Gluten-Free Vegan Fruit Cake - Rhian's Recipes (2024)

FAQs

What helps gluten free cakes rise? ›

To combat the flat cake problem, I add ½ tsp of bicarbonate of soda to the recipe even when using a self-raising gluten-free flour blend. Another tip to help achieve a real fluffy cake is to separate your eggs. First, add the egg yolks with your wet ingredients.

If you have an oven thermometer and you're certain the oven temperature is accurate, lower by 25 degrees and bake longer if you're experiencing rubbery bottoms or dense middles to your cakes.

Using too much butter or oil in a cake will cause it to become wet and heavy, meaning it might collapse or break when you try to cut a slice out. On the other hand, if the level of fat is correct but you've used too much flour, your cake will turn out dry and is more likely to crumble when you cut into it.

You may not have used enough raising agents. I do recommend experimenting with double action baking powders. Otherwise try using 25 percent more chemical raising agents (baking soda or baking powder) if you're converting a recipe to gluten free.

One of the most common gluten-free baking tips is “let your batter rest”. Letting the batter rest gives the gluten-free flours and starches more time to absorb the moisture. In theory, it will turn your dry, crumbly cakes into delicious, moist masterpieces.

Oat Flour. With its creamy, earthy flavor and delicate texture, gluten-free oat flour is a staple of my gluten-free baking recipes. It bakes up soft and smooth, adding necessary starch to many GF baked goods and keeping them moist and tender due to its high fat content and stable protein structure.

Gluten-free baked goods often benefit from extra liquid to hydrate the flour blends, eliminate grittiness, and achieve a less dense or dry texture. However, it's very important to drive off this extra moisture during baking, or you'll wind up with a gummy texture. The best way to do this? Longer baking times.

2. Mix Batters Longer. While conventional wisdom has taught us not to overmix our batters, we've found most gluten-free batters simply need to be stirred for longer. If you're worried this will turn your muffins and cakes rubbery, have no fear.

Add extra liquid: Gluten-free flours tend to absorb more liquid than regular flour, so you may need to add more liquid to your recipes to compensate. This can help to keep your baked goods moist and prevent them from becoming dry and crumbly.

Over mixing batter is another reason which causes over development of the gluten and a dense result. If your oven isn't heated to the correct temperature before you put your cake in, it can cause it to not bake properly. Using too much flour and not aerating and sifting your flour before you bake can be another reason.

Why is my gluten-free cake sunk in the middle? ›

In vegan cakes, the absence of the egg makes it so that it's all about taking advantage of gluten formation to build structure. This means that when you take the egg out of a cake recipe, you're going to be taking out the primary structure builder, which means that the cake is going to fall flat.

Ultimately, the toothpick test is just one data source to rely upon: with the trio—toothpick, edges, & centre—you can reliably know your gluten-free baked goods are, well, baked! If your toothpick comes out with wet batter on it, your cake definitely needs more time.

Gluten-free batters need a longer bake time.

Because gluten-free batters contain more liquid than traditional versions, they typically take longer to bake. If you remove them from the oven too soon, you may develop a gummy, mushy texture.

The Gluten Free Cake is Dry or Crumbly:

If your cake is dry, most likely you didn't use enough liquid ingredients (or you had too much flour.) See above for gluten free flour measuring tips. Another cause of a dry cake is overbaking. If you bake your cake too long, moisture is baked out of the cake.

2 teaspoons of baking powder per cup of gluten-free flour is necessary to ensure proper leavening. Baking soda and buttermilk can be used to leaven instead of baking powder, but 1-1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar should be added for each 1/2 teaspoon baking soda used.

An easy way to create a good environment for gluten-free bread to rise is to turn your oven to 200 F; when it reaches this temperature, turn off the oven and place a shallow baking pan partially filled with hot water on one of the shelves.

If gluten-free cakes aren't falling apart, they often turn out heavy and unpleasantly dense. That's because gluten creates little pockets of air, so baked goods turn out springy and fluffy; gluten-free flours and grains are lacking this crucial element.

Texture and Rise: Gluten-free baking often requires a bit of finesse to achieve the desired rise and texture. Baking soda's reaction with an acid can help achieve that necessary lift, while baking powder provides an extra boost when the batter or dough is exposed to heat.