The great American bake off

This week I invited Jennifer Lowrance, a dietetics major at Southeast Missouri State University, to join me in the kitchen.

Jennifer Lowrance measured ingredients for her award-winning recipe by weight.

Jennifer won a recipe contest in January for a gluten-free lemon poppy seed bread. The contest was sponsored by Today's Dietitian, a magazine for professional dietitians and nutritionists.

Having absolutely no idea what "gluten-free" meant, I e-mailed Jennifer and asked her to explain the lemon poppy seed bread recipe to me.

She said that some people can't digest gluten, which is a water-soluble protein found in flour. Her recipe substituted soy, tapioca and brown rice flours for regular all-purpose flour.

After sharing a few e-mails with Jennifer, I thought it might be fun to have a bake-off. She suggested I bake the lemon poppy seed bread using regular all-purpose flour and she would use her gluten-free recipe.

Before we met to bake the bread, I had Jennifer send me the list of ingredients so I could purchase them before we met. Thankfully, she put a note at the bottom of the recipe and said I could find the unusual flours at the Natural Health Organic Foods store on Broadview Street. Had she not told me where to find these, I would have been wandering the grocery store forever.

Jennifer ####, left and Jennifer Freeze each made a lemon poppy seed bread. The one on the left was made with natural ingredients and the one on the right was made with traditional ingredients. (Diane L. Wilson)

When Jennifer arrived at my house, she surprised me with a small digital scale.

Oops, Jennifer's lemon poppy seed bread got stuck on the bottom of the pan causing it to brake in half while she was trying to remove it from the pan. (Diane L. Wilson)

"I thought it might be fun if one of us actually weighs the ingredients instead of using measuring cups," she said.

This could actually be done? I asked.

Sure, she told me. Apparently it helps the cook be more precise with the ingredients that go into the recipe.

Already knowing that I have enough trouble with recipes when I use measuring cups, I told Jennifer the scale might be too tricky for me to figure out. She gladly accepted the challenge of weighing her ingredients for the lemon poppy seed bread.

Here are the ingredients:

For the gluten-free lemon poppy seed bread

1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup (40 grams) soy flour

1/4 cup plus 1/8 cup (48 grams) tapioca flour

3/4 cup (104 grams) brown rice flour

For the non-gluten-free lemon poppy seed bread

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

The remaining ingredients are the same for both recipes

1/2 teaspoon salt

Jennifer Freeze measured her ingredients the old fashioned way — with measuring cups.

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup (200 grams) sugar

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract

1 tablespoon (15 grams) lemon juice

1 tablespoon (8.8 grams) poppy seeds

2 eggs

1/2 cup (125 milliliters) Canola oil

3/4 cup (175 milliliters) skim milk

The oven must be preheated to 350 degrees.

The first step required combining the flours, salt, baking soda, sugar and poppy seeds in a large bowl until combined. Since Jennifer weighed her ingredients, it took her a little longer to get through this step. However, I was amazed to watch her eye out the amount of salt and baking soda instead of using measuring spoons. Never would I attempt that move!

Left, Jennifer Freeze's bread and the right was Jennifer ##### bread. (Diane L. Wilson)

The next step said to combine the lemon extract, lemon juice, eggs, oil and milk. Whisk for at least a minute until all the ingredients are thoroughly combined. During this step, I whisked my ingredients using a fork, while Jennifer asked to use an actual "whisking" utensil. This is the difference between myself and someone who actually knows how to cook.

Jennifer Lowrance explained the difference between a liquid measuring cup and a dry ingredient measuring cup to Jennifer Freeze.

At this point, the instructions required creating a "well" in the dry ingredients and pouring the liquid ingredients into the well. Jennifer demonstrated how to push the dry ingredients around the edge of the bowl and pour the liquid into the hole. This was so the liquid would cover more of the dry ingredients, and you don't have to stir as much, she said.

Once I poured the liquid into my well, I stirred the mixture about seven times. Jennifer said not to stir the mixture too much, just enough so the dry ingredients were coated with the liquid.

When Jennifer and I finished mixing all the ingredients, we poured the mixtures into two 8-by-4-inch glass bread pans. Keep in mind that I had greased both pans.

We put the two pans into the oven to bake. The recipe said to bake the bread for 35 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Jennifer Lowrance, left, and Jennifer Freeze each made lemon poppy seed bread. The one on the left was made with natural ingredients, and the one on the right was made with traditional ingredients. (Diane L. Wilson)

After we put the pans in the oven, Jennifer had to leave for a dietitian conference in Kansas City, Mo., for the weekend. I told her I would take the breads out of the oven and let her know how they tasted.

Once they had finished baking, I pulled them out of the oven to let them cool -- the recipe says to let the bread cool for about 20 minutes. Since I'm impatient, I only let them cool for a couple of minutes and tried to get the bread out of the pan.

My bread stuck to the pan and I lost the bottom of the loaf. Not realizing that Jennifer's bread wasn't quite done, I turned the pan over and the center of the uncooked bread fell onto the counter. I tried to make up for the mistake and scooped up the uncooked mixture, threw it back into the pan and placed it back in the oven for a few minutes.

Later in the day I let a few co-workers sample the lemon poppy seed bread. I actually got rave reviews for both breads, although there was a distinct taste difference between the two made with different flours. And I still don't think I let Jennifer's organic flour bread bake long enough -- sorry, Jennifer!

Want to read about an inexperienced chef attempting to cook your favorite meal? Every fourth week, Jennifer Freeze will whip up something new in the kitchen and write about the experience. E-mail your recipes to jfreeze@semissourian.com or mail them to Jennifer Freeze, Southeast Missourian, 301 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701.