Every Sunday after our meeting at Church in the Peak, Matlock we have drinks and cakes. Several church members, myself included, like to contribute baked items. One lady in our church has a few dietary issues and can’t have anything with gluten or with lactose. This means she can’t really partake safely, so I decided to adapt a recipe and make a cake especially for her.

I replaced butter with sunflower oil and used oat milk rather than normal milk. Gluten free flour with xanthan gum powder was equally easy to source. I used gluten free baking powder even though everyday baking powder is probably also free of gluten.

Makes: A moderate sized loaf, giving about 12 slices

Level: Easy

Time: 30 – 35 minutes preparation then 50 – 60 minutes in the oven.

Need: Just a standard loaf tin and a hand held electric mixer or a wooden spoon & elbow grease. (Maybe not “elbow grease”; it doesn’t sound very hygienic does it?)

Ingredients

225g plums, chopped (fresh or from a jar)
Tbs gluten free plain flour (or use more GF self-raising)
175g self raising GF flour
75g ground almonds
½ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp xanthan gum powder
115ml sunflower oil
150g golden caster sugar
½ tsp almond extract
2 eggs
75ml oat milk
50g flaked almonds + 10g for decorating
2 Tbs demerara sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180°C / Fan 160°C / 350°F / Gas 4 . Grease and line a loaf tin or use a paper case.

2. In a medium bowl, toss the chopped plums with the GF flour & coat. Set aside.

3. In another medium bowl, sift together the GF self-raising flour, ground almonds, salt, baking powder and xanthan gum powder.

4. In a third (large) bowl, whisk the sunflower oil, caster sugar and almond extract with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time with a tsp of the flour mixture.

5. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet mixture, alternating with oat milk until everything is smooth.

6. Lightly stir in the flour-coated plums and 50g flaked almonds then pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin. Dot the top of the cake with the remaining flaked almonds then sprinkle over the demerara sugar. Tap the tin firmly on the work surface a couple of times to settle the mixture.

7. Bake in the preheated oven until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf cake comes out clean – 50 to 60 minutes. (NB If the fruit was very wet you may need a little longer.)

8. Remove from oven and let cool in the tin for 12 – 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool fully.

This makes a lovely moist and fruity cake and can be enjoyed by anyone, with or without the above food intolerances. I hope you give it a try.

If you’d like to make a comment or ask a question please do, via the contact page, or have a look at the rest of my site for lots of other great sweet and savoury recipes.

Here are some more of my bakes that you might like to try:

Strawberry Sponge Cake