Cupcakes and crackers and bread, oh my!

I've recently tried a few GF products that I normally wouldn't have. I'm pleasantly surprised by some and not so pleasantly surprised by others. I didn't think it would be so difficult to find adequate substitutes!

The first thing I tried (and was extremely disappointed with) was bread. I stood in the GF section of my local supermarket. I poked every single type of bread. They were all hard - no give what so ever. So I settled on the least-hard-feeling loaf – a light brown rice bread. I was feeling optimistic – until I got home and made a sandwich.

It's difficult to come up with words to convey this bread, and my disappointment in it. Have you ever seen or felt the yellow insulation on ceiling tile panels? This bread reminded me of it. When I picked up a slice, it had an almost fiberglass insulation texture to it. And it was dry – very dry. My husband almost choked when a bite of it got stuck in his throat.
I had two pieces before I gave up. I slathered the remaining pieces in butter with garlic powder, oregano, thyme, and some salt/pepper before sticking it in the oven to dry the heck out of it. Somewhat surprisingly, it wasn't horrible after I did that. I took a bite out of my little garlic-bread-bricks before I made them into breadcrumbs.

I also decided to try an interesting sounding cupcake mix that I had found in the same local supermarket. GF cocoa cayenne cupcakes sounded like they would be right up my alley - you can't go wrong with a little bit of sweet and a little bit of heat.

Oh, how wrong my opinion was. I mixed the batter per the instructions on the back of the box. I thought the batter was a little odd – it was a bit gritty when I sampled it. They came out of the oven looking like any other chocolate cupcake. I decided to top them with cream cheese icing – that was a disaster. I learned to never forget the butter when making this icing. No matter how much powdered sugar I added to the cream cheese, it just wouldn't thicken up. In fact, it reminded me of the science experiment where you add cornstarch to water. The mixture appears solid when you pick it up or squeeze it, but liquid if you let it sit in the palm of your hand. I finally gave up on that and just dipped the top of the cupcakes into the goopy icing.

The flavor of the cupcake wasn't bad at all. It was nice and chocolatey on the front, and then there was a slight heat at the back of your throat. The problem with these cupcakes was the texture. It felt like I was eating a sponge – and a dry one at that. I plan to make them again, but to ignore the directions on the back of the box and instead add some applesauce to see if that keeps them a bit moister and less sponge-like.

I do actually have 1 good find. I had tried some almond/rice crackers that a coworker seems to like. I wasn't crazy about them - they reminded me of a tortilla chip when I bit into them but then a rice cake when I actually tasted it. These aren't necessarily qualities that I want my crackers to have.

Instead, I decided to try a different kind of GF crackers. I was surprisingly impressed. They have a cracker-like texture and no funny tastes. They were quite peppery, which I enjoyed. They also went very well with the chicken salad I made. I think they would go quite nicely with some cheese and a nice glass of red wine. The packaging inside wasn't great so a bunch of them were broken, but I can live with broken crackers as long as they are palatable.

I bought a new kind of bread tonight: light tapioca bread. It is far softer than the light brown rice bread I tried and I'm hoping that it lacks the insulation-like texture. I'll keep you posted on that. I have a feeling that I'll probably have far better luck by making my own, which I plan to do after I get a breadmaker.

I thought the same about cupcakes, so I've been attempting to make homemade GF cupcakes this evening. I will have to get used to cooking with alternative flours. They have textures and characteristics that I am not used to. I will give you an update on the cupcake outcome later, after I have frosted them and tried them. Just keep your fingers crossed that they turned out better than the last ones!