Gluten Free Coffee & Cherry Bundt Cake

As yesterday was Father's Day I decided to treat my Dad to this gorgeous rich bundt cake, coffee flavoured with sweet cherries nestling in the batter and more decorating the top. He loved it so much he had several slices for tea, then we each had another slice sat at our beach hut by the seaside, along with a glass of bubbly, before ending the evening with a fish and chip supper. We're such gluttons in my family it's a good thing for our waistlines that Father's Day only comes once a year!

Recipe
My own. Inspired by the cappucino bundt recipe given by Chrysta Wilson in her lovely book Kiss My Bundt.  Buy the book on Amazon here.

Serves 10-12



325g gluten free plain flour (Dove's Farm or M&S recommended)
50g ground almonds
185g caster sugar
2 and a half teaspoons gluten free baking powder (Barkart recommended)
3 large eggs, room temperature
165g unsalted butter, room temperature
1 and a half teaspoons vanilla extract
360ml whole milk, room temperature
5 tablespoons instant coffee granules
200g fresh cherries, pitted




1. Heat oven to 180 (160C Fan) and thoroughly grease a 25cm bundt tin. It can be hard to release cakes from bundt tins, but I've discovered that spraying the tin with Lakeland's 'Cake Release' lets them slip smoothly.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, for about 3 minutes.

3. Add the first egg, and beat well before adding the second and then the third into the mixture. Beat again, before throwing in the ground almonds and vanilla extract.

4. Next sieve in half the flour and baking powder, and stir gently with a metal spoon until combined. Then sift in the rest of the flour, and stir again.


5. Mix the milk with the coffee granules in a measuring jug, stirring until the coffee has disolved.


6. Gently stir the coffee milk into the cake batter, until just combined.

7. Pour half the batter over the base of the greased bundt tin, before placing the pitted cherries evenly over the top. Then add the rest of the batter ontop, spread and smooth down with a spatula. Make sure that all the cherries are covered by the batter.

8. Put in the oven to bake for approx 40 minutes. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean.

9. Leave to cool in the bundt tin for at least 10 minutes, before gently and carefully turning the cake out on to a wire rack or plate to cool further.

for the coffee icing:

250g icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon instant coffee granules
2 tablespoons hot water
approx 80g fresh cherries, with stalks and stones intact



10. Sift the icing sugar into a mixing bowl.


11. Combine the coffee with the hot water, and stir until dissolved and cooled a little.


12. Then add a tablespoon of the liquid to the icing sugar, beating it in before adding enough to create a firm but runny consistency. I added a little more liquid than you may wish to, because I really love a runny glace icing!


13. When the cake is cool, spoon the coffee icing over the top of it, letting it drip down the sides, and quickly, while the icing is still wet on the cake, place fresh cherries over the cake, pressing them into the icing to keep them in place. Put the bundt in the fridge to allow the icing to harden for about 20 minutes.


14. Serve with coffee and perhaps a little cream.

This bundt cake was idly baked whilst listening to Portico Quartet's album Knee Deep in the North Sea

Sour Morello Cherry & Hazelnut Loaf

Sour morello cherries and roasted hazels: its a flavour combination that makes me think picnics in the orchard with the hammock swaying in a warm breeze and a bonfire burning into the dusk. I get a childish pleasure from pushing the cherries higgledy piggledy into the top of the batter, and seeing how the pattern changes when it grows as it bakes. A delicious sweet-sour cake, and popular even with cats. Nico interupted the photo shoot, not to pose for the camera but in a cunning attempt to eat the warm loaf! She was thwarted yet again the poor minx. She's dreaming of the day when she'll get to the freshly baked cake before I do.

Recipe
My own.
Serves 6-8

150g unsalted butter, room temperature
150g light muscovado sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g chopped roasted hazelnuts, plus more for optional decoration
150g plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon greek yoghurt, room temperature
100g sour morello cherries



1. Turn the oven to 170C (150C fan ovens). Grease and line a small 1lb loaf tin.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together for about 3 minutes, until light and fluffy.

3. Add the first egg and the teaspoon of vanilla extract, and beat well.

4. Add the other 2 eggs, beating after each addition.

5. Gradually add the flour and baking powder in 2 stages to the batter. Beat the batter until smooth.

6. Fold in the chopped hazels, before adding the greek yoghurt, and half the sour cherries and stirring gently until combined.

7. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf tin, smooth down the top and then dot the rest of the sour cherries into the top of the batter, pressing them in lightly.

8. Bake for 45-50 mins. Bake until the top bounces back under your finger and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

9. Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 mins before placing on a wire rack or plate to cool further.

10. Serve warm or cold, sprinkled with some more roasted chopped hazelnuts if you like. Serve cream or creme fraiche on the side. Keep away from cats.

This cake was idly baked while listening to the Tori Amos album Under The Pink

Gluten Free Fruit Jam & Toasted Almond Cake

This sweet spring cake is so easy and cheap to bake, a handy recipe to use when there's nothing more than a bit of jam and a few almonds in the kitchen cupboard. Marrying a gorgeous taste combination of a fluffy soft almond interior with a crisp, sweet crunchy exterior, it has all the hallmarks of a classic british tea cake. Plus, if you bake it in a special decorative cake tin, as I did, then it looks as if you've gone to so much more effort than you really have, a big thumbs up for an idle baker. Feel free to add more jam than I did - we only had a spoonful left in the bottom of the jam jar.

Recipe
My own recipe
Serves 8-10


200g unsalted butter, room temperature
200g golden caster sugar
3 eggs, room temperature
200g gluten free self raising flour mix (Dove's Farm recommended)
1 teaspoon baking powder (Barkart recommended)
1 teaspoon almond extract
80g toasted flaked almonds
1 and a half tablespoons cherry or raspberry jam



1. Turn the oven to 170C (150C fan ovens), and grease a decorative non stick baking tin (mine came from Lakeland), or grease and line a normal baking tin.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together for at least 3 minutes until smooth and fluffy.

3. Add the first egg to the creamed mixture, then sieve in a little of the flour and beat well. Once combined, add the 2nd egg one with tablespoon of flour, and beat again. Add the last egg, beating hard until the mixture is light and frothy.

4.Next sift in the rest of the flour, and almond extract a bit at a time.

5. Throw in the toasted almond flakes. Stir gently until the flakes are just combined into the batter.

6. Spoon half the batter into the prepared baking tin. Then dot the cherry jam into the batter, using a skewer or teaspoon to swirl it around. Spoon the rest of the batter ontop, before smoothing it down evenly with a spatula.

7. Place in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes, checking it briefly after 35 minutes. Cover with foil if the top is browning too quickly in the final 10 minutes. You'll know it's done when the top bounces back under your finger and a skewer comes out clean.

8. Once baked, if you're using a decorative tin leave the cake to cool in the tin on a wire rack. Once cool, use a spatula or a fork to gently prise the cake away from the tin sides, before placing onto a plate.
If you're using a normal greased and lined baking tin then you can take the cake out of the tin after 20 minutes, to continue cooling on the rack.

9. Dust the top with caster sugar, plus any fresh or glace cherries if you like. Serve lukewarm or cold, with cream or vanilla icecream.

This cake was idly baked while listening to the REM album Out Of Time.

Cakes for a picnic part 1: Gluten Free Cherry Bakewell Cake

One of the best things about summer is the chance to eat outdoors, be it sandwiches and shortbread on a walk or just lunch outside in the garden. Preparing for a beach picnic with friends recently I realised there are certain dos and don'ts to outdoor eating. Do bake a cake; don't bake a fiddly one. Layer cakes get rather worse for wear as you carry them to your picnic destination. Anything with icing is a no no as it can slide off the cake or be melting by the time you come to eat it. A drizzle is the exception, one of our party baked a lovely lemon drizzle which was unaffected by the journey or the sunshine. Chocolate toppings, like buttercream or cream cheese icing, rarely work on picnics, especially if it's a hot day. So your best bet are simple, easy to make and easy to carry cakes. I baked two cakes for our beach picnic, and here's the first, a really scrumptious cherry bakewell cake, gluten free for those in the party who are wheat intolerant and tasting just like the bakewells of my childhood.

Recipe
Serves 8 -10
Adapted from the recipe at BBC Good Food Online, see the recipe here
I changed the fruit from raspberry to fresh cherry, added extra almond flavouring and turned it gluten free.

150g ground almonds
150g caster sugar
150g unsalted butter
150g gluten free self raising flour (Dove's Farm or M&S mix recommended)
2 large eggs
1 tsp almond extract
250g fresh cherries, pitted and halved
2 tbsp flaked almonds
1 tbsp icing sugar for decoration

1. Heat oven to 180 (160C Fan) and line and grease a 20cm spring form cake tin.

2. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

3, Add the first egg, and beat well before adding the second into the mixture. Beat again, before throwing in the ground almonds and almond extract.

4. Next sieve in half the flour, and stir gently with a metal spoon until well combined.

5. Sift in the rest of the flour and stir.

6. Pour half the batter over the base of the cake tin, before placing the cherries evenly over the top. Then add the rest of the batter ontop, spread and smooth down with a spatula. Make sure that all the cherries are covered by the batter.

7. Sprinkle the flaked almonds over the cake, then put in the oven to bake for approx 50 minutes. You'll know it's done when a skewer comes out clean.

8. Take out of the oven and leave to cool in the tin for at least half an hour.

9. When the cake is completely cool, remove from the tin and dust a little icing sugar over the top. Store in a cake tin and transport in the tin or wrap in kitchen foil when you go to the picnic. Remember to take a knife, and paper plates, as everyone will want at least one slice!

 

This cake was idly baked while listening to Patti Smith's album Wave