Gluten free Russian sandwich cake

I have my grandma to thank for introducing to the delights of Russian sandwich cake. As this soft sponge cake, generously filled with vanilla pastry cream, topped with glaze icing and finished with a yummy scattering of toasted coconut, was the cake she’d make a beeline for when she popped into our local bakery. I really can’t look at a Russian sandwich cake without it evoking lovely memories of my grandma. 

Whilst there are a couple of stages to making this delightful gluten free Russian sandwich it’s not at all tricky to make. As you need both the custard and the cake to be completely cold before you assemble, it really matter which bit you do first. In fact the custard could even be made the day before and stored in the fridge until you’re to go!

 

Ingredients

For the sponge
175g (6oz) butter (I use standard Lurpak spreadable butter. If using block butter, leave out of the fridge to soften for a while) 
175g (6oz) caster sugar
175g (6oz) gluten free self-raising flour  
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon *vanilla extract

For the pastry cream (Creme Patissiere)
175ml (¾pint) full fat milk
1 teaspoon *vanilla extract (loving Nielsen-Massey vanilla extract)
6 large egg yolks
110g (4oz) caster sugar (you could go slightly less sugar here if you’re not a fan of sweet things)
50g (2oz) *cornflour

To finish
110g (4oz) *icing/powdered sugar
Just enough boiled water to make a nice smooth glacé icing
Toasted *coconut – I weighed out 25g (1oz) but didn’t need it all. I toasted it by sprinkling it onto a baking tray, which I then slid under a hot grill. The tray gets red hot, so do watch your hands and use a dry cloth when manoeuvring it.

 

 

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4/Fan 160C.

Grease and line 2 x 8inch (20cm) sandwich tins.

To make the sponge. Put all the ingredients for the sponge into a large mixing bowl. Using an electric hand mixer (or stand mixer) whisk until light and creamy.

Divide the mixture evenly between the two sandwich tins and pop them into the oven. 

Bake for approximately 20 minutes until the sponge is golden and feels firm, yet springy, when gently pressed in the centre.

Take from the oven and after 10 minutes or so remove the sponge cake from the tins and transfer them onto a cooling rack to cool completely. 

To make the pastry cream filling. Pour the milk into a heavy bottomed saucepan and bring to the boil. In large bowl mix together the egg yolks, sugar, cornflour and vanilla extract to make a smooth paste.

Once the milk has come to a boil, pour it slowly onto the egg mixture, whisking as you go. If you can get someone to pour the milk in whilst you whisk, this will make things much easier!

Pour the mixture back into a clean pan (a clean pan will help prevent the pastry cream from catching/burning) and place back onto the heat.

Gently bring to a boil, stirring/whisking constantly to ensure it doesn’t burn or go lumpy. If you feel it’s getting the better of you and could go lumpy, remove the pan from the heat and give it a really good quick whisk and then place back on the heat again. To check the cornflour has cooked out have a little taste. If the texture seems ‘powdery’ you need to cook it out a little longer.

Once it has come to a gently boil and is nice and thick (and cooked out), transfer into a large clean mixing bowl – one big enough for you to use a whisk in at a later date. Place a disk of greaseproof directly onto the pastry cream (this will prevent a skin from forming). Leave to cool for a while and then pop it into the fridge to chill completely. 

When the pastry cream and sponge are cold you can assemble. Remove the greaseproof paper and any skin from the custard. Then whisk until the pastry cream becomes smooth.

Place one of the sponge layers upside down onto a plate, so that the side that you have peeled the paper off is facing upwards. Spoon the pastry cream onto the cake and spread out evenly. I recommend that you take the pastry cream to ¼inch from the edge of the cake to prevent it from oozing out when you place the top layer onto the cake.

Place the other sponge (the same side up as the bottom layer) onto the pastry cream. 

For the glacé icing. Blend a little bit of boiled water with the icing sugar and beat well to make a nice glossy paste. Not transparent or too runny, but can be spread smoothly over the cake.

Pour the icing onto the centre of the cake and with a palette knife spread it out evenly over the cake. Again, with the icing, leave about ¼inch gap from the edge of the cake.

Before the icing has chance to set, grab a teaspoon and sprinkle the toasted coconut around the edge of the cake. 

You can of course now tuck into your cake. However, if you put it in the fridge for an hour or so, the pastry cream will set a little and you’ll find the cake easier (and less messy) to cut. Of course, if you aren’t eating it immediately you will need to store it in the fridge to keep the pastry cream filling chilled. To enjoy at its best, remove from the fridge about ½ hr before you want to tuck in.

I think this cake is at its very best the day you make it!

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If you are wondering what to do with the egg whites you have leftover. You may fancy rustling up a fresh cream pavlova and topping it off with some fresh seasonal fruit. Or maybe you’d like to whip up a batch of these yummy macaroons. For a savoury alternative you could use the egg whites along with another large egg to make a quiche. I did this and it turned out great.

For now,
Liz x


*Check this product to ensure that there are no gluten containing ingredients, ‘may contain’ or ‘not suitable’ for a coeliac/gluten free diet warnings on the pack.