gluten-free honey buckwheat spice cake

This gluten-free honey buckwheat cake is also free of dairy and refined sugar.

Right after a rainy baseball game, we all returned home with mud on our shoes and grins on our faces. In one of the later innings, Lucy had hit the ball hard and run to first base. Her teammates, enlivened by the hit and the rain, kept hitting. Eventually, she crossed home plate, triumphant, scoring the first run of the season. (Of course, she pretty much missed touching second base, but no one seemed to mind that time. And in the telling after, she seemed proudest of the fact that she remembered to pick up the bat and bring it into the dugout.) Saturday mornings are for baseball games now. It’s a good spring.

Later that evening we were headed to a birthday party for our dear friend, Adrienne. She’s gluten-free too, so she had requested a gluten-free potluck. Easy-peasy here. Just as we were trying to figure out what to make that afternoon, Adrienne called. Since she can’t eat sugar or dairy right now, she was going to skip dessert. “But I need something to put candles in. I’ve never skipped a year of blowing out candles on the cake.” She asked if I could make her a gluten-free, dairy-free, refined-sugar cookie.

Luckily, here? That’s no big deal. You bet.

When I was first diagnosed with celiac — 11 years ago now! — I thought that merely cutting out gluten was enough. It was, for a bit. Kale, sweet potatoes, salmon — they were plenty to sustain me. However, as soon as I realized I missed baking, i went back to it, with gusto. Within the year, I realized that I wanted to open my life to even more choices. A cake needs flour, a fat, eggs (or a similar protein), and a sweetener. Why limit myself to white sugar and butter when there were so many more options? Now, the same old recipe with a gluten-free flour doesn’t feel like a challenge. And I like a challenge.

I’ve mostly given up sugar these days. There’s no militancy to it. If the situation arises and we’re in town on a hot evening, and Lucy asks for a root beer float from our friend Sam’s creamery, with her homemade coconut milk ice cream? I’m having one. That’s rare these days, however. I’m much more interested in fruits and vegetables as the basis of my diet. Cut sugar and most treats taste cloying. If I’m going to bake, I like playing with honey and maple syrup. They’re more of a conundrum, something to figure out.

Long ago, i realized that gluten-free cakes made with oil instead of butter are silkier, far more tender. I haven’t made a gluten-free cake with butter in years. So a little melted coconut oil goes a long way to make a cake feel rich without the butter.

The secret here is to cream the eggs and honey, the way you might cream butter and sugar. When they are fluffy and increased in volume, slowly slowly drizzle in the oil on the side of the bowl. This will keep the volume and make the structure for the cake. I love buckwheat flour for baking. You could easily make this cake using only our all-purpose flour. it might even be a tiny bit lighter, since buckwheat tends to cling to everything it touches. But I love the warm nutty flavor of light buckwheat flour. Notice I wrote light buckwheat flour. NOT the buckwheat you typically find in grocery stores. The dark buckwheat has been toasted before being ground. I find the taste too assertive, almost bitter, like over-roasted coffee. (And the buckwheat flour made by Bob’s Red Mill is made in the non-gluten-free facility, so there’s plenty of risk for cross-contamination.) Light buckwheat flour is far more neutral in taste and sort of similar to wheat, in some ways. Do yourself a favor and buy a 3 pound bag of Bouchard Family Farms’ light buckwheat flour from Amazon today. We always have some in the house.

What to do about frosting? How do you make frosting without powdered sugar and butter? You let go of your notions of proper frosting and make something good.

I keep a couple of cans of coconut milk in the refrigerator for when we need coconut cream. Cold coconut milk separates into cream and water naturally. You scoop the heavy cream into the bowl of a stand mixer and let it run for a few moments. You have coconut whipped cream. Drizzle in a little honey and vanilla extract and you have a soft frosting, like whipped cream, for a gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined-sugar-free cake for a dear friend.

We topped this with strawberries and drove to our friends’ home, filled with friends. Everyone in the house oohed and aaahed at the sight of the cake. Later in the evening, after a feast of homemade sushi, smoked sausages, kale and cauliflower salad, cocktail weenies with spicy sauce, and ribs, we gathered around Adrienne to sing to her. Michael lit the tall candles and I came bearing this toward her. She puffed up her cheeks and blew away another year and welcomed in the next trip around the sun.

(Okay, Lucy and one other kid actually blew out the candles first. I think she was still excited about that run she scored.)

Everyone liked the cake.

That’s why I love gluten-free baking. You can make people happy and loved, so easily. All it takes is a little cake.

The post gluten-free honey buckwheat spice cake appeared first on Gluten Free Girl.

Watch the trailer for our cookbook!

Our cookbook: Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef: A Love Story with 100 Tempting Recipes

My first book: Gluten-Free Girl: How I Found the Food That Loves Me Back and How You Can Too

My food blog: http://glutenfreegirl.com
I’m on Twitter: http://twitter.com/glutenfreegirl
Gluten-Free Girl Facebook fan page: http://tinyurl.com/bd5e8h