Prompt: What's New?

[runpunkrun]

Hey, crew, what are you making lately?

Tried something different? Rediscovered an old favorite? Finally cracked the code on a recipe you've been struggling to adapt? Experimenting with a cookbook or GF product? Looking forward to trying a new recipe or ingredient?

Comment on this post and tell us what you're up to. Triumphs and disappointments equally welcome as we know full well not everything can be a winner.

Comments

Cassava Flour

[runpunkrun]

I've been experimenting with cassava flour recently, and I made some great crackers and brownies, and a very decent quick bread. I'll share the winning recipes later after some further tinkering.

Cassava flour comes from the same root as tapioca starch (also known as tapioca flour), but it's got more in it than just the starch. It has a fine texture and a neutral taste and like tapioca starch it contributes a nice chew to baked goods...but maybe sometimes too much chew? These cassava flour carrot muffins came out a tad rubbery; admittedly I didn't exactly follow the recipe. It wanted me to whirr the carrots up in the food processor and I didn't want to do that so I grated them instead. Maybe adding the carrots as a puree would disrupt the flour enough that it wouldn't get rubbery, but I dunno. My quick bread wasn't rubbery, and it was all cassava flour, too.

I read that cassava flour is a good 1:1 substitute for almond flour, so maybe I could try half almond flour and half cassava in the carrot muffins. Or maybe I'll just give up on that recipe and try another one.

If we exclude the muffins as an outlier, I've been really happy with the way cassava flour works, and I'll continue to experiment with it. I've seen some really promising recipes for free-standing yeast breads and rolls!

Re: Cassava Flour

[miella]

I want to get some cassava flour to try Brazilian cheese rolls. The last bag I saw, though, was like $10/lb, so I decided that was not the day for experimentation.

Re: Cassava Flour

[runpunkrun]

It's so expensive it's nuts.

The Brazilian Cheese Rolls I made called for tapioca starch; I wonder what kind of differences cassava flour will give you.

Re: Cassava Flour

[miella]

I think -- if I remember correctly -- that they are traditionally made with cassava flour, but since it's harder to get in, say, the US, that lots of recipes are subbing in tapioca starch.

No idea what exactly it would change!

Re: Cassava Flour

[runpunkrun]

That's probably the case! I'd guess that cassava flour has less starch and probably more protein, though looking at Bob's nutritional information it has zero protein, and about the same amount of carbs as tapioca, which does not sound right.

Elsewhere on the internet it says cassava flour has 1.6 grams of protein per serving and 417 grams of sodium, and Bob says zero on that too. Then again, this site is defining a serving as 100 grams, and I don't know anyone eating that much cassava flour in one sitting. That's FIVE of my rubbery carrot muffins.

It's theme!?!

[harmonic_tabby]

I mixed up a box of chebe rolls this morning and enjoyed them with different meals all day long. Trying them the first time was a big step for me because I have never, ever cared for tapioca pudding. So I was leery of another type of manioc product.

And chewy is a definite attribute, they remind me of sour dough rolls with their pronounced crust which needs energetic chewing!

You've got me wondering about muffins and cassava flour now...hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Re: It's theme!?!

[runpunkrun]

Good on you for trying it even though you knew you didn't like tapioca. Before I made Brazilian cheese rolls all I knew about tapioca was that it came in balls and I wasn't keen on the whole idea, but I loved how chewy and starchy the rolls were.

Baking with Cassava flour feels a lot like baking with wheat flour; I'm curious to try it in some cookies.