Sara Kidd

Sara Kidd is a vegan pastry chef, author, recipe developer and instructor rocking the vegan baking scene with her eye-popping vegan cake creations, food photography and recipes. Following the wild success of her first cookbook, Bake Vegan Stuff, Easy Recipes For Kids (And Adults! Too), her hotly anticipated follow-up, The Vegan Cake Bible, launched in April 2022.

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Gluten-free baking hacks

6th October 2022

Words by Sara Kidd

Category: Food stories | Guides

Your cake bakes will rise to the occasion with these vegan and gluten-free baking tips.

We all remember those days when gluten-free meant eating something with the texture and taste of a brick covered in cinnamon dust. Thankfully we’ve come a long way since then, and now have the knowledge and power to create gluten-free goodness for everyone to enjoy.

Here are my top tips to get you started.

Big is not better

It’s the smaller the better with gluten-free baking. I always recommend making cakes no larger than 15 centimetres or smaller. I find that the smaller the cake, the better the bake.

Mix your flours

For example, I love using buckwheat flour but I find mixing it with walnut meal gives it a better texture. My ratio is 1:⅓. So, I would use 1 cup of buckwheat flour with ⅓ cup walnut meal.

Use vanilla

Use extra vanilla when baking. It will help balance out those nutty flavours that can be present in gluten-free baking.

Keep it moist

I always use melted veggie shortening as the main fat source for my cakes as it adds extra moisture.

Perfect proving

Use 25 percent more raising agents (bicarbonate of soda or baking powder) if you’re converting a recipe to gluten-free. Don’t worry about over mixing your batter as there is no gluten to over-develop.

Lower the temp

If you’re converting a recipe to gluten-free, experiment with adjusting the temperature of your oven to be about 10°C lower.

Watch the clock

Don’t be afraid to under bake your cake slightly. You want to retain extra moisture in your cake as gluten-free cakes can be a little dry. I usually bake them for 5 minutes less and test they are ready with a skewer. If the skewer still has a few crumbs and a tiny bit of moisture on it, then it’s ready to come out of the oven.

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Ready to give it a go?

Nobody should miss out on chocolate cake, and my gluten-free chocolate cake recipe makes sure no-one has to! This one’s a tried and true crowd pleaser that you’ll return to again and again.

Lead image: Konstantin2017 on Shutterstock

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