Recipe: The Easiest Gluten Free & Vegan Fruit Cake with No Added Sugar (2024)

FAQs

How to stop gluten-free cakes from crumbling? ›

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.

There are many ways to increase moisture in a recipe. In general, recipes that call for pureed fruit, sour cream or yogurt are ones you can rely on for a moist product. In case your recipe does not call for these things, using brown sugar instead of white sugar to add moisture.

Gluten-free oats and oat flours add texture, which works well in biscuits and breakfast muffins. Ground almonds, pistachios and hazelnuts are ideal in a blend for dense cakes, traybakes and biscuits. Polenta has a grainy texture, but is very absorbent and so brings moisture to cakes.

Some gluten free flours will produce a cake which is on the dry side. This might be due to the lack of gluten but can be for many other reasons. Lots of gluten free flour is rice based and this can result in a dry and slightly gritty texture.

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.

Gluten-free flours often contain fine starches, so they absorb more liquid than conventional flour. To address this, gluten-free recipes usually call for more liquid and produce looser batters. They may also call for a larger quantity of leavening, like baking powder, to help add volume and lighten the texture.

gluten free.

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.

Let Your Batters & Doughs Rest

We recommend covering your batters and doughs and letting them rest for at least half an hour. Note: This will also help batters become thicker and doughs to firm up.

Do gluten-free cakes need more liquid? ›

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.

TOO DRY. There are a few reasons this could be happening – your oven is too hot. You have baked the cake for too long. You haven't added enough moisture or fat to your batter.

Gluten-free flour blends don't have the same elasticity as flour containing gluten so often the cakes don't rise as much or will sink after rising. 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.

Sponge cakes—like chiffon and genoise—have similar cause for concern, as they will deflate if overmixed. Flourless cakes, however, or those relying on gluten-free flours, are some of the least sensitive to overmixing (if they don't rely on whipped egg whites).

Try not to use only one type of gluten-free flour. For example, if you just use quinoa flour in your recipe it will lead to a crumbly, dry texture. You need to use a blend of flours and starches to replicate the flavour, texture and density of gluten flours. You can buy a gluten-free flour blend or make your own.

Your cake may not have enough structure due to using only one type of gluten-free flour. I recommend using a combination of gluten-free flours and starches to create a strong structure for your cake. I would also suggest to review what your egg replacer you're using.

As long as you have the time, it's better to let your batters and doughs sit. This will give flours and starches time to absorb liquid, which will prevent your recipes from developing a gritty, sandy texture. We recommend covering your batters and doughs and letting them rest for at least half an hour.

It's very common for gluten free baked goods to sink in the middle and sometimes it's even gummy or looks like it isn't fully cooked. Here's some ways to help avoid that: -Don't over-mix your dough. Mix it until everything is just incorporated and be done.