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I've been baking gluten-free cakes and in order to get something akin to a regular cake - light instead of heavy - I've been essentially making a sponge cake by making a light meringue and folding the batter into it. This has worked very well, but it does use a lot of eggs and, of course, it does not rise.

Is there anything I can do or use to get a more glutinous-style recipe with the rising (and lower egg count!) and all?

In short: Is there a method to get a GF cake to rise and not be heavy?

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  • Could you give us a recipe or at least the ratios you used? This would help us to identify your problem and/or find a solution.
    – Gretel_f
    Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 10:52
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    That said: I haven't made sponge cake with gluten-free flour, but as far as my technique for regular sponge cake is concerned, I try to not develop too much gluten. The flour is incorporated at the very end and only folded in very lightly, then baked imediately. The rising comes from the whipped egg whites (i.e. incorporated air) and baking powder. Gluten does not make anything rise, does it?
    – Gretel_f
    Commented Jul 22, 2019 at 10:54
  • I was under the impression that gluten is what helps cakes rise. I say impression because this is what I've learnt from various sources though it occurs to me that they may have been referring to just one factor. I will try my usual recipe with baking powder. I will return and post my current recipe when I can. Thanks.
    – Matt W
    Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 8:55
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    Well, i guess gluten is one of the things that provides stability to a product once it has risen, so it doesn't collapse. Otherwise, i don't know how gluten could relate to rising. Maybe you could watch your cake while baking and see, if it rises and then collapses. That would be another kind of problem than it not rising at all. ;)
    – Gretel_f
    Commented Jul 23, 2019 at 9:08

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According to this site I've been using (https://www.americastestkitchen.com/guides/gluten-free/troubleshooting-gluten-free-baked-goods), if your cake is too dense, try: "Reduce amount of fat, use additional liquid, use additional baking powder, use additional egg." So I would try each one of those things separately and see what gets the result you want. I've just started experimenting with gluten-free baking, hope this helps!

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