Gluten-free cake with mascarpone cheese icing
This cake is dairy free as well as gluten free – and can be fat free too!
This is the highest most impressive gluten-free sponge cake I have managed to develop. Usually when using a flour substitute in a light sponge cake recipe, the height of the cake is compromised because of the lack of gluten. The gluten in normal flour plays a role in the structure of the cake when rising, it allows time for the starch to cook and set in place. After many broken eggs and attempt failures to develop an easy gluten free sponge cake (I posted some photos of those failures on instagram and facebook page) I managed to develop this recipe based on a Genoise method of making cakes, which relies on the whisking of the eggs with the sugar to formulate its framework.
Add Oil
In the video I made the recipe without adding a tablespoon of oil at the end of folding, but I would strongly advise to add it. Having made the cake now many times with oil and without, the added oil helps it to keep better and has a moister crumb.
- 8 eggs
- 125g / ½ cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar (not caster sugar)
- 110g / ½ cup + 2 tbsp potato flour (potato starch)
- 110g / ¾ cup rice flour – after sieving see video
- 5g / 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 8g / ½ tablespoon vanilla paste
- 1 tablespoon flavourless vegetable oil (sunflower or corn)
- 300ml / 1¼ cup double or whipping cream
- 250g / 1 cup mascarpone cheese
- 1 teaspoon lemon rind
- 5g / 1 teaspoon vanilla paste
- 60g / ¼ cup caster sugar (superfine)
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and sugar with an electric whisk for 5-8mins or until the egg mixture is very thick and when lifted it drops back into bowl in a ribbon shaped stream.
- Sieve the potato, rice and baking powder. Add half of it to the egg mixture and fold it in carefully in a gentle repetitive movements, making sure you drag up any flour lying on the bottom of the bowl. Repeat with the remainder of the flours and baking powder.
- Fold in the vegetable oil gently.
- Put the cake batter into the tin. Bake for 25 minutes. Put a skewer through the cake, if it comes out dry the cake is ready.
- Turn the cake tin upside down for 45mins-1hr to cool (see video) before removing cake from the tin.
- Mix the sugar, lemon rind, vanilla paste to mascarpone cheese and mix well. Whip the double/whipping cream until it holds soft peaks and fold in a third of the cream into the mascarpone mixture. Fold the remainder of the cream until well mixed. Do not overwork the mascarpone.