Gluten free cake

Boiling mandarins as we 'speak' - tried Tesco for clementines and, though the shelf label said 'clementine' the label on the little string bags said 'mandarin'

A vey helpful young woman in Tesco shirt saw me looking confused and googled mandarins and clementines and, apparently, the latter are the same as the former, but wth very few pips.

Do here goes with Nigella.......

Most of my baking now is GF as have two grandsons with coeliac disease. Sometimes it's trial and error. I make a normal sponge mixture with the GF self raising flour and it's not bad although a bit crispy in texture. Lemon drizzle cake works perfectly and I think the key is to make sure the mixture is wetter than when using ordinary flour. Have had no success with scones - they were more like biscuits! DD bought the xantham gum but reckoned it left a taste in the cake so I haven't used it.

I've been making this cake using non GF flour since my children were small (based on a recipe from an M&S cookery book) However, younger daughter has decided to try cutting out gluten and I have made it several times using Doves flour and she reckons its better than the original!

200g/7oz GF self raising flour
1 teaspoon GF baking powder (I'm using Dr Oetker from Sainsburys)
200g/7oz caster sugar
pinch salt
2 tablespoons drinking chocolate powder (or use half cocoa if you like) it darker)
100g/4oz soft margarine
2 eggs
approx 1/4 pint milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Sift flour, sugar, salt and choc powder into bowl. Rub in marg (I use a food mixer). Mix eggs, milk and vanilla and beat in well - it will be quite runny. Pour into 2 7" sponge tins and bake at 180C (160 in a fan oven) for about 25-30 mins

I ice this with a chocolate fudge icing
75g/3oz hard marg
2-3 tablespoons cocoa
225g/8oz icing sugar
3 tablespoons milk
I teaspoon vanilla essence

Melt marg and cocoa together. Beat in the rest of the ingredients. This freezes well if you have any left over.

While on the subject of GF - Oxo cubes contain gluten.

anya sorry I fell asleep! (I go to sleep very quickly once I decide to do so).

Hope it was a success - I probably use say 175gr sugar where recipes calls for 225gr. (I'm not a very exact person when baking).

Most stock cubes contain gluten - I use Kallo!

I was looking for a recipe for a cake for a friend who was avoiding added fat and flour. I found one for a Spanish orange and almond cake which contained neither. It was very successful and when I later made it for a Macmillan cancer appeal coffee morning, lots of people loved it. I think it's because it's a genuine recipe, rather than one with substitutes. It's also good warm as a dessert with crème fraiche.
I'm not very technical but here goes:

allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/2758/spanish-orange-and-almond-cake.aspx?o_is=Hub_TopRecipe_3

Made the clementine cake (with mandarins) and only realised when I came to pour it into the cake tin that I had more than would fit into just the one. So I divided the mixture between two and cooked for just 35 minutes.

I've just had a slice of one of the cakes and it was very tasty, a refreshing citrus flavour. Am thinking it would be nice if I spliced the two halves together with a lemon curd????

I'm copying all these recipes and then emailing them to myself so I can made m own GF cake book.

My DD will be amazed! Will test the lemon curd filling on GSs when they come tomorrow night.

Thank you all for your recipes. I think it's not just me who'll be having a go at them

Yum, I'm suddenly hungry.

I've been Gluten Free for about two years. I'm sure others will disagree but I find most 'ready-made' GF products pretty unpleasant, many turning to pap or slime in the mouth, and home-made cakes and bread really aren't much better. It grieves me because I used to love cookery and I just feel as though I'm in mourning when I'm in the kitchen. However the few cake recipes that are successful and really enjoyable are flourless recipes usually using polenta and/or ground almonds, such as the lemon drizzle above, and biscuits too. GF pasta is brilliant and indistinguishable from wheat pasta, and I find plenty of good meals to eat cooking from scratch. I'm also really lucky having a fish and chip shop nearby that understands the need for a separate fryer from other food and they do the best fish and chips I have ever had! I'm just grateful that my 'illness' is so easily handled compared to many and I feel really well for the first time in years, so it's well worth the treatment!

That's a brilliant idea anya re the lemon curd and I'm pleased your cake is a success. It does make a large cake and by the way, it improves even more in flavour as the days go by.

My family love it with creme fraiche.

Yum now I'm thinking - lemon curd filling PLUS creme fraiche.

Interesting. Have you had any success with a good bread recipe? I've cut wheat out of my diet (which has made a huge difference, so much more energy) and have been trying to find a decent bread recipe, ie reasonably healthy and not too heavy but not had any success yet.

Any brand of gluten free pasta is lovely Alchemilla, in a sauce you can't tell the difference.
I don't need GF things myself really, make them for several family members who are, but normal white bread is a bit of a no-no for me because of bloating, but find any good wholemeal is fine or any baguette ( different type of flour.)

roses please tell me where to find a 'good wholewheat" - I have yet to discover one!

Hi, I have found any Cake recipe works with gf flour. I add an extra egg and xanthum gum, which many supermarkets sell in the baking or 'free from' section or you can buy in a health food shop. Our daughter was diagnosed 14 years ago so I've had a lot of practice!! Have fun experimenting

someone mentioned stock cubes - in the UK knorr are gf and so is bistro best gravy powder. We have taken the gravy powder to restaurants with us a few times.
For Yorkshire pudding, 1 egg, 1 oz of gf flour, and 1 fl oz of milk works a treat and makes a 7 inch pudding or individual ones that rise around the edges.

in the UK all products have to post gluten in the ingredients - just need reading glasses when in the supermarket. Remember it's not just in wheat flour. The coeliac society is a wealth of info including good restaurants to visit etc including holiday destinations..
Most supermarkets have really good gf sections now and in the freezers. Just watch out for the 'genius ' bread as was not totally gf at one point. Warburtons don't a good gf loaf and the sainsburys gf wholewheat rolls are very good.
I think Al M&S sausages are gf now and their products have a gf symbol on the front, including their ready meals.

stupid auto correct! Warburtons DO a a good loaf.

Warburtons bread is quite good but it seemed that the supermarkets only stocked a few loaves and yet had lots of Genius bread! Then the Warburtons disappeared altogether!
Very annoying! You WILL buy Genius!

Almond and Orange Torte

Grease, line and oil an 8in (20cm) loose bottomed tin.

1 Medium Orange
3 Medium eggs
225g(8oz) Golden Caster Sugar
250g (9oz) Ground Almonds
1/2 level Tea Spoon Baking Powder
A little golden icing sugar to dust

Put whole orange in a small pan, cover with water. Bring to the boiil, cover and simmer for at least one hour until tender. Remove and cool, cut in half, remove pips, whiz in blender to make smooth purée.
Preheat oven to180degC , 160 Fan Oven, Mark4.
Whisk eggs and sugar together until thick and pale.
Fold in almonds, baking powder and orange purée.
Pour into tin and cook 40-50 mins, until skewer comes out clean.
Cool in tin. carefully peel off paper, dust with the icing sugar.
Beautifully moist and delicious with a spoon full of creme fraiche.

Thank you everyone who took the time to copy out your recipes. I've copied, pasted and emailed them to myself and made a booklet for DD so she can try them out for herself.

Had to do a second one for DDiL (to keep the peace) when I mentioned it to her - she's the real baker in the family.

After several disasters experiments I decided to go with my version of Nigella's Clementine Cake. I divided the mixture into two ('cos didn't have deep enough cake tin) spliced them together with liberal helpings of lemon curd and make a sort of lemon drizzle icing for the top.

Sounds yummy! we want some!

We wants it precious!