Spring Recipe: Sugar Free, Gluten Free Cooking Apple and Coconut Cake

Dried Ingredients

2 mugs – Gluten Free Self Raising Flour Doves Farm or supermarket own brand

1 mug – coconut flour such as Holland & Barrett

½ mug – mixed cranberries and raisins or any dried fruit supermarket own brand

1 mug – ground almonds / can mix with flaked almonds

1 teaspoon – cinnamon

1 teaspoon – ginger fresh & / or dried

1 teaspoon – nutmeg

1 teaspoon – mixed spice

 ½ teaspoon – bicarbonate of soda

½ teaspoon – baking powder

1 handful – nuts almonds or sweet nuts, optional to decorate cake top

Wet Ingredients

2 apples – big green apples chopped up,  we like green cookers best

6 large eggs – or equivalent of whatever size you have

½ mug – strong tea, just use your favourite tea

¼ – ½ mug – coconut milk, add milk to help achieve a thick batter consistency

¼ mug – butter can use coconut oil if keeping dairy free or vegetarian

¼ mug – olive oil can use coconut oil if keeping dairy free

1 tablespoon – coconut oil, optional

1 Banana – optional for sweeter cake

¼ mug – prune or pineapple juice, optional for sweeter cake

Method

1. Set the oven temperature initially to 200 degrees celsius or a hot gas oven.

2. Prepare 25 centimeter round cake tin with a cake liner (Asda and Poundland sell these) or greaseproof baking paper.

3. Select a large mixing bowl and add all the dry ingredients except baking powder and bicarbonate of soda.

4. Melt butter in a microwave or heat in a saucepan slowly and mix into dry ingredients using a wooden spoon.

5. Add olive oil, coconut oil, chopped apple and a banana if you like a sweeter cake and mix.

6. Add eggs one by one and mix well.

7. Add baking powder and bicarbonate of soda

8. Blend with a hand blender for a minute if you have one.

9. Look at the texture of the cake mix. If the mix resembles a thick pancake batter you are ready for baking.

10. If your cake mix is still a very stiff texture that requires effort to stir with a spoon add more liquid ingredients such as strong tea, prune or pineapple juice and coconut milk until you have a thick pancake batter consistency.

11. Pour the batter mix into a round cake tin and sprinkle a handful of extra nuts on the top if you like to simply decorate the top and remind people this cake contains nuts.

12. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes at 190 degrees celsius.

13. Check cake to see if cooked using a sharp knife in the centre – if it comes out cleanly it is cooked. See after 30 minutes and if the top of the cake is going quite brown cover the top loosely with foil.

14. Cook for another 10-20 minutes depending on your oven until the cake bounces back nicely when prodded with a finger and a knife comes out cleanly. If in doubt undercook the cake slightly as will carry on cooking a little after it comes out of the oven.

15. Cool cake in tin on a cake rack and cover top with a clean tea towel. Once cool turn out of tin and cake liner and slide onto a plate.

16. Store in a cake tin or airtight box.

17. If the cake does look too undercooked when it is cut just pop some slices in the oven or microwave to reheat.

18. As the gluten free flour contains rice flour keep this cake in the fridge or chiller after a few hours.

19. Serve warm after reheating in the oven or microwave with yoghurt and more fruit and nuts and your favourite hot drink. For a treat try a ginger jam topping.

20. This cake will keep fresh in the fridge for up to a week and can be enjoyed at any time of the day!