Tapioca Starch in baking

Question

I was attempting to make a gluten free rhubarb crumble last night and tried to use my Yupik Tapioca starch as the thickener instead of regular flour.

What I ended up with was a filling closer to mucus than anything you would want to put in your mouth.

I have seen tapioca starch referenced in a few recipes but can never seem to get it to work… what gives?

tim.d.chin · Answer

I like this approach too. Yes, cornstarch gives a more brittle gel texture that can read more "jammy", less "gummy"

lorenzojjohnsondayrep · Answer

I've  had better luck mixing tapioca starch with another starch. On its own it can get pretty gummy if you use a little too much or cook it too long. Cornstarch usually gives me  much cleaner texture for fruit fillings.

tim.d.chin · Answer

Tapioca starch is a tough one! It can be temperamental in pie/crumble fillings for this exact reason—if you use too much, the mixture can turn mucus-like and stringy. My best advice, without looking at your recipe, is to go down on tapioca starch. Alternatively, in the best case scenario, I would instead opt for something like Clear Jel, which is a modified corn starch perfect for these types of fillings (it's also gluten free!).

Hope this helps!