Friday's Flours - Potato Starch

Not to be confused with potato flour, potato starch is, like other starches, a fine, white powder. Potato starch is a bit of a staple when it comes to gluten free baking due to its ability to hold together without being sticky or gooey. It is particularly good in those recipes that are high in fat (like pie crust) because it doesn't harden like rice flour, and it lends a smooth texture.

The use of potato starch in your flour mix varies according to what you are baking. For some recipes we will use just a little, for some it might be half of your mix, and for others it might be most of our mix. That was a really unhelpful statement, huh? Well, it is really a flour you have to play with in each of your recipes. In pie crust it makes up the majority of our mix, whereas in pancakes it makes up about a quarter of the mix.

I would love to say, "Here! Here is the perfect gluten free baking mix that makes everything well!" But I just can't because, so far, I just haven't found a mix (be it homemade or store bought) that works for it all. But if you are working on a recipe that isn't smooth or fluffy enough, take out a little of the flour you are using and try a little potato starch instead.