FREE TO BAKE

Gluten-free baking can be daunting to many, but it needn’t be when you have trusty recipes to follow! Here’s two of my favs, which are super easy to make, use simple to find ingredients, are gluten and dairy-free and also absolutely delicious.

APPLE, ALMOND + ROSEMARY SYRUP CAKE

This is also really lovely made with pears or figs when in season, in place of the apples.

SERVES 12

1¾ cups ground almonds

½ cup raw caster sugar

½ cup tapioca flour

1 tsp gluten-free baking powder

¼ tsp fine sea salt

2 large free-range eggs

¹⁄³ cup olive oil

¼ cup milk of your choice (I used coconut milk)

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 medium apples, peeled, cored and cut into quarters flaked almonds

ROSEMARY SYRUP

3 tbsp raw caster sugar juice ½ lemon

2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 24cm round cake tin (line with baking paper if you like, but not totally necessary).

Combine ground almonds and sugar in a large bowl, whisk to combine. Sieve over tapoica flour, baking powder and salt and whisk again.

In another smaller bowl, combine eggs, olive oil, milk and vanilla and whisk well. Pour into dry ingredients and stir to combine. Pour into cake tin. Thinly slice apple quarters, trying your best to keep each quarter together. Arrange sliced apples on top of the cake batter, gently pressing into the batter to slightly submerge. Sprinkle flaked almonds onto any exposed bits of batter and bake 40–45 minutes or until the apples are tender and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside. Combine syrup ingredients with 3 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan, bring to the boil, reduce heat and simmer 2–3 minutes or until slightly thickened. Pour or brush over cake. Serve warm or at room temperature. Best eaten within 2 days of making.

Chocolate K Mara Cake

My long time go-to trick for getting moisture into gluten-free cakes (which are notorious for being dry) is to use fruit or vegetable purees. Here sweet orange kūmara puree not only adds moisture but also a little sweetness too, meaning you can get away with only using a tiny amount of sugar. If you like rich chocolate cakes, you’re gonna love this one.

Serves 12

1 medium orange (Beauregard) k mara, peeled and cubed

½ cup raw caster sugar

2 large free-range eggs

½ cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

½ cup coconut milk

½ tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

½ cup ground almonds

½ cup brown rice flour

¹⁄³ cup cocoa powder

2 tbsp tapioca flour or gluten-free cornflour

1 tsp gluten-free baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp fine sea salt

Icing

170g dark chocolate, roughly chopped

½ cup coconut milk

¼ cup brown rice syrup or maple syrup

Steam k mara until soft, then mash and set aside until cold. This can be done up to 3 days in advance and stored in the fridge. You will need ¾ cup of mashed k mara for this recipe, so use any leftovers or store in the freezer for later use.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 24cm round cake tin (line with baking paper if you like, but not totally necessary).

Using an electric whisk (or a regular one and some arm power!), whisk sugar and eggs until thick and fluffy, drizzle in olive oil and vanilla and whisk to combine. While eggs and sugar are being whisked, combine coconut milk, vinegar/lemon juice and mashed k mara and set aside.

Sieve ground almonds, rice flour, cocoa, tapoica flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl and whisk well to evenly combine. Add half the dry ingredients to the egg mixture and gently fold in. When almost combined, add the k mara mixture and remaining dry ingredients and continue to fold in until evenly mixed. Pour batter into prepared cake tin and bake 30–35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside for 5 minutes before removing from the tin and tranferring to a wire rack to cool. Once cake is cool, ice and serve.

To make the icing, combine chopped chocolate, coconut milk and brown rice syrup/maple in a small bowl set over a saucepan of boiling water. Stir until melted, whisking if needed, until smooth. Remove from the heat and set aside 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally until thickened slightly before using.

Stores in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Emma Galloway mydarlinglemonthyme.com

@mydarlinglemonthyme

Emma Galloway is a former chef, food photographer and creator of the multiaward winning food blog My Darling Lemon Thyme. She is the author of three cookbooks, her latest book Every Day was released in April 2021. She lives in Raglan with her husband and two children.