<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

    I have been making a GF version of Vienna Bread for
some time that I really like, and I haven't posted it before
now because I keep meaning to try using different binders
which may be more available to the average person.  However,
I still haven't gotten to that, so I will post my recipe,
with sources for unusual ingredients listed below, along
with possible substitutions.  I hope that others will enjoy
my recipe or their own adaptations thereof.

    BTW, this bread makes excellent toast, and will hold up
to hamburgers and other moist foods without falling apart -
and, in my opinion, it tastes good!


            Kirsten's Vienna Bread

Dry ingredients:

  1 1/2 cups sweet potato flour (8 ounce bag)
  1/4 cup arrowroot flour
  1/4 cup potato starch
  1 cup tapioca starch
  [1/4 cup brown rice flour - optional]
  [1/4 cup quinoa flakes - optional]
  3 tablespoons Just Whites
  2 teaspoons Ener-G Egg Replacer
  2 1/2 teaspoons Tartex Biobin (unroasted carob bean flour)
  1 1/4 teaspoons salt
  2 1/2 teaspoons yeast

Wet ingredients:

  1 1/2 cups water to start, add up to another 1/2 cup or more if needed
  2 tablespoons melted butter
  1 1/2 tablespoons mild honey (for example, orange blossom)
  1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Mix the dry ingredients together.  I find that using a whisk
in a bowl gets these ingredients thoroughly mixed fairly easily.
If using a bread machine, add wet or dry ingredients first (as
directed by the bread machine manufacturer), then add the other
ingredients, and start the kneading cycle.  Otherwise assemble
ingredients in a mixing bowl, being sure to have pre-mixed the
dry ingredients together first, and begin mixing.

Watch closely to determine the amount of water needed.  It is
almost certain to be more, or much more, than 1 1/2 cups, but
if your climate is humid you may need the lesser amount.  The
correct dough consistency is that of Marshmallow Fluff (its
stickiness makes me think of this) or of sour cream.  You don't
want the dough to be soupy by any means, but it certainly
shouldn't be stiff either.  Allow the dough to mix for a while,
perhaps 10 minutes or so, then check the consistency again.
If you are using the brown rice flour and the quinoa flakes,
these ingredients will soak up moisture from the dough, so
the dough will become slightly drier.  Correct with the addition
of small amounts of water to the proper consistency.

If you are not using a bread machine, transfer dough to greased
loaf pans, mini-loaf pans (nice for hot dog buns), or muffin
tins.  Otherwise, choose the final rise (Rise 2 on my Zojirushi)
on your bread machine.

Allow the bread to rise once only.  When the dough has tripled
in volume (or possibly quadrupled, if you leave out the brown rice
flour and the quinoa flakes), begin the bake cycle (or put bread
into an oven at 350 degrees fahrenheit).  Allow to bake for about
one hour (less if you use muffin tins or mini-loaf pans).

The bread is delicious hot, but it won't slice very well until
the bread has cooled.  You may slice the bread and freeze it,
as the frozen bread toasts very nicely.  Enjoy!


Important comments (aka, voice of experience):

The above can be made in a bread machine or by hand.  If made
in a bread machine, do not add the flours in advance (to start
mixing at a later time), as the starches will get gummy and
the dough will be lumpy.  Also, the bread machine should have
a manual setting (as does my Zojirushi - excellent breadmachine,
by the way).  The dough will most likely rise much too fast and
too high on a regular setting, so the dough will possibly
overflow, and the bread may collapse if not baked at the right
time.  If you don't have a large bread machine, you will want
to reduce the amount of dough to allow for rising and expansion
during baking (this recipe makes a large loaf of bread).  I have
taken a small quantity of dough out after the mixing has been
completed and have made a mini-loaf in a regular pan which I
then baked separately.  You may also reduce the quantity of
the ingredients.

As this recipe has many ingredients, I will often make several
times the recipe amount of the dry ingredients, mix them thoroughly,
them divide the mix into ziploc bags for future use.  I add the
wet ingredients and the yeast when I'm ready to make a loaf.
This also allows me to make up smaller bags for smaller loaves,
if I so choose.

If you add the optional ingredients, your body will be happy
to receive a few vitamins and the small amount of fiber these
offer.  I feel the flavor is also better with these ingredients,
but the recipe makes a fine loaf of bread without them too.

Substitutions:

If you begin to play with the above ingredients, reducing the
amount of tapioca starch does make a dramatic difference, and
the bread will get crumbly.  I'm sure that oil may be substituted
for butter, but don't leave an oil-type ingredient out.  You can
also probably substitute cornstarch for arrowroot starch.  You
may increase the amount of sweetener, as the amount above does
not give a noticeable sweetness (this is not meant to be a sweet
bread).  Xanthan gum may probably be substituted for Tartex Biobin,
using 2 1/2 teaspoons rather than the 2 teaspoons listed.  Potato
flour cannot be substituted for sweet potato flour; the bread will
become very heavy and it won't taste good.  Leaving out either
the potato starch or the arrowroot starch (and adding more of
the other) doesn't work well.  I'm sure there are other substitutions
which will work, and others which won't, but these are the ones
I've tried or know of so far.

Ingredients:

Sweet potato flour:  difficult to find.  I use a brand available
in a local asian market (the Asian Food Center on Broadway in
Sacramento, California).  It's called L & W Sweet Potato Flour,
and it's from L&W Group, Inc., P.O. Box 14663, Fremont, CA 94539.

Tartex Biobin:  unroasted carob bean flour.  I have only found
this in Germany.  I use it because it doesn't bother my stomach,
and xanthan gum definitely does.  It is available in 100 gram
jars in Reformhauses (health food stores) for 10,75 DM.  The
company address is Tartex Gmbh, D-81662, Muenchen, Germany.

Ener-G Egg Replacer: contains potato starch, tapioca flour,
leavening (calcium lactate - not dairy derived; calcium carbonate,
citric acid), carbohydrate gum.  Found in health food stores
in the USA, the company address is Ener-G Foods Inc, P.O. Box 84487,
Seattle, WA 98124-5787.  Their phone number is (800) 331-5222,
and their web address is http://www2.digimktg.com/enrg/

Just Whites: pasteurized dried egg whites.  This is available
in health food stores and more upscale supermarkets.  It is
distributed by Deb-El Foods Corporation, 2 Papetti Plaza,
Elizabeth, NJ 07207.

Arrowroot starch: somewhat difficult to find.  Don't buy
the tiny jars in the spice section of the supermarket.
Health food stores should have this or be able to get it
in for you.  It should cost $2-$4 per pound.  The tiny
(2 ounce?) jars are several dollars and are a waste of
money.  If you aren't allergic to corn, cornstarch will
probably be a fine substitute.  [I'm allergic to corn]

Potato starch: the fine, silky white powder.  This is
not potato flour, which is heavier and more grainy.  It
may however be called "potato flour" in other countries
(confusing, isn't it?).  You can often find this at a
regular supermarket, either in the baking goods or the
Jewish foods section.  Asian markets will also carry
this, and it will be fairly cheap there.  Health food
stores will have it too.

Tapioca starch: another fine, silky white powder.  You
will find this in health food stores and Asian markets.
The Asian markets will cost less than 1/4 what the health
food stores usually charge.

    I hope that you will enjoy this recipe.  Feel free
to pass the recipe along, but do leave my name attached
to it.  Thank you.

                 Best wishes,

                 Kirsten Klinghammer


Kirsten Klinghammer    [log in to unmask]    Rescue, CA, USA