Bake Off at Home: This Gluten Free Cake Is Dangerous for Dessert Lovers

Season 7 of The Great Australian Bake Off may be done (well done, bakers!) but the cooking obsession for us does not end there. We have one more recipe to share with you for Bake Off at Home, courtesy of contestant Sandra Walter. Here, she has shared her recipe for a gluten free lime polenta cake. Yum!

When writing about her gluten free cake recipe, Walter shared that she “roasted some plums to serve with the cake but any roasted fruit would work along with a big dollop of Greek yoghurt”.

“I use Makrut limes when I’ve have them in my garden and their flavour is amazing. But you might need to juice an extra Tahitian lime from the fridge to have enough juice to make the syrup.

“This is a delicate cake, as there’s no flour, so handle it gently. I would recommend cutting the cake straight out of the fridge just before you serve it up,” she said over email.

Bake Off at Home: Sandra’s gluten free cake recipe

What you’ll need for your gluten free cake recipe:

Cake

• 200g unsalted butter (extra for greasing pan)
• 200g light brown sugar
• 220g almond meal/flour
• 110g fine polenta (instant polenta)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder (make sure its gluten free)
• 3 large eggs
• Zest of 2 large limes

Syrup

• Juice of 2 limes above
• 125g pure icing sugar

Directions for your gluten free cake recipe:

1. Preheat oven 180°C or 160° fan forced.
2. Make sure the butter and eggs are at room temperature. 
3. Grease & line a 23cm cake pan with a baking paper circle (cut to fit).
4. Zest and juice 2 limes, reserve juice for syrup.
5. Combine almond meal, polenta, salt, & baking powder in a bowl, stirring.
6. Using a stand mixer with a paddle (or a hand mixer).
7. Beat butter on medium until very pale 3 minutes (4-5 minutes hand mixer).
8. Add sugar & lime zest & beat on medium until very fluffy 4 minutes (5-6 minutes hand mixer).
9. With the mixer on med-high add eggs one at a time, beating well with each addition, 3-5 minutes (6-8 minutes hand mixer).
10. Add the dry ingredients in three stages on low & mix just to combine.
11. Then beat a maximum of 30 seconds on medium for a smooth batter.
12. Scrape gluten free batter into pan, smooth the top.
13. Bake for 35-40 minutes until a skewer comes out with just a few crumbs attached.
14. Meanwhile, make the syrup by heating up the icing sugar & lime juice on a medium heat.
15. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.
16. Leave the cake in the pan when you take it out of the oven, gently prick the top all over with a toothpick.
17. Pour the warm syrup over the cake and cool before removing from the pan.