Celiac disease is a genetic disease and is currently incurable. 1 in 133 Americans currently suffer from this condition, also known as an auto-immune disease. For those that have an immediate family member that has been diagnosed, there is a 1 in 22 chance that you will also have it. The only known 'treatment' is to live a gluten free life .

Gluten affects those with celiac disease in a number of ways. When gluten is in the digestive tract, it causes the body's immune system to attack the small intestine, which will impede the body's ability to absorb any nutrients. This will cause malnutrition and starvation if not corrected. There are other symptoms as well, ranging in severity from person to person, such as abdominal pain, chronic diarrhea, vomiting and constipation.

By living a gluten free diet, one can avoid these symptoms, sometimes for life. Since gluten exists in wheat, rye and barley eating any food made from these will have sever consequences for anyone suffering from celiac disease. This can include most grains, breads, pasta, cereal, and many processed foods. Because of this, the afflicted has to be very careful about what foods to eat which can prove to be difficult when eating out.

Fortunately there are many foods that do not contain gluten like eggs, plain meat, fish, rice and fruit. Also, many foods can be made without ingredients containing gluten. This way, a person with celiac disease can still enjoy certain breads and pastas. Using a gluten free bread machine is one way. There are entire cookbooks revolving around gluten free ingredients.

So there is still hope for someone with celiac disease. But there is also hope in continuing research. New treatments and diagnostic techniques are currently being researched as you read this. There are even certain grains that are being genetically engineered to not contain gluten. As medicine and science make advances we get ever closer to finding a real cure.

This month’s Daring Bakers challenge came from Great Cakes: Over 250 Recipes to Bake, Share, and Enjoy by Carole Walter. I made this month’s challenge for the Daring Bakers twice! The recipe was quite a challenge to make in the summertime even in my air conditioned kitchen. The whipped cream, buttercream, and ganache kept melting in the heat! I made a filbert gateau with raspberry buttercream because I had one bag of hazelnut meal and not enough to spare to make a praline buttercream. AND I could not find whole hazelnuts anywhere! The second time I made the cake I used an 8 inch pan, but was still unable to cut three layers. I swear I did not deflate the egg whites! Maybe I wasn’t daring enough? Hmmm… All in all it was a good challenge, but the end result was just not my thing. I made it again just to be sure! I really learned a lot from making this recipe and it has given me tons of great ideas. Thank you Mele Cotte for a great challenge! You can find the recipe for the Filbert Gateau on her fantastic food blog.

My changes to the recipe:

1) I used an 8 inch springfrom pan.

2) I flavored the cake with raspberries.

3) I replaced the cake flour with 1/3 cup tapioca flour and 1/4 cup of rice flour with 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum

4) I used the swiss buttercream recipe that was called for but added 1/2 cup whole raspberries and 1/4 cup seedless raspberry preserves instead of doing a praline (I ran out of hazelnuts!)

5) I used commercially ground hazelnut meal- 2 cups minus 1 Tablespoon.



Go find some more renditions of the Filbert Gateau by Carole Walter by visiting the Daring Bakers Blogroll.



from

http://glutenfreemommy.com/daring-bakers-filbert-gateau/
Gluten Free Bread Machine
Gluten Free Bread Machine

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