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

FAQs

What helps gluten-free cakes rise? ›

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.

Christmas cakes are also commonly made with pudding while a fruit cake uses butter, however there are Christmas cake recipes that do contain butter. The traditional Scottish Christmas cake, also known as the Whisky Dundee, is very popular. It is a light crumbly cake with currants, raisins, cherries and Scotch whisky.

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.

YOUR CAKE IS SINKING IN THE MIDDLE OR NOT RISING

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.

What's the best gluten-free flour for baking? Bob's Red Mill gluten-free 1-to-1 baking mix is my favorite gluten-free all-purpose flour blend for baking. It has a mild texture and plenty of "stick" thanks to a blend of sweet rice flour, brown rice flour, and sorghum flour, plus some starches and xanthan gum.

Gluten-free batters need to rest.

This is remediated by resting your batter for about 30 minutes so the flour has time to hydrate and soften. Resting is especially important for gluten-free baked goods that have a shorter bake time, like pancakes and cookies.

Soak the fruit overnight so it can absorb the alcohol and plump up. If you're short on time, warm everything briefly in a microwave so the fruit will absorb the alcohol more quickly. Let the fruit cool completely before making the cake.

Some say you should make your Christmas cake 6 weeks before eating, but the advice given on Nigella.com is that 12 weeks before is the optimum time to get baking. Your Christmas cake should be fed every 4 to 6 weeks but in the meantime, after baking, it should be stored away in a secure, air tight container.

The Roman fruitcake was a mash of barley, honey, wine and dried fruit, often pomegranate seeds. What you might recognize as a modern-style fruitcake – a moist, leavened dessert studded with fruits and nuts – was probably first baked in the early Middle Ages in Europe.

Do gluten-free cakes need more liquid? ›

Adding more liquid than stated in the recipe may be necessary in order to rehydrate gluten-free flour. Add the liquid a tablespoon at a time until the mixture reaches dropping consistency. Baking the cake for an extra 5–10 minutes may be necessary, due to the extra liquid content.

More mixing produces a tougher colloid. As many gluten-free recipes use xanthan gum as a binder, this will indeed be a problem with overmixing. If you are using a pre-made gluten free flour, you have to read the ingredients. If these are pure starches only, you can't overmix.

Xanthan Gum adds thickness and viscosity to gluten-free breads and other baked goods. Without xanthan gum, your gluten-free baked goods would be dry, crumbly and flat. Because xanthan gum is gluten-free and vegan, it's the preferred thickener for those home bakers with food allergies.

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 baking is a lot harder than traditional baking because gluten protein is what gives baked goods their structure. Bread without gluten or any gluten substitute will be thick and crumbly when it comes out of the oven.

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.

Xanthan gum: Xanthan gum is a powerful binder, providing essential adhesion and tackiness to gluten-free batters, which helps create light and airy textures. Without it, these baked goods would be dense and crumbly.

Gluten free recipes generally require extra leavening agents to mimic the gluten. Baking powder and/or baking soda will help make your dough rise and 'pop'. The addition of baking powder to my fluffy cinnamon scrolls works a treat.

This helps to reduce the risk of your cake crumbling and falling apart. If the flour you are using doesn't already contain xanthan gum, combining quarter of a teaspoon to every 200g/7oz of gluten-free flour will help to improve the crumb structure of your bake. You can also use guar gum or a combination of the two.