I stumbled onto this recipe when I had literally one hour to make a cake and head out the door to a party. I was not happy with any gluten-free cake recipe I had ever thus far seen. Either they were just too loaded with fat and other undesirable things, or they just didn't taste very good. To make matters more challenging (or perhaps to help me to this success...) I was out of all oils, and all granulated sweeteners. I Grabbed my dessert bible -- Fran Costigan's Great Good Desserts Naturally (whole foods and vegan -- but not gluten-free) and looked for a recipe that did not call for any granulated sweeteners. Then I started substituting --- getting rid of the wheat flour and the oil and subbing things that I had on hand.
Everyone in my family -- plus everyone at the party loved this cake. In fact, it was one of three cakes set out for people to eat, and it was the only one without dairy and gluten -- and it was gone in a flash -- long before the other two cakes were finished.
So here is what I came up with:
Ingredients:
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup quinoa flakes -- put in blender on high until made into flour
2 TBS ground golden flax seeds
1/2 cup tapiocha flour
1-1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1-1/2 tsp Rumford baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 c finely diced and smashed apple or 3/4 cup applesauce
8 dates, pits removed and chopped
6 TBS lemon juice
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 TBS raw cashew peices
3/4 c real maple syrup
2 tsp lemon extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 nonstick cake pans
parchment paper
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Cut two circles from the parchment paper that are exactly the size of the bottom of the cake pans and carefully set them in the bottom of the pans.
- Add the first 8 ingredients together into a bowl and mix well with a wire wisk.
- Place the smashed apple, chopped dates, lemon juice and vinegar into a blender (I use a Vitamix) and blend on high until all is totally liquified and smooth.
- Add the cashew pieces to the blender, and again blend on high until smooth.
- Add the maple syrup and extracts to the blender, blend once more and then add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry. Use a spatula to get every last drop. Mix just until blended -- be careful not to overmix.
- Carefully split the batter between the two pans. It will be very thick. Use spatula to smooth the tops as flat as possible, and bake for 25 minutes.
This cake is amazingly moist even though there is no added oil. It tastes great on the day it is made -- and unlike other gluten free cakes that I have made, it still tastes good the next day -- no stale flavor.