But I had one more test to carry out before I felt truly able to generalize from my findings. Yesterday, as I contemplated the uses to which I might profitably put my fabulous new Weck jars, I addressed the final challenge: an applesauce ginger cake from The Joy of Cooking. The recipe was not high ratio in the strictest sense of the term (they seldom are) but I have opined previously (and often) that near enough is sufficient.
Gingerbreads often have very thin drippy batters anyway and Mrs. Joy goes on at some length about how 'the tenderest results [are achieved] by mixing the batter entirely by hand.' The only reason I can think of for forsaking my favorite electric handmixer is because it might overwork the gluten in an undesirable way - ergo, gingerbread is a perfect candidate for gluten-free flour blends.
Clever, no? Sometimes I impress myself tremendously.
In addition to these promising omens, I decided to include in the cake some of my famous home-made applesauce. This stuff has enough pectin in it so that it puddles not at all under pork chops or good sausages and, indeed, one can stand a spoon on end in it if the jar is full enough. I trusted the applesauce would give the cake some extra oomph - or at least, sufficient body so that it wouldn't fall apart when I tried to remove it from the pan.
I followed the recipe reasonably closely, although I substituted Lyle's Golden Syrup for light molasses and altered the spicing for a more gingery result.
The final cake was well-risen, moist, tender as promised, and deliciously aromatic. I iced it with some cream cheese frosting (because I had some left in the freezer) and served it with fresh berries surplus to the requirements of my Weck work. The cake is not terribly sweet and would be perfect with morning coffee.
And since today it is uncharacteristically dark, rainy, and miserable outside, that's just how we ate it.
Gluten-Free Applesauce Ginger Cake (after Mrs. Joy)
- one cup of awesome home-made applesauce
- one-half cup of golden syrup
- one teaspoon of baking soda
- one and one-half cups of King Arthur Gluten-Free Multi-Purpose Flour (the only kind I use)
- two teaspoons of ground ginger (at least)
- one teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- one-quarter teaspoon of allspice
- pinch of salt
- two large eggs
- two-thirds of a cup of granulated sugar
- one-third of a cup of canola oil
Bring the applesauce to a boil in a large-ish saucepan. Stir in the golden syrup. Add the baking soda and watch it foam and bubble in a maelstrom-like manner. I'd never used this technique in cake-making before - it was quite fun. When the pyrotechnics are over, remove the pan from the heat and let it cool slightly.
In a large bowl sift together the flour, spices and salt.
In another large bowl beat the eggs and sugar until they are pale and thick. Slowly beat in the oil.
Now, fold into the eggs the flour mixture and the applesauce mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.
Bake the cake until it is done (mine took about an hour). Cool it in the tin on a cake rack for about ten minutes then remove it from the pan (trust me - you'll be glad of all the effort expended on lining the tin) and cool it completely. I made mine yesterday and it is still excellent today - I am confident it will still be good tomorrow.
Hurrah for the high-ratio gluten-free cake theory!
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