Gluten-free blueberry crumble cake

This is a favourite Healthy Food Guide recipe that Niki Bezzant asked me to have a go at converting to gluten free.

It’s taken me several attempts, but I think I have finally come up with an alternative that works as well as the original. My children were very appreciative of the need to trial the actual recipe and then trial the gluten-free versions!

Ingredients

Crumble topping

30g gluten-free flour
35g rice flakes
25g reduced-fat spread
1 tablespoon soft brown sugar
1 tablespoon LSA
10g ground almonds

Cake

125g sugar
125g reduced-fat spread
2 eggs, beaten (or the equivalent in egg replacer)
1 1/2 cups gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons gluten-free ground cinnamon
150ml trim milk
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen

Method

Step 1 Heat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease and line a 21cm-round springform cake tin with baking paper.

Step 2 To make crumble, place flour and rice flakes in bowl. Rub in spread with fingers until thoroughly combined. Stir through sugar, LSA and ground almonds.

Step 3 To make cake, in a separate bowl, beat together the sugar and spread until light and fluffy. Slowly add eggs (or egg replacer), then remaining dry ingredients. Stir in milk and mix well. Pour into cake tin. Note that this is more a batter than a firm mix, so don’t be worried if it looks a little runny.

Step 4 Sprinkle with blueberries and crumble topping. Bake for 45-60 minutes or until top is golden brown and cake is springy to the touch.

Tips

• Always check that ground spices are gluten-free.
• I placed baking paper over the top of the crumble for the first 30 minutes as I found this gluten-free version took longer to cook and the top was prone to burning. Remove the baking paper for the last half of the cooking to allow the topping to brown up. Remove from oven and leave to cool before removing from the tin.
• The topping on this cake is also crunchier than the original oat crumble, so if you don’t like the extra crunchiness, simply use 60g of gluten-free flour rather than including the rice flakes as well.
• I’ve added in the LSA and almonds for a little more texture and a slightly higher fibre content.
• The gluten-free flour I used was a mixture of rice, glutinous rice, sorghum and tapioca starch, however any standard mix should work well.
• I’ve made this cake using both eggs and egg replacer and it works well with either.
• I used raspberries on a later attempt (as I’d used up all my blueberries) and that was extremely nice as well!
• This is quite a dense cake, and makes a very nice pudding served warm with yoghurt, or eaten cold the next day (we’ve tried it both ways and it has our seal of approval).

Weight-loss update

I’ve struggled to 15kgs lost now, and quite a number of centimetres. People are definitely noticing the difference which is nice, although I do seem to be slowing down on the weight-loss front, with my weekly totals being a couple of hundred grams rather than a kilogram. I’ve been doing so much walking with the 10,000 steps health challenge that I’ve been eating a little more, but still seem to be losing the weight. I guess it’s that balance of output versus input when it comes to calories. It’s getting easier now the weather is warmer and I feel like I want to eat salads and fruit again. It’s about week 20 for me, and I’m getting a little bored with tracking my food, even though I know it really works.

What are your suggestions for keeping me motivated and on track and stopping the boredom seeping in?

Lisa

For those wanting more information on coeliac disease, check out the NZ Coeliac Society website www.coeliac.org.nz.

This blog is the opinion and experiences of its author and should not be taken as medical or dietetic advice. Healthy Food Guide has not verified the content and cannot endorse any advice given. Healthy Food Guide recommends seeking professional health advice for specific complaints or symptoms.