Baked to perfection Delicious gluten-free recipes with a pinch of science

For those who fear that "gluten free" has to mean dry and tasteless, baker and food writer Cermelj (who also has a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry) uncovers the science behind gluten-free baking. With humor and wit, she explains everything readers need to know to make their own successful gluten-free treats. She starts with her own journey to gluten-free baking before breaking down the composition of gluten-free flours, outlining the tools needed, and explaining the science behind the food with tips like how to keep gluten-free cakes moist. Readers will appreciate the way scientific information is broken down with language and illustrations that make it easy to understand. Recipes like hazelnut milk chocolate cake, chocolate Swiss roll, and tiramisu are nicely formatted with tips, assembly instructions, and storage requirements. Helpful tables, charts, and baking notes are found throughout. With intelligent instruction and beautiful visuals, Cermelj shows readers that gluten-free baked goods can be moist, tasty, and satisfying.

The Loopy Whisk blogger Cermelj debuts with a winning guide that draws on her scientific background--she has a PhD in inorganic chemistry--to develop "gluten-free recipes that are simple and give mouth-watering results." She asserts one of the key factors of gluten-free baking is creating an ideal texture by blending starch gluten-free flours (which give baked items a crumbly texture) with protein gluten-free flours (that provide the elasticity that prevents goods from becoming too crumbly). She shares examples of store-bought and DIY flour blends, which are used in sweet recipes, such as hazelnut and milk chocolate cake and raspberry frangipane tart, as well as savory ones, including zucchini and feta muffins and rosemary focaccia. Unfortunately, the supplementary information that precedes each chapter will overwhelm those who aren't scientifically savvy, as with a chart of mathematical formulas used to calculate the scaling of cakes sizes. Thankfully, the recipes are straightforward and loaded with plenty of accessible notes in the margins ("the extra egg whites make the cupcakes especially fluffy," she explains for her vanilla cupcakes). Bakers who want to expand their gluten-free baking repertoire and really get into what's happening in the baking process won't want to miss this. Agent: Tessa David, Peters Fraser + Dunlop Literary. (May)