This is just a really quick recipe for a gluten free zesty lemon Victoria sponge. We had some good friends come and visit this week and one of them is has a gluten intolerance. I like to try to cater for everyone but rather than make two cakes (seriously, who has the time?) I want to make a gluten-free cake that tastes amazing and everyone can eat. If I’m 100% honest I’ve not had much success with gluten-free cakes so I wanted to keep it as simple as possible, which is why I went for a classic Victoria sponge with jam. The zingy flavour of sharp lemons are a great addition and are wonderfully refreshing in this humid weather. The GF flour can also sometimes be a little tricky so I wanted the cake to be really moist and the lemon juice syrup here is perfect for that.
I’ve used the ‘weigh the eggs method’ where you weight the eggs in their shells and use an equal amount of butter, flour and sugar. I used 4 mixed-weight eggs which happened to come to 250g in weight so all quite simple.
- 4 mixed weight free-range eggs (came to 250g in weight)
- 250g caster sugar
- 250g salted butter
- 100g plain gluten-free flour
- 100g ground almonds
- 50g polenta (if you don’t have just use more of the other two!)
- 1 teaspoon GF baking powder
- the zest and juice of one lemon
- 2 tablespoons of icing sugar
pre-heat the oven to 170C and grease and line 2 baking tins – I used 2 x 20cm loose-bottomed tins
combine the ground almonds, GF flour, polenta and baking powder and set aside
beat the eggs briefly and set aside
add the butter and sugar to a large bowl and beat well until pale and fluffy – this will take about 5 mins in a stand mixer with a beater paddle or 10 mins with a wooden spoon
add half the eggs and half the flours to the creamed butter and sugar and beat in
add the grated lemon zest and the remaining flours and egg and beat well in
divide the batter evenly between the two tins and spread out for a level surface
bake for 35 – 40 mins until they are golden and risen and a skewer inserted comes out clean
make a lemon syrup by stirring a little icing sugar into the lemon juice
once out of the oven, place on a wire rack, prick all over with a skewer and drizzle over the syrup – leave in the tins to cool completely
once totally cooled, remove from tins and place one layer on your cake stand or plate and slather the top with your favourite jam, then place the other layer on top and devour!
eat and of course enjoy!
