Blood Orange Cake (Gluten/Dairy/Soy/Corn & Refined Sugar Free)

Call me the cake lady.. ever since my happy results with the Double Chocolate Chip Cake recipe- my desire to make endless cakes has returned. Of course after that hard earned Chocolate cake success I fooled myself into thinking that I had gained a new giant level of knowledge and could handle any cake recipe first try from here on out. Go ahead- have a nice little laugh. I got overconfident- and the glorious joys of finicky Gluten Free baking took its toll on me once again today.  I made this cake 3 times today.. 3 times. Spending the time to do it didn’t phase me- but the expensive ingredients.. oh how I hate throwing out a failed recipe. Especially now that I’m not using refined sugar.

BUT.. was it worth it? Yes! The final cake made me quite happy. Its the hard earned recipes that always bring the most joy when success finally shows itself.

A few things to know- Blood oranges- are they necessary for the recipe? Absolutely not. I just had happened to notice some at the supermarket this morning and thought I might experiment with them today. Do they affect the color of the cake? Maybe- just slightly. But not significantly. If you feel like keeping it quick- regular good ol orange juice will do the trick just fine!

The Sugar- Of course you can use regular white refined sugar here- Do I recommend that? Well no- its crud. I tried making this cake once with xylitol and another time with sucanat. Palm Sugar or Cane Sugar would also work great! Just make sure that whatever sugar you go with you use a dry sugar- Do not use all agave nectar or honey- it will make the cake too moist and it will end up flat and gooey. (Yes- that happened to me!)

The Mimiccreme- is it essential? No. I really like it personally- but to make things easier you could use just about any nondairy milk- or dairy milk. Except for maybe Hemp- sometimes it can make baked goods gummy.

The Frosting is super fluffy! I have been experimenting with refined sugar and dairy free frosting’s ( a tough combo to come by) I had this thought last week that making powdered sugar had to be easy- and I’m so excited to share that it really is easy. All you need is a coffee grinder and just about any sugar of your choice- Sucanat powders really well. Then I did a little research- and what does powdered sugar consist of- ground sugar and corn starch. That’s easy enough!   So for this frosting I threw together Some Butter (Or Coconut Oil) , Tapioca (you could also use Arrowroot or cornstarch) Powdered Sucanat, Some extracts and a Packet of Stevia for a little boost of sweetness. Easy- fluffy,wonderful,  fast.  I do not have the patience for making a frosting and waiting 10 hours while it cools and on.  The consistency of the frosting can be played with- try adding more of less Tapioca, More or less Powdered Sucanat- and other extracts and flavors.

The Eggs- Honestly I cannot tell you that I feel it would be safe to use egg replacer for this recipe. I noticed a significant difference in the amount the cake rose when I used less egg. I’m not how to change this. (But I will know eventually- will keep learning )

Hope you enjoy this little Winter themed treat!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup + 3 TBS Sweet Rice Flour
• 1/2 Cup + 3 TBS Tapioca Flour
• 1/2 Cup Potato Starch Flour
• 3 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon Xanthan Gum (Or Guar Gum for corn free)
• 1 1/2 Cups Organic Cane Sugar
• 3 Eggs Beaten
• 1/2 Cup Freshly Squeezed Blood Orange Juice (This is roughly 2 oranges- or just use regular OJ)
• 1/2 Cup Grapeseed Oil
• 1/2 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Orange (Or Lemon) Extract
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/2 Cup Mimiccreme (or Non Dairy Milk)

1. Preheat oven to 350 Degrees. Grease and Flour Pans (this is a must- this cake is a little bit on the sticky side)
2. Combine Flours, Baking Powder, Xanthan, Sugar and Salt.
3. Gently Beat the Eggs and then Pour them into the dry ingredients along with the Orange Juice, Mimiccream , Oil and both extracts and Orange Zest. Mix well.
4. Pour Mixture into prepared 9 inch Round Cake Pan- Give the pan a good tap on the counter to release air bubbled.
5. Place on top shelf of oven and Bake for 70-75 Minutes. (Once a toothpick comes out clean and the cake looks fully cooked!)
6. Remove from oven and let cool completely and the Frost.

Happy Cake Making!

xo,

Brittany