Gluten-Free Raspberry, Walnut and White Chocolate Cake

This recipe is based on a Jamie Oliver recipe that was published in the Dutch edition of Jamie Magazine (nr.24 to be precise). My son saw that recipe and begged me to make it. I had to substitute certain things, because it was a 'normal' recipe at first, and decided to add white chocolate to it and substitute the hazelnuts for walnuts as we all like those more. As usual, I ended up with a different recipe and thus had to figure out everything by trial and error again. I kept to the normal baking temperatures and times as the original recipe and found out that wasn't getting me anywhere. My cake was totally uncooked and so I kept adding time. In the end, this cake took 2 hours to bake, but it was well worth it. 

So the moral of this story: gluten free baking is totally different, but don't despair, it will be alright in the end if you just keep your head cool and the oven at a constant temperature. ;-)

This cake is quite heavy, so cut it up in small slices! 

Fresh raspberries make all the difference and give this cake just the right texture and taste!

Ingredients:

• 175 grams (6 oz) of butter
• 175 grams (6 oz) of granulated sugar (and three tablespoons for the topping)
• 3 eggs
• 200 grams (7 oz) of walnuts (chopped or blitzed in the food processor) to tiny pieces
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) of white chocolate (chopped or blitzed)
• 150 grams (5.5 oz) of all purpose flour (I used Schärs C - cake & cookie mix)
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• 2 teaspoons of cream of tartar
• 175 grams (6 oz) of raspberries (and some extra for decoration)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees centigrade (350 degrees fahrenheit)
2. Beat the butter and granulated sugar in a bowl till you have a light and frothy substance.
3. Beat in the eggs. 
4. Fold in half of the walnuts and all the white chocolate. 
5. Sift the flour, xanthan gum and cream of tartar over the bowl and fold it in. 
6. Add the Raspberries and fold them in. 
7. Grease and line a spring cake tin and scoop in the cake batter. Smooth the top and then mix 3 tablespoons of granulated sugar with the remaining chopped walnuts and spread it over the the top. Add a few small knobs of butter on top and cover the cake tin with aluminiumfoil. 
8. Put the cake tin in the oven and leave it in for about 90 minutes. Then take off the aluminiumfoil and bake the cake for another 30 minutes till the walnuts have turned golden, your kitchen smells heavenly and the cake bounces back when you tap on the top. 
9. Leave it to cool and then serve it with fresh raspberries and maybe a bit of whipped cream. 

Enjoy!

Typically Dutch Sticky Cinnamon Buns

I've always wanted to make these, but never bothered to look up the original recipe to make them or to check how difficult it would be. Well, as it turns out, these typically Dutch sticky cinnamon buns, also known as cinnamon turds in my house thanks to my dear husband, are really easy to make. And also very easy to make gluten free. So it goes to show you should never assume things. 

They may not look like much, but I'm so proud of these!!

So here's the recipe that will make about 12 buns. 

Ingredients:

• 250 grams (9 oz) of gluten free rice flour
• 250 grams (9 oz) of gluten free basic bread flour (I used Le Poole's Twello's wit)
• 15 grams (0.5 oz) of granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons of xanthan gum
• half a teaspoon of iodized salt
• 1 egg
• 50 ml (2 fl oz) of milk
• 215 ml (7.25 fl oz) of water
• 30 grams (1.05 oz) of dry yeast
• 30 grams (1.05 oz) of butter

For the cinnamon-sugar coating of the buns:

• 250 grams (9 oz) of dark caster sugar
• 4 tablespoons of cinnamon

Instructions:

• Preheat the oven to 50 degrees centigrade/ 122 degrees fahrenheit en put a bowl of water on the bottom of the oven. This will help the dough proof. 
• Mix all the ingredients for the the bun in a big bowl, except for the butter. Mix it with an electric mixer until all is well combined and you have a firm dough. 
• Then add the butter, mix it in and when it is all combined make tiny balls of about 80 grams (about 3 oz). 
• Now here is where the recipe differs from making the normal gluten versions of the cinnamon buns. Normally you would let the dough proof before rolling them out, but that is not effective with gluten free dough. Since it lacks the gluten the dough lacks flexibility and when you roll it out after proofing, the dough will not bounce back. You will end up with dense, tough buns instead of fluffy buns. So... you now take the balls and roll them out as sausages of about 30 cms (about 12 inches). 
• You brush them with some water and then roll them through a mixture of dark caster sugar and cinnamon which you have put in a large oven tray like this:

Make sure you mix the cinnamon & sugar well before rolling the dough in it

• Then you roll them up like this and place them on a baking tray lined with baking parchment:

Roll them up form and 'glue' them together with a bit of extra water

• Place the baking tray in the oven for 20 minutes to let the buns proof. They will come out the oven almost doubled in size, looking  like this. 

They proof really well, so make sure you don't put them too close together on the tray

• Heat the oven to 225 degrees centigrade or 425 degrees fahrenheit. When the oven is ready, put the buns in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.  Take them out of the oven, and immediately put them upside down on a clean baking tray to let them cool, like this:

I have to admit seeing this picture, that my husband sort of has a point...

When they are cooled, they will look like the picture on top of the blog. Serve them with a cup of tea and enjoy!

Ps. If you try out my recipes, please let me know how you get on. That way I can improve my recipes and help more people. If answering here is a bit daunting, you can always let me know on my Twitter account or tumbler linked to this blog.