I must admit, any product that has the word “brilliant” in its title immediately arouses my suspicion. Who thinks it is brilliant? How would they know? Isn’t it a bit conceited to call your own product “brilliant”?
Conceited bread mix?
I was fortunate enough to be sent a sample of each to try out (full disclosure – blogger gets free sample, gives up job to blog full time and live off the land…) but I promise to be impartial.
Looking at the ingredients list, I couldn’t see anything suspicious – there were no magical ingredients that I have never heard of, just the usual gluten-free flour suspects.
The batter makes up very easily, you just add egg, milk and oil (I used hazlenut milk, as I’m cutting out milk for a bit, but would normally use Lactofree whole milk for baking), and you actually end up with a batter that has a bit of texture to it. It wouldn’t quite form rolls though.
I think my loaf tin may have been too big – you are supposed to use a 1 pound tin (who knows what size mine was), but the mixture didn’t rise amazingly. I would say it rose somewhat. HOWEVER, it is a known fact in our household that our oven isn’t very effective at distributing heat (despite being a fan oven), so that may have had something to do with it.
After I scoffingly noted how little it had risen (“take that, ‘brilliant’ mix!”), I ended up scoffing half the loaf in a morning (perfect with Nutella). Sigh. Freshly baked bread is my weakness, so I really wish I could tell you how well it lasted, but… *burp*
Pros:
- Yummy – especially fresh from the oven
- Very easy – good to have a few packs in the kitchen cupboard for tastemergencies
Cons:
- Didn’t rise very well (better than some GF breads though!)
- Weird colour?
Before the pixies came and took my bread away… honest!
I have now made bread twice using Helens Brilliant White Bread mix. The first time i used the bread maker, which is a panasonic. This loaf was rather small and a little bit too moist. The second time i made it by hand. I gave it a lot longer to rise than the packet said and this time it was lovely. My husband is a really fussy eater but he said it was nicer than some shop bought regular loaves. It kept well for two days. Definatly one i will stock up on. Fingers crossed they never discontinue it
Maybe the key is leaving it longer to rise!
Hi,
the key to the rise, is to put the tin your bread is in, into another containing hot water. Almost a bain marie in fact. Then i place it on top of the (turned on) oven and cover the tin with a chopping board. The heat and moisture work togerther and give a good rise.
I make rolls with this mix, and they are fantastic. And I am a hard man to please when it comes to GF bread.
Ah ha! Great idea… will try that next time
I’ve tried making this in my breadmachine but it wasn’t completely successful. It required some extra baking in my main oven but otherwise it was ok. My breadmaker does not have a gluten free setting so I am trying to program the different timings into the ‘self program’ setting. Can anyone help me here? I have tried contacting Helen’s website but the message cannot be answered because there is no place to enter my email address.
Have tried both the white and brown bread mix, as a loaf and as rolls they were so easy to make and super quick too. Definitely use the bain marie effect.
I placed the rolls in a muffin tray so as to shape better and it did the trick.
wish more stockists made it available. Great product!
Only diagnosed Gluten Intollerant 3/4 months ago, so still adjusting. I’ve tried a number of breads, only 2 acceptable. But last night I made Helens ready mix, by hand, proved with tin in hot water, carefully removing & replacing fresh hot. I did leave it about 5minutes over though to rise more. It cooked well but maybe needed a 1/2 minutes extra in my fan oven. Once cool enough I had two slices with butter & jam. It’s hard to explain just HOW nice it was to have tasty bread again!! Hubby is getting me a new bread maker with gluten free programme & will see which way best for me. But now …
Thank You Helen for giving me back a bread to enjoy 🙂
I left Helen’s bread mix twice as long as stated to rise, best taste for gluten free ever, kept for week in sealed bag in fridge, thats if you can leave it that long.