just want to try one or two recipes to see if you like their style, you can't. Because the recipes all say this much of flour blend #1, this much of flour blend #3, and don't explain what that means in practical terms. So the book is useless unless you want to pre-mix all five of these flours, and with each blend making about 2 quarts that's a considerable amount of money to sink into something you're not sure about. There are only three recipes that can be made without these flour mixtures, and one of them's coconut macaroons, which just drops the flour entirely. I could have done that myself. It has an index, a reading and resources section, 16 color photos in two central clumps, and a lengthy introduction about the types of people who don't eat gluten, a few profiles of people on gluten-free diets, the differences in gluten-free baking versus baking with gluten, the various kinds of flours, gums, and starches used, and the tools you'll need if you've never set foot in your kitchen before and don't own a spatula. It's geared towards beginners, doesn't allow for substitutions, and pads its content by including recipes for things like simple syrup. Not worth it unless you want to fully immerse yourself in this guy's five flour system.

Review # 2 was written on 2012-01-18 00:00:00 Ian Low I'm going to reserve the rating on this book for later. I read some of it and it has excellent information on gluten free eating and flours, plus other ingredients. I checked the book out of the library to determine whether to buy it now. From Amazon reviews and from perusing the book, I'd like to buy the book but don't think it's the first one I should start with since I'm new to gluten free baking. I don't have celiac disease but would like to eat gluten free. My daughter is a student at The Culinary Institute of America, so the book got my attention. I'd suggest to anyone just starting a gluten free diet that this may not be a good first baking book. It's a higher level baking book in that recipes need to be followed exactly, including method, and it doesn't seem to be a resource for those without patience and/or experience. Once I have more experience with gluten free, I'll want to try the next level of taste and chemistry. Reviewers mostly suggest weighing ingredients as well, so you'll need a good food scale and some other equipment. I'll return to rate the book when I've tried a number of recipes from it and have read it more thoroughly. _______________________________ Everything I've made from this book is good!