My original questions from my declaration and the answers I have come up with are:
In the end, I was able to cook a 3 course meal that is gluten and corn free, and my friend did not have a migraine after eating it! Success! I am incredibly happy with the cake outcome specifically, and with finding multiple main courses that I can keep in my repertoire for when my friend comes over for dinner.
- What ingredients have “hidden” gluten?
So many. Surprisingly, or maybe not so surprisingly, this was not as big of a problem as hidden corn. With "gluten free" becoming such a common diet, there are many gluten free products out there. Aside from gluten free products, there is an abundance of gluten free recipes online and in cook books. - What ingredients have “hidden” corn?
Again, so many. I have lists, but hidden corn has so many different names it would be impossible to list them all here. Corn free is not nearly as common as gluten free, so this became the real challenge in my project. Essentially, I had to go with items that had ingredients I recognized. A good rule of thumb that I went by is: if I don't know what it is, it is probably hidden corn! - What types of appetizers can I make?
I ended up focusing more on the main dish and dessert, but I did find a long list of gluten and corn free salad dressing recipes that I will be playing with in the future. - What type of salt is actually corn free?
This one was done more by phone than anything else. I ended up calling different manufacturers, and my friend was calling as well. She found out that Costco's Kirkland brand salt is in fact corn free, so we both stocked our kitchen with it. I chose the Mediterranean sea salt, but she ended up buying the pink Himalayan salt. Both are corn free. - What are the chemical reactions required for cake? (specifically chocolate)
Again, this is a really complicated question. One of the most important issues that I found with gluten free baking is guar gum. Xanthan gum works as well, but it is corn based so it does not work for both gluten and corn free baking. The purpose of both of these ingredients is to work as a binding agent and emulsifier to bring all of the ingredients together and keep them from falling to pieces once baked. Most gluten free (and corn free) flours do not contain something with this component. Luckily, I was able to find gluten free flour that already has guar gum in it. - How do you make frosting without powdered sugar?
So, I gave up on this one. In part, because I have baked enough to know that I have a really difficult time with using double boilers to melt chocolate and I cannot consistently turn out successful chocolate from it. All of the recipes for chocolate frosting that was gluten and corn free, and did not use powdered sugar, involved using a double boiler to melt chocolate. In the future, if I decide to make frosting for my friend's cake, I will make sure to order corn free powdered sugar online. Luckily, the cupcake recipe we decided on was rich enough that it does not need frosting. - How can I substitute gluten and corn free ingredients to mimic the chemical reactions in cake.
There are some fantastic gluten and corn free flours. I learned a lot about substitutions, for example substituting arrowroot powder for cornstarch and guar gum as a binding agent. - Do gluten and corn free pastries that taste good exist?
YES!!! I am so excited that I found ways to make this happen! - What type of main courses can I serve?
So I found gluten free ingredients for dirty rice and sausage, but eventually I realized that with both corn and gluten to worry about, it's easier to just go back to the basics and cook something simple like chicken breast. - What type of side dishes can I serve?
I ended up cooking potatoes as a side dish because cooking with basic raw ingredients simplifies the concern about cross contamination and hidden ingredients.
In the end, I was able to cook a 3 course meal that is gluten and corn free, and my friend did not have a migraine after eating it! Success! I am incredibly happy with the cake outcome specifically, and with finding multiple main courses that I can keep in my repertoire for when my friend comes over for dinner.