School is starting soon, and my kids like to bring in a cake or cookies sometime in the beginning of the first week. Problem is my son has a little girl in his class with celiac disease. This little girl is a sweetheart and I want to be able to include her in the treat. Anyone with any good recipes I would so appreciate it. Also, I've never had anything gluten free (that I know of), is there a taste difference?
I don't have any recipes for you but hopefully there is someone out there that does! I have a sister that has this condition. For her I buy gluten free cake mix at our local grocery store. I belive it is made with rice flour. It takes okay but there is a distinct difference - at least to me. Not bad just different. I know I have seen some of the gluten free brand stuff at Wal-Mart but I don't know if they carry the cake mix yet or not. Sorry I am not more help! Tina
The easiest thing to do is buy a gluten free cake or cookie mix. If this is going to be a one-time deal, you don't want to spend all the extra money on a whole back of Xanthan gum (about $12), and all the special flours you'd need (rice flour, tapioca flour, etc.)
Mixes are easy, and they taste good. My favorite gluten free mix is a brownie mix made by Pamela's.
I agree with the previous poster about the xanthan gum etc, but when my son was an infant, he was allergic to wheat. I found this recipe to make his first birthday cake out of (his smash cake). I was AMAZED At how well it tasted, you could NOT tell it was made without wheat or that it had some of the other things (like mayo) in it. 
Fortunate for us, he grew out of the wheat allergy (although, unfortunately picked up a massive nut allergy!), but I saved it in case I needed it. Just be careful making a cake for someone that has alleriges because of things like cross contamination etc. HTH
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Gluten-Free-Yellow-Cake/Detail.aspx
I had to do a wedding cake for a bride with celiac desease, and I had never made a gluten free cake before. I did some searching on the internet, some practice cakes, and let her taste them. The following is the link to the chocolate cake she ultimately decided on:
http://www.wheat-free.org/wheat-gluten-free-flourless-chocolate-cake.html
And to answer another of your questions... ...YES, it definitely tastes different. The raw batter actually smells like wet, raw potato, and I got kind of worried that the cake would be horrible. It's MUCH better after it's been baked. It's also much denser than regular cake. You could probably take out a purse snatcher from a hundred yards if your aim is good.
Good luck, and be careful no to cross-contaminate anything - people with celiac disease are very susceptible to even the smallest crumb of wheat.
I've just found this in my new cake mag. Not sure whether it's any good I haven't had time to try it yet.
Moist Lemon Polenta Cake
150ml Sunflower Oil
175g Caster Sugar
4 Medium Eggs
Grated Zest Of 2 Lemons
200g Ground Almonds
150g Polenta
2tsp Gluten Free Baking Powder
SYRUP
110g Caster Sugar
150ml Water
Juice of 1.5 Lemons
1) Line the base of 8" round tin. Heat oven to 180c /350F. Place an oven tray on centre shelf.
2)In a bowl put the oil, sugar, eggs, zest & 3 tablespoons of juice & whisk until frothy.
3)Fold in the groung almonds, polenta & baking powder. It wil be a soft mixture.
4)Put into the tin & bake for approx 1 hour or until golden brown & firm in the centre. Sometimes sinks a little in the cemtre.
5)Leave in the tin for 5 mins, turn out onto a large plate.
6) Make the syrup: In a pan dissolve the sugar in the water & then boil for 2-3mins. Add the juice of the lemons & boil for a few minutes more.
7)Prick the cake with a fork or skewer & gradually spoon the warm syrup over until it has been absorbed.
There is also a recipe for almond cookies & fruit cake. Sorry I haven't got time to list them all but if anyone wants to pm me or I'll try to post them in the recipe forum over the next few days 
Also I don't know whether you get Doves Farm Gluten Free Flour in the US but I have used that & the cakes tasted just like regular ones.
I had to do a wedding cake for a bride with celiac desease, and I had never made a gluten free cake before. I did some searching on the internet, some practice cakes, and let her taste them. The following is the link to the chocolate cake she ultimately decided on:
http://www.wheat-free.org/wheat-gluten-free-flourless-chocolate-cake.html
And to answer another of your questions... ...YES, it definitely tastes different. The raw batter actually smells like wet, raw potato, and I got kind of worried that the cake would be horrible. It's MUCH better after it's been baked. It's also much denser than regular cake. You could probably take out a purse snatcher from a hundred yards if your aim is good.
Good luck, and be careful no to cross-contaminate anything - people with celiac disease are very susceptible to even the smallest crumb of wheat.
That's pretty scary that you could take someone out like that. 
I have to admit, I can't remember how mine smelled when I was cooking it, but it was very moist, very flavorful and like I said, I had a bunch of adults taste it because I was so amazed at how it tasted! Even my dh ate some, and he's the opposite of Mikey (he won't eat ANYTHING!)
Where would I find Pamela's or Cherrybrook mixes? Walmart? Also, what would you decorate it with? Buttercream? MMF?
Do you have a Whole Foods market or some sort of health-food grocery store near you? They carry a variety of gluten-free cake/bownie/cookie mixes.
You're lucky that you can even bring in homemade goodies for your kids at school. My daughter is just starting kindergarten and we are not allowed to bring ANYTHING homemade. Everything has to be store-bought and it has to be from the list of "approved" items that the school puts out. It makes me so sad that I can't bring anything fun and creative.
Good luck finding something that'll work for you. It is so thoughtful of you to make sure this little girl is included.
I just did a gluten free cake this weekend. If you look in my photos, the waterfall cake with the hula girl - the hula girl and the 6" of the waterfall are gluten free. I used a gluten free mix but I don't remember the brand.
WalMart doesn't sell gluten free cake mixes yet. You'll probably have to go to a specialty grocery - like Whole Foods or EarthFare, if you have those.
I agree with the previous poster who mentioned that the batter smelled gross and I didn't particulary care for the smell as it was baking, but it tasted really good when it came out. Definitely different though.
This a a very stupid, unrelated question, but it's been bugging me since I joined this site... ...a previous poster used the abbreviation "dh", and I've seen it EVERYWHERE on this site - does it stand for Daughter's Husband"?
Sorry to get off the subject...
I saw two gluten free mixes in Wal Mart this weekend. One was for a brownie mix and the other was a muffin mix. Either could be turned into cake or cooked as is. I'd be sure to call the mom and let her know what brand of treat you brought and if using a mix, be sure to take the empty box to the teacher so she knows it's safe. Better yet, talk to the mom, and have her write a note to the teacher.
I know the mom really well, so I think I will ask her if she's made any cakes for her and what it was. Thanks for all your replies. This little girl was born with celiac's, at the age of 4 she was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor the size of a grapefruit, she no sooner got through chemo and they found out she wasn't growing so they had to do treatments of growth hormones. So if I can help it, she will not be left out.
Karen
I know it's been a while since you all posted, but since I didn't see any of your names on this recent thread about GF recipes I thought you might be interested in the results of myGF- scratch-recipe taste test. One of the cakes I tested was the one provided by keyshia above. Results are on the bottom of p2!
http://forum.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-522883-glutenfree.html
Hope this helps!
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