Ready...steady...BAKE! #3 Gluten-free Coffee Cake

Hey everyone! So the other day was my dad's birthday and I really wanted to make him and cake that he could eat (he has coeliac disease- which means he can't have gluten). I was looking through my trusted Lorraine Pascale "Baking Made Easy" recipe book and found a recipe for a gluten-free (perfect!) irish cream coffee cake (even better :3). For this recipe you need two sandwich tins to make a cake that serves around 8-10 people- depending on how greedy you are.

Dat cake :3

Ingredients- 

• 200g (7oz) soft light brown sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 200g (7oz) cold butter, cut into cubes, plus extra for greasing
• 200g (7oz) gluten-free self-raising flour, plus 1 tbsp baking powder
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• Seeds of 1/2 vanilla pod or 2 drops of vanilla extract
• 80ml very strong black coffee or 4-5 tbsp of coffee essence
• Small handful of coffee granules, to decorate.

Irish cream buttercream

• 125g (4 1/2oz) butter, softened
• 250g (9oz) icing sugar
• Seeds of 1/2 a vanilla pod or 2 drops of vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp of irish cream liquer, or to taste (I used Baileys in my cake filling ^^)

1. Preheat oven to 180 degree's celsuis. Grease the cake tins and line the bases with baking paper.

2. Put the brown sugar, salt, butter, flour, and baking powder into a bowl and mix with an electric whisk until the mixture resemebles breadcrumbs- you could also just use your fingers to rub the ingredients together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Don't overmix, or it will go into a sticky lump.

3. Gradually add the eggs in three lots, beating well with each addition, then add the vanilla & coffee and beat hard for 2-3 minutes.

If you forget to line the tins properly the edges of the cake are all weird so don't do that (what an idiot xD)

4. Divide the mixture between the two cake tins & bake for around 30 minutes, but check after 25. Once cooked leave to cool in the tins.

Yeah, I kind of didn't mix the mixture enough but it still tasted ok ^^

Heehee :3

5. To make the buttercream put the butter, icing sugar, and vanilla in a bowl and beat until it's light and fluffy. Stir in the irish cream liquer and mix to combine. 

6. Once the cakes are cooled, remove them from the tins and peel off the paper. Spread half the buttercream over one sponge and put the other sponge on top.

7. Spread the top layer with the rest of the buttercream then sprinkle over some coffee granules. These will dissolve in half an hour or so. Serve with tea and coffee ^^

See what I mean about the sides? xD Oh well it tasted LUSH.

This cake is a real winner! The sponge is not very sweet (it reminds me of a scone mix) which goes amazingly with the very sweet buttercream. The Baileys comes through quite strongly and reakky tops off this gorgeous cake.

Any questions?

Lots of love, Laura xx