Jennifer Bartak began baking without gluten about 10 years ago.
“I would get multiple migraines weekly,” the Conway resident said in a recent interview. “My doctor suggested, ‘Why don’t you try gluten free? There might be a correlation there.’ I saw a significant reduction in migraines. … It kind of became a lifestyle.”
Bartak has enjoyed baking since childhood. She was raised in Deerfield, where she “learned to bake from Carolyn Ness. She was my neighbor growing up,” recalled Bartak. “Her house always smelled of amazing baked goods. I loved baking for any family event or anyone. I was always the one supplying the baked goods.”
When she went gluten-free, she had to make some adjustments. She read as many books and articles as she could about doing without gluten, the protein in flour that helps baked goods stretch, rise and retain optimal moisture.
She learned that issues like hers with gluten have become much more common in recent decades, as commercial flour has been increasingly ground from genetically modified wheat.
“Our grandparents and ancestors didn’t have these problems,” pronounced Bartak. “When I first began baking without gluten, it was really difficult because you would have to mix flours. Now, it’s super easy. King Arthur makes a fabulous gluten-free one-for-one mix, which is the best I’ve found.”
In general, she avoids baking denser goods like pretzels and breads.
“Stuff that needs a strong glutenous base, stuff that really needs to rise, is much more difficult,” she explained.
She doesn’t eat a lot of bread, but when she wants it, she purchases a brand called Against the Grain.
“I buy two or three loaves and throw them in the freezer,” she noted. She can defrost a slice or two at a time.
She explained that she still finds plenty of items that lend themselves to gluten-free baking. Cakes, pastries and cookies are among her favorites, along with cheesecakes (she suggests grinding up granola for the crusts) and simple pie crusts. For the latter, she combines almond flour and gluten-free flour.
When she first began working without gluten, Bartak recalled that she continued to use regular flour in baked goods for friends and family members. She soon decided to play a game with the recipients of her kitchen prowess.
“I said to myself, ‘I’m going to make this gluten-free and see if people recognize it,’” she said.
Somewhere in the middle of eating her creations, people would gaze at her with a curious look in their eyes. Often, they were surprised to discover they were consuming gluten-free treats.
These days, Bartak bakes several times a month, often at least once a week.
“For me, giving friends and family baked goods is a nice gesture,” she said. “It’s a simple thing to do, but it means a lot.”
Her baking also provides a soothing contrast to some of her work. She is a sergeant with the Deerfield Police Department. She has undergone special training for sexual-assault investigation.
I met Bartak last fall when I was serving as the grand-jury forewoman at the Franklin Superior Court. We grand jurors were impressed with her composure and compassion when she testified in cases.
One day, Bartak, prosecutor Sandra Staub and I were waiting for a judge in the courtroom. Our conversation turned to cooking, as conversations often do. I mentally filed away the information about Bartak’s gluten-free lifestyle. The police sergeant believes in her work, she told me, and finds her co-workers “a great group of people.”
She added, “A lot of times when I go on calls, we go into a chaotic situation and it’s not cleaned up at the end. It can be a long, drawn-out process.” In contrast, baking “is something I can see from beginning to end. You can see it all the way through, and it brings joy to your family and friends.”
Bartak suggests that bakers considering going gluten-free start with something light like a sponge cake. Sponge cake is in fact the basis for this Swiss roll (a.k.a. jelly roll), which she adapted from “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook.”
She varies the jam she uses for the filling and sometimes tops the roll with icing, whipped cream, a drizzle of ganache, or fresh fruit in season.
5 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup almond flour
1/3 cup King Arthur gluten-free flour
Confectioner’s sugar as needed
Jelly or jam for the center as needed (Bartak likes to use strawberry-rhubarb preserves from Sidehill Farm in Vermont)
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease a jelly-roll pan and line it with parchment paper. Beat the egg yolks in a mixing bowl. (Bartak prefers a glass bowl if possible.) Add the vanilla. Place this mixture in a fresh bowl.
Wash the beaters and mixing bowl thoroughly; then beat the egg whites until they are foamy. Add the salt. Continue beating until you begin to get soft peaks. Add the sugar slowly, one spoonful at a time. Beat until the whites form peaks that are stiff but not dry. Spoon the whites over the yolks.
Sift the flours over the top of the eggs and fold them in gently. Spread the mixture in the prepared pan. Make sure the cake batter is level.
Bake for 12 minutes. While the sponge cake is baking, take a tea towel or a kitchen towel and sprinkle it with the confectioner’s sugar. When the cake is done and still hot, invert it onto the sugared towel. Remove the parchment paper.
Carefully roll the long side of the cake up in the towel to form a spiral. Let it rest for a minute or two. Unroll the cake, roll it up again and let it cool completely while still rolled up. (This won’t take too long as the cake is thin.) Unroll the cake once more and spread the jam of your choice across it in a thin layer.
Roll the cake up again without the towel. Dust confectioner’s sugar over the top. Serves six to 12, depending on how large your slices are.
Tinky Weisblat is the award-winning author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook,” “Pulling Taffy,” and “Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb.” Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.