My grandmother as many people who’ve been with me for a while here, was a marvellous baker and maker of desserts. I’ve come to realise lately, that I was passed the baton when she died 4 years ago, which was about the time I went from baking the odd thing, to becoming passionate about creating desserts of my own, that were gluten free and more nourishing than the standard white flour / white sugar desserts we seemed to be surrounded by. One of my favourite memories is of being under the tree outside my grandmother’s house by the sea in Mauritius, come afternoon tea time. Sweet tea perfumed with local vanilla bean was always on offer, as was a slice of either her famed chocolate cake, or her lemon and yoghurt cake or some ‘petit beurre’ French biscuits.
Why do my recipes always have 3-4 flours? Because gluten free flours all perform very differently and I find combining a couple and up to 4, means I get a better texture result.
How did I make the glistening lemon wheels? I just brushed them with rice malt syrup and baked them on 160C / 320F for about 20-25 minutes and then cooled them on a wire rack.
Where are the gorgeous ceramics from you ask? Kim Wallace Ceramics. I love them.
Enjoy and tag me on instagram @lowtoxlife or comment here when you’ve baked yours to let me know how you went.
If you like cakes and cupcakes, try my coconut cupcakes, choose your own adventure cake, orange and poppyseed cake or my banana bread maybe next time!
We’ve just had a big hail storm here in Sydney as I type this, so it’s time for a cup of tea and a little afternoon tea if you ask me!
Zesty Lemon & Yoghurt Cake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 eggs
- 3/4 cup rice malt syrup, maple syrup or 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup coconut oil (you can use half a cup of butter if you’re not dairy free and that’s what you have at hand)
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour (or arrowroot)
- 1/2 cup teff flour (or buckwheat, sorghum or if you’re not gluten free spelt)
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup yoghurt (a liquidy coconut yoghurt is what I used. I fear coyo is too thick and produces a ‘stodgy’ cake feel. Alpine, About Life or home made liquidy and tangy consistency work best from my testing)
- 1 tsp vanilla bean powder
- zest from 2 lemons
- uice from2 lemons (strained from pips)
- 1 heaped tsp baking powder
- 1 heaped tsp bicarb soda
For SYRUP to top
- juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tbsp your chosen syrup
- 4 tbsp water
Instructions
For the SYRUP
- Simply heat on medium for 3 minutes until it bubbles then brush onto cake surface
For the CAKE
- Line a standard sized round cake tin and line the base with parchment paper and grease with olive or coconut oil
- Cream your coconut oil and syrup for 1 minute with beaters OR on speed 7 on a MyCook / Thermomix
- Then add your eggs and cream a further 30 seconds, same speed
- Then add everything else and mix until all combined. In a MyCook / TM, that’s 10 seconds speed 6
- T0 ensure the most airy result possible, you can take time to sift all the flours into the bowl if you fancy.
- Then bake 30 mins at 180 degrees (non fan-forced) and start checking at 20 minutes – different ovens will vary.
- Two tests to know you’ve cooked it enough… Do the skewer test in the middle of the cake – clean when it comes out? You’re done. Press gently on the cake on the sides and a little more towards the middle. Does it bounce back or sink? It should bounce back, so give it another 5-8 mins if not.
- Just before it’s ready to come out, or while it’s cooling, mix up and heat your syrup to brush on top of the cake. Brush it on with a pastry brush OR avoid this step altogether, it’s not crucial.
- And… voila. You’re done. Two ways to present it. As a cake as is OR press little rounds out of it and ‘eat the outy bits’ behind the scenes and save the pretty discs for serving. I stacked a couple with a littel more coconut yoghurt in between and on top. Your choice!
