heenie's food blog

If only I could pen (type) my excitement about today’s recipe… I mean just look at this cake! It isn’t only a good looking cake it tastes divine with all the flavors and feel of fall (Apple, cinnamon and autumn are like synonym, right?!) plus it is gluten free. The first gluten free cake on the blog, I think, was Peanut Butter and Chocolate Mousse Cake . I prefer cupcakes or muffins but my husband isn’t a fan of cupcakes and says they can’t replace a slice of cake. Seriously, dude? Most of the times I increase my kitchen workload with “words” as I ask for suggestions or brag about my cooking skills and following this pattern again I asked my husband if he would like gluten free apple pie. Without a micro second’s hesitation he was like, “Nah! How about an apple cake?” See, I put myself in that place again where there were no take-sy back-sy so I pitched the cupcake or muffin idea which didn’t get approval.

A little online search me took me to this gorgeous recipe on food.com . Love at first sight. I could hear fireworks, soft violin tunes, birds chirping and beaters running! There was no gluten free baking mix or blend involved, only three gluten free flours which I always have. Bonus point was the fact that the recipe was totally simple and straight forward. Mix dry ingredients, beat butter, sugar and other liquids, add dry mix to butter mix and bake. Another plus with gluten free cake is that you don’t have to “fold in” the dry ingredients like in regular baking. You can easily beat everything together because gluten free flours will not stretch to produce gluten (which makes cakes dense when you are baking with regular wheat flour)

Ah! such a delight for being able to bake a pretty gluten free cake. Even while mixing the ingredients I could sense that it would yield a nice cake and actual result was way better than my expectations. Thanks to the perfect proportion of everything in the recipe, the cake looked superb with smooth texture and well blended flavors.

No one can tell if it is gluten free or not. It is just that good. Very soft, moist and spongy…

.. and it doesn’t get all crumbly which most gluten free cakes tend to be.

Perfection! Have it neat or sprinkle some icing sugar or drizzle some Caramel Sauce or frost with cream cheese frosting which is our family favorite frosting for practically anything but for the blog pictures I didn’t frost the cake because I wanted the hero to shine and stand out on its own, without the “supporting” elements.

P.S

• One thing that I always recommend is to have all the ingredients at room temperature.
• Sugar in Pakistan has big granules so always grind it for smooth texture.
• Make sure ingredients, specially rising agents, are fresh.
• Orange zest is optional but highly recommended to enhance and balance apple’s flavor.
• If using salted butter, omit the salt in the recipe.

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GLUTEN FREE APPLE CINNAMON CAKE

A comforting, aromatic cake with a perfect balance of sweetness and richness.

 Course Dessert

 Cuisine American

 Keyword apple cake, Gluten free, gluten free apple cake, gluten free apple cinnamon cake

 Prep Time 20 minutes

 Cook Time 45 minutes

INGREDIENTS

• ¾ cup white rice flour plus 1½ tbsp for dusting the pan
• ½ cup potato starch
• ¼ cup tapioca flour
• ¾ tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon powder
• ½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ¾ cup white caster sugar
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 tbsp milk
• 2 whole eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1½ cups apples, peeled, cored and shredded about 2 large apples
• 1 tsp orange zest, otional

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven at 180 C/ 350 F. Grease a 9 inch round spring form pan. Dust with extra rice flour.
2. In a mixing bowl combine white rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthan gum, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Whisk well.
3. In another large mixing bowl, beat butter with electric mixer for about 30-40 seconds on low speed.
4. Add in white and brown sugar and beat for about two minutes on low speed.
5. Add milk, eggs and vanilla and beat for another minute
6. Add in dry ingredients (flours, rising agents and xanthan gum mix). Stir gently to mix and then beat on low speed for 30-40 seconds. (Stirring first will slightly wet the dry ingredients and they won’t spill and spread all over when beaters are on)
7. Add shredded apples and orange zest. Mix well.
8. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. Top of the cake will be golden and a tooth pick inserted will come out clean. Rotate the pan half way through the baking time.
9. Remove form the oven and place on a wire rack. Cool for about 10-15 minutes in the pan.
10. Slice when completely cooled.