I was chatting with the lovely Marisa at Rino Saffioti’s Chocolate Shop last week. She was very interested in our crumb cake recipe and wondered if a gluten-free version might work.
I decided to experiment with some White Wings GF Self-Raising flour (note the claim at the bottom of the bag that it “bakes just like regular flour)…
I made the cake following our recipe exactly, simply substituting the gluten-free flour for regular self-raising. It worked brilliantly!
There was only a slight difference in the texture – the gluten-free version was lighter than the original…
I took the cake down to Marisa’s shop and she popped it in her display cabinet. Apparently it sold well!
I’m going to bake another one of these and use the cake mixture to top a fruit crumble. We have so many gluten-intolerant friends these days – it’s nice to have new treats to bake for them!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
You are amazing …
xxx
That does looks a treat. What was the flour made out of?
Maz, here’s the ingredients list from their website:
Starch (maize, tapioca, potato), rice flour, vegetable gum (464), raising agents (sodium bicarbonate, 450), salt
interesting. so it’s a mix.
Do you never stop Celia?
Handy to have a gluten free cake recipe that I know works as like you, we seem to have more gluten intolerant friends nowadays. Not very good for us wheat growers :)
Not great for wheat growers at all! I do have a couple of friends with coeliac’s disease and a couple who are genuinely intolerant, but it does seem like a bit of a fad lately as people have drawn the conclusion that GF is “healthier”. Can’t wait for it to pass, to be honest. :)
Looks like a great result Celia and by the way that cake sold in the shop it tells me that there are a lot of people out there hunting out good gluten free choices :)
Fran, yes lots of people asking for gluten-free these days. I have two friends with coeliac’s disease, so I’ve been experimenting for years for them.
My sisters partner has it as well so I love being able to pass good gluten free recipes along, especially for cake. Everything is better with cake :)
Yep great idea Celia. Are you surprised it sold. Compared to what they sell in most shops ?. Yours is freshly baked with good ingredients. Looks perfect
T, I’m surprised how similar to the regular flour cake it was. Nice to have a good GF flour readily available, ones I’ve used in the past have been rubbish.
I’ve baked with that flour and I’ve found it works very well. I’m about to embark on my Christmas cakes and this year I’m using that flour to make them all GF as last year I had a few disasters where I made cakes for people who turned out to be coeliacs. If you bake with this flour everyone can enjoy a slice of cake. Your cake turned out brilliantly and how lovely that it sold well xx
Charlie, it’s nice to have a cake recipe up my sleeve which feels like a “real” cake. In the past I’ve always defaulted to chocolate flourless cakes for my coeliac friends.
That looks delicious – several of my friends are gluten free and I am always on the hunt for more GF bakes :)
Thank you, hope you enjoy this one! :)
A direct flour swap seems to work in cakes that have nutmeal, coconut, fruit or vegetables on the recipe list, but i’ve found that “pound” style cakes end up dense, and rubbery. I’ll definitely try this…..
Sandra, I was really impressed with how much better this flour was than ones I’ve tried in the past. I always found I could easily swap flour in cakes with only a little bit of flour, like brownies, but this is the first time it’s worked so well in a cake with lots of flour!
I’m not surprised that your cakes sell well. I’ve been in love with them through the screen for years.
Ah darling woman, if only you lived closer! xxx
I love that you do all of the experimenting for us!
Hahaha…thanks Jo! :)
Good one… sure looks delicious!
Thanks Lizzy! It was a big hit!
You got a winner there. I like that the crumbs of the gluten-free version was lighter than the original.
Norma, that bit was really interesting – the texture of the cake was indeed lighter! I expected the opposite!
Looks delicious! I may have to give it a go! Thanks for sharing! Liz x
I reckon you could whip it up in your Thermomix, Liz! :)
What a credit to your baking that it sold out :)
Hehehe…there wasn’t THAT many slices, Tanya, but that’s very kind of you, thank you! :)
Yumm! Im loving your gluten free recipes!!
Thanks! There’s not heaps of them, but I’m fussy – they have to taste good before I’ll blog them! :)
Absolutely perfect Celia! White Wings really is the best flour I’ve found for baking, a lot of others haves stronger tastes or absorb liquid differently which all has to be accounted for in the recipe. Your cake is Definitely on my Yum List for sure! Xox
Darling, I thought of you when I was making this. The crumb topping is also perfect on crumbles and pies! :)
Waw, just look at those lovely baked crumbs on top! That is fantastic that he cake sold so well in that shop! Good for you & all of the happy Gf customers too! x
Thanks Sophie! It was nice to come up with a good gf alternative!
Yes, yes! :)
I’m not surprised it sold well, it looks lovely. You are a very thoughtful friend.
Stefanie, thank you! It was fun to experiment!
What a nice alternative for those who can’t or choose not to eat wheat. This cake would make everyone happy!
We’re very lucky to now have access to good flour – it’s a relatively new thing!
Looks yummy..I will certainly put it on my “must try” list..
Thank you, hope you enjoy it! :)
Hi Celia. This crumb cake looks fantastic. I have just uploaded my IMK post for October. It comes round so quickly. I hope you are well. Take care. Emma xx
Thanks Emma! The months seem to fly past, don’t they? :)
This is a beautiful crumb cake and I think it’s lovely that you have a bakery that can benefit from your successful “experimenting” with recipes! I haven’t seen this flour in the US, but it sounds like it’s more reliable than some of the other GF flours. Right now I’d like a piece of this crumb cake to enjoy with my morning coffee! I’m salivating. :-)
Thanks Debra! Finding a good GF flour has been a real challenge for years, so I’m pretty happy to discover this one! :)
Aww…how thoughtful of you, Celia. Our gluten-intolerant friends will love this cake as much as I do :)
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I’m going to make one for my friend this weekend, Julie! :)
Wow that sounds really delicious – and generous of you – I think the gf flours have got better but not sure I have tried this one – I love that it also claims to be yeast free – wonder who would think it might have yeast!!!!!
Johanna, I guess some of the premix bread flours have yeast in them? But it did make me smile as well! :)
This looks wonderful! Last time I tried gf flour, the result wasn’t very good.
Clare, I’ve bought some of the plain GF flour to try as well, will let you know how I go! :)
This is a good one that I’ll have to give a try. It sounds like you and I are both having to be more conscious of our gluten intolerant friends. I was just mentioning to another blogger today about this surge in gluten problems and wondered if it might be at all tied to GMO’s. it seems that you can’t be completely sure what you have mixed with flour these days.
But that cake is a beauty with or without gluten.
I hope the store buys all your cakes…I wish you were my neighbor.
I have done a bit of gluten free baking lately for a friend and I can’t get over how much difference there is in the texture to regular wheat flour!
More chewy & moist I think.