The Gluten Free Guru

One of the first recipe books I picked up upon being re-diagnosed with celiac disease was Bette Hagman's The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread. Chock-a-block with recipes for bread, buns, muffins, waffles, crackers and many more, Bette's book quickly became the essential guide I turn to more than any other. Bette was a pioneer in gluten free baking. Her endless research into various flour blends meant that we celiacs no longer had to bake with rice flour exclusively. Her recipes involve sorghum, millet and her fabulous four flour bean blend with garfava. Bette made it possible to create delicious, moist loaves that rivaled any wheat based bread that were nutritious as well as delectable.
Over at The Book of Yum a blog event is being staged to honour and give thanks to Bette Hagman, the Gluten Free Gourmet. I baked the yam and cranberry muffins (pictured above) as a tribute to Bette who recently died. Thanks to Bette, being diagnosed with celiac disease is not a dire sentence to a life time of limitation but can actually mean the start of an exciting culinary adventure.