Cup4Cup Gluten Free Flour Product Review

In one of our September posts, we brought you a “Newsy” item about a gluten-free flour, C4C, new to the scene and available exclusively through Williams-Sonoma. Since we shared this news, we’ve acquired some of this flour and put it through the Daily Forage product review testing process. We’re excited to share our results with you now. 

First, let me share the properties and characteristics of this flour. Cup4Cup is made from all natural, 100% gluten-free ingredients, including cornstarch, white rice flour, brown rice flour, milk powder, tapioca flour, potato starch, and xanthan gum. As the name states, appropriately we found, this flour blend can be substituted cup for cup for gluten-containing all-purpose flour, producing excellent results. The texture of the raw flour blend feels smooth, no sensation of grittiness or coarseness when rubbing it between fingertips. It also has a more “natural” wheat flour texture than some gluten-free flours which tend to have a silkiness to the touch.

In our first recipe test, we used C4C to make our Gluten Free Walnut-Apple Coffee Cake. When we measured out the flour, there was no fly-away residue that leaves a thin coating on the countertop if a little spills, as sometimes happens in the kitchen. The batter mixed up well and had a smooth texture, again not grainy or gritty. When baking, the cake rose appropriately and proportionately, with exactly the same results as when I’d used gluten-containing all-purpose flour in the past. Once the cake was removed from the oven and left to cool completely, the center didn’t slump, the cake was moist and tender but not too delicate, and when sliced the individual pieces and remaining cake portion retained their shapes beautifully. There was no extra crumbling or slumping. One of the real tests, though, when using gluten-free flours is how well the baked product stays true to its just baked characteristics. This cake didn’t dry out or become “stale” in its texture or taste. It was moist and tender still on its third day after baking (though to do this test I had to hide a piece of cake, the rest had been eaten. I believe the gluten-lovers of the world would never know this was a gluten-free cake. 

We also used C4C in our Italian Biscotti recipe. As stated in my recipe post, I am a biscotti snob. I am very particular about the texture and dunk-ability of biscotti. I thought this would be the perfect place to put C4C to the test. Well, rave reviews came in from the biscotti lovers in my world. I’ve tried this same biscotti recipe using a variety of other gluten-free all-purpose flours, and some different combinations of flours on my own, some with very good results. But C4C delivered the best results. The texture was the perfect biscotti texture (reminding folks that my biscotti isn’t the hard and stale variety) excellent for dunking without getting mushy. I would classify C4C’s flavor as neutral, so it imparts no imposing flavors of its own, but lends well to allow all the key flavors of a recipe to come through and be noticed.

For my gluten-free readers, I highly recommend this C4C Flour Blend. For those who are also dairy-free, be mindful that this flour does contain milk powder and per your guidelines most likely would not be suitable for you. I’d love C4C to create an equal flour for those of us who cannot do dairy. We thoroughly enjoyed putting C4C to the test!

Daily Forage Rating: ◊◊◊

Cup4Cup

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