I’m delighted to share this recipe for gluten free YUM YUM cake with you (the name alone makes me happy!). The original recipe for this gorgeous cake came from a little recipe book that belonged to my grandma. It’s one of those books that happened, thanks to various people kindly contributing their favourite recipes. I love this idea! And there really are some smashing recipes in the book. I will of course be sharing more of them with you over time, but for today, I’m going with the one my grandma contributed…which is YUM YUM cake!
This cake, that you bake as a tray bake and then portion up into squares, really is delightful. It has a lovely light buttery base, with a subtle caramel flavour (thanks to the soft brown sugar) and is topped off with light airy meringue, which has the occasional chopped walnut and cherry dotted throughout to keep your taste buds well and truly on their toes!
I’ve tested this recipe twice as a gluten free version. It was slightly crumbly on my first attempt and I knew this could be improved. So, for the second bake I added the magic ingredient that some gluten free bakes just need – xanthan gum. It did the trick and held the ‘crumb’ together perfectly.
You will probably find that most gluten free self-raising flours already have xanthan gum added, but you will still need a little bit extra for this recipe to be a success. If you are out of gf self-raising flour you can use gf plain instead, but you will then also need to add a level teaspoon of gluten free baking powder to the flour along with the xanthan gum.
Ok, enough of my chit chat, let me share the recipe with you.
Ingredients
For the base
75g (3oz) butter (I used Lurpak spreadable, but block butter is fine, just leave it out to soften for about 1hr before you need to use it. You could also use a dairy free spread)
50g (2oz) soft brown sugar
175g (6oz) gluten free self-raising flour or mix (I used Sainsbury’s)
½ teaspoon xanthan gum (add 1 teaspoon if the gluten free flour doesn’t already contain it)
For the meringue topping
2 large egg yolks
2 large egg whites
110g (4oz) caster sugar
25g (1oz) *walnuts, finely chopped
25g (1oz) *glace cherries, finely chopped
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4/160C Fan.
Grease and line a shallow baking tin. The one I used measured 10 x 7½ inches, depth 1½ inches.
For the base: Put the butter and soft brown sugar in a large mixing bowl and with an electric mixer, whisk together until the mixture becomes pale and creamy.
Add the egg yolks, gluten free flour and xanthan gum and give everything a good stir until everything is mixed together.
Transfer the mixture into the prepared tray, spread out evenly and flatten down with a fork.
For the meringue topping: In a large bowl whisk the egg whites until they form light peaks.
Whilst still whisking, gradually add the caster sugar. As soon as all the sugar has been added and the meringue is thick and glossy stop whisking.
Tip the walnuts and cherries into the meringue, grab a large metal spoon and gently fold the pieces through the mixture. Don’t over mix at this stage.
Spoon the meringue over the base and with a fork gently spread out the meringue to cover the entire base. Don’t spend a lot of time doing this, as you don’t want to squish all the air out of the meringue.
Pop the tray into the oven and bake for 25 minutes. The meringue should be nice and golden.
Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool completely before slicing into whatever size and shape that takes your fancy.
As meringue is a super delicate delight, this YUM YUM cake will be at its very best on the day you make it. However, it will keep well in an airtight container in a cool spot (not the fridge) for a couple of days. I’m afraid you can’t freeze this bake.
Thanks for checking out this recipe. I have lots more here too!
For now
Liz x
*Double check this ingredient to ensure it has no gluten containing ingredients, ‘may contain’ or ‘not suitable warnings’. If in doubt leave it out.
