Adapting Cake Recipes

Hello all, hope the week has been treating you fairly. Well, last weekend saw me having to cook a mammoth sized birthday cake for a friend of mine. Naturally, it had to be gluten free so I could taste the fruits of my labour but I didn't want it to be obviously gluten free. Having never cooked a "standard" birthday cake (vanilla sponge, cream, jam) before I decided the best thing to do would be to find a recipe for a normal cake and copy it, adapting it for a gluten free diet. The lucky recipe to be copied was this one: bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/199...

My first task was to find something to replace the self raising flour. Actually, that was easy - I just split the quantity in half and used 100g gram flour and 100g rice flour, adding in 1/2 tablespoon baking powder (gluten free!). Then I wanted to make sure the sponge would be light and fluffy. This made my arm ache, but I separated the eggs, whisked the whites innto a stiff-ish texture nearly worthy of meringue status, then added that last to the cake mixture, only adding a couple of drops of vanilla extract to add "oomph" to the flavour. If, at any time, you find the mixture going a little stiff, add some milk to make it easier to handle. I used skimmed milk, but it really doesn't matter what you use.

As this was a mega cake I was making, I ended up doubling the quantity to make two large rectangles. I sandwiched them together using jam and fresh cream, which I had whipped until it peaked. Anyway, the picture shows my handiwork at the pre-icing stage. I am pleased to report that no-one knew it was gluten free and I spent the night blowing my own trumpet.

[InVivo]

Mmmm, looks yummy!