Summery Gluten Free Cake

I have done this recipe a few times now.  It is really no different to making any other sponge-based cake, despite being gluten free, so it is a brilliant fallback when you have to rustle up a cake with under an hour to spare.  Yesterday’s excuse was that it was Father’s Day, it was also the chance to make it up to a couple of people dropping by who had their birthdays recently.  I was hoping to make it while the baby napped and to get on with all the marinating etc. for our barbecue planned for the evening, but my middle child was being a right grump, provoking his siblings, grinding his teeth, stomping about and generally requiring full attention for the full stretch of the afternoon while my husband enjoyed a pass from me to go and watch the Men’s Final at Queens Tennis Club.  I had been to the market on Saturday and bought a lot of 2 for £4 boxes of berries and being a November birthday celebrator, I am a real sucker for a pretty, ramshackle, summery cake.

This cake works off the basic pound cake principle of equal weights of the main components which are flour, sugar and butter.  The more layers I want, the more I increase the quantities in the same ratio. For example, the cake in the photo is 9″ across and 7″ high when filled with layers of fruit and cream.  It  is a very feminine, photogenic cake which looks great on a cake stand.  You can make countless variations of this cake by lightening up the cream by introducing some yoghurt, or by spiking it with chocolate, coffee, lemon curd etc.   Toppings and fillings can be rotated in according to the seasons… this time I spread one layer with lemon curd then cream, the other layer with morello cherry jam then cream.

If you don’t have 2 or three identically sized tins I find that I can spread the mixture between say, four tins (two larger and two smaller and stack thinner layers of sponge) or take one tin and make the sponge thicker and then I can slice it carefully into two or three rounds (a wire cake slicer can be helpful if you don’t have a good eye/ steady hand).

I actually made a mistake when making the sponge itself because the kids were squabbling, but despite mixing all the ingredients together and beating them, it still came out beautifully light.   Basically, it is foolproof.   The other day I tried a recipe from a well known chef in the Sunday Times Style and it was a total faff, purely because noone had vetted the recipe so that it was more systematically and logically expressed, I just had to keep rereading from the top, it did my head in.  For this cake the method is dead simple : the theory is that one is supposed to lighten the sponge by mixing the sugar and butter first, then the heavier ingredients get added to the creamy starter.  In essence though, all you really do is:

1. Cream the sugar with the butter
2. Gradually loosen the mixture by adding the wet ingredients (eggs, flavouring and milk)
3. Fold in the dry ingredients

The biggest faff is greasing and lining the tins, start with that and you are away!

Versatile Gluten-Free Sponge Cake

June 22, 2015

by natalie

Category Gluten-Free Puds Recipes

Persons

12

Prep Time

40 minutes

Cook Time

20 minutes

Ingredients

• Equipment:
• 3 x round 9" /24cm baking tins (see notes below for alternative options)
• baking parchment or grease proof paper
• For the Cake:
• 400g / 6oz salted butter, softened
• 400g caster sugar
• 5 drops vanilla extract / 1 heaped tsp vanilla bean paste
• OR zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 4 large eggs / 5 small eggs
• 3tsp baking pwder
• 400g plain white gluten-free flour blend (Doves Farm is my favourite as you don't have to mess around with xantham gum etc. and it always come out as promised.)
• 7 tbsp milk
• For the topping and filling:
• approx 500ml whipping cream (or double cream if you prefer)
• 1 jar lemon curd / jam / combination of both for spreading on each layer
• 2-3 punnets of summer fruits of your choice, washed

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 celsius - if not using a fan setting - and 170 if you are.
2. Then get creative and draw around your baking tins on grease proof paper and cut out.
3. Then cut out some side strips to line the vertical edges of the pans. This will help you free the cooked cake later.
4. Drizzle some oil or smear some butter in the pans and then slather about all over to distribute evenly. I use my hands for this then plonk in the lining paper which stays put nicely as a result.
5. Cream the sugar with the butter (I prefer a hand held electric whisk to a free standing mixer for this as there is less wastage around the bowl).
6. Gradually loosen the mixture by adding the wet ingredients (eggs, flavouring and milk) - still using the beaters
7. Fold in the dry ingredients (baking powder and flour) until all combined.
8. Use a ladle or large spoon to dollop mixture in each tin, in turn, till it is all evenly distributed. This will help keep each tin to a similar cooking time. The cake batter should be runny enough to smooth over to the edges but not so runny it would spill.
9. Place them in the oven and check each pan after 10- 15 minutes to see how if they are cooking evenly. If need be I switch their positions and turn them or lean a baking tray on top to stop them getting too dry / brown on top or on one side. A skewer should come out clean with no cake goo on it for the sponge to be cooked through. Resist temptation of over cooking, it makes for a really dry cake. Even if the top seems a little moist and soft, as soon as the skewer comes out clean, you're done. Tip out gently on to a wire rack to allow to cool and get on with whipping the cream and prepping the fruit.
10. You can decorate the cake any way you like. The fruits can be sliced, whole or jumbled on top. Some can be in the layers or not or just around the edges. I do like to cut the cream with the tartness of lemon curd or jam. I usually use shop-bought.
11. A dusting of icing sugar can make it look quite dreamy.

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Aaah, now all we have to do is sit back and bask in this lovely Midsummer’s Evening.