BOSTON - When gluten is removed from a recipe, the structure that a warm bun or loaf of bread needs to rise often disappears. Veteran pastry chef Joseph McBain recognized this issue and spent years experimenting with ingredients and baking techniques to restore those qualities. Now those recipes and skills are available for the world to enjoy in his new cookbook Mastering the Art of Gluten Free Baking. The trouble is the gluten itself. While many people have dietary concerns about gluten, it helps retain gas in baked goods, maintaining the structure and texture most expect when biting into a chocolate-covered croissant or sandwich bread. McBain approaches that problem from the perspective of a professional, having spent over five years at Boston’s Ritz-Carlton. It was there he rose to assistant pastry chef and twice earned “Employee of the Quarter” honors.
“People who need to avoid gluten should still be able to enjoy the delicious and comforting dessert recipes, breads and pastries the rest of us eat every day,” says McBain. “This new cookbook wasn’t just about what works for gluten-free baking. It’s more about recipes that are solid with the experience of a gluten-based good, but don’t need gluten to succeed.”
Mastering the Art of Gluten Free Baking takes amateurs and professional pastry chefs through an extensive collection, ranging from morning waffles a family will love to pastry-shop classics such as croissants, éclairs, crème brûlée, soufflés, Danishes and Black Forest cake. There are even unique baked goods and accessories, such as mousses, puddings, gluten-free frostings, doughs and pies. McBain brings in New England sensibility by basing the new cookbook's recipes on ingredients readers can find at local grocery stores. Every single recipe was tested multiple times to avoid the common bitter aftertastes, grittiness, density and pasty textures that often come with baking using alternative flours.
“There is a surprisingly large amount of trial and error in getting gluten-free baking just right,” continues McBain. “I spent most of my time perfecting those experiments more than working on the cookbook. I want someone who’s at home to be able to easily follow the recipe and put something fresh from the oven onto the table so everyone asks for a second piece.” McBain’s long pastry career started unexpectedly with a job opening as a prep cook and delivery driver at a dessert caterer. It was there that he first saw desserts being produced and found a new calling and, 38 years later, he is still passionate and continues to experiment. Through persistence and a willingness to take on new challenges, McBain built his pastry expertise, eventually earning a position at the Ritz-Carlton. He later found new areas to experiment with and grow his skills at the Cortina Inn and Resort in Vermont and Boston’s Bay Tower Room before decorating cakes at Party Favors in Brookline, Mass. That diversity of skills helped create the recipes enjoyed by readers today.
Mastering the Art of Gluten Free Baking is now available in paperback and eBook editions through SDP Publishing Solutions, LLC, Barnes & Noble and Amazon. The cookbook is over 320 pages, with photos of the baked creations, clear ingredient lists, instructions and plenty of experienced insight into the world of gluten-free goods.
About Joseph McBain - Joseph McBain is a professional pastry chef and gluten-free experimenter. His credentials include positions at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston, Cortina Inn and Resort in Killington, Vt., the Bay Tower Room and Party Favors in Brookline, Mass. He brings over 20 years of experience with pastries and other baked goods, laying the foundation for his first cookbook, Mastering the Art of Gluten Free Baking. http://www.sdppublishing.com.
