Cake! Brilliantly easy afternoon tea cake with crunchy pecans and lots of cinnamon. Plus it’s Gluten-Free!
After a really long time, today I felt like baking a really big cake. Sometimes the desire to bake just takes over and then I have to get all my baking paraphernalia out and just enjoy the process. This classic coffee cake is what we in the U.K would serve for afternoon tea and doesn’t actually contain coffee. It is a modified recipe for a classic sour cream coffee cake. This cinnamon pecan coffee cake is not also gluten-free.
I am particularly pleased with the outcome of this one because I literally just threw things together and poured the entire cake mixture into my lovely removable bottom cake tin.
The idea of a cinnamon pecan coffee cake had been dancing around in my head for a few days now after I found an easy recipe on Betty Crocker. But of course, I had to tweak the ingredients and swap a few things here and there. I also prefer cakes just as they are minus the fuss of drizzle or icing or anything terribly fancy. Or maybe I am just lazy like that 😉
Another reason I am rather pleased with the outcome of this bake is that I have been working with alternative flours for a while now. Ever since I made these fluffy GF, dairy-free finger millet pancakes with no eggs and no refined sugar almost 2 years ago, I have made many more things using various flours.
I currently am rather obsessed with Teff flour and have even made some very yummy pancakes with them. But unfortunately haven’t been able to get the recipe up on time for Pancake Day today! And though I have finally managed to finally get back to blogging after a hectic but fun 3-month project, I still have to get all my ducks in a row. Looking for healthy pancake recipes? Try my Finger millet and blueberry GF, dairy-free and refined sugar-free, eggless pancake recipe, or why not try my mixed flours amaranth and finger millet mixed berry GF pancakes recipe – which is also dairy-free and eggless and can be made vegan!
So this baking session also gave me an opportunity to finally try the sample of gluten-free self-raising flour sent to me by the lovely Vicki or ‘Free from Fairy’. I too have studied Biochemistry after my B.sc in Lifesciences. I didn’t pursue my research in Biochemistry though as I did my MBA in Marketing and life took me on another track. But I have always loved reading about and understanding the science behind food and various ingredients.
And I am very satisfied with the consistency and results with Vicki’s fabulous blend of self-raising flour – Gluten-free whole grain which is also rice-free and has a mix of teff, sorghum, and buckwheat. All of these flours I love working with!
So here is my version of the recipe, I do hope you make this cake and enjoy it with your afternoon cuppa as it is ‘Time for a cuppa’ Day – a week where the charity Dementia, U.K raise awareness and support fund-raising activities. Also, it was St. David’s day yesterday, and yes I love the google doodle but I am also happy that I have been to Wales four times in the last six years – that’s a lot! Lucky me, twice to enjoy my stay and do every a food blogger would love to do, with some really good blogger friends and the other two times to explore the beauty of Wales and relish the food.
I have used Fairtrade dark chocolate in my recipe as 27th Feb was the start of the Fairtrade Fortnight. I met and spoke to many interesting brands at the Fairtrade Christmas show last year in July in London, more on that in another post coming soon.
But both A and me, are very drawn to Wales, especially to Snowdon. I did start writing a series of travel posts about our Welsh adventure but never really managed to publish all my posts. Why not have a look at what we got up to at Holyhead in my post here and also check out the breathtaking views from Southstack lighthouse in my post here?
Lastly, I swapped sugar with Natvia, so all these swaps make it a healthy bake right 😉 Definitely lighter on the conscience, in moderation of course!
Cinnamon Pecan Gluten Free Coffee Cake
Equipment
- Oven
- Baking Tray
- Hand-held blender/ Food processor/ Mixer/ Stand Mixer
- Spatula
- Measuring spoons
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Sieve
Ingredients
For the Cinnamon Pecan Gluten Free Coffee Cake
- 3 cups Free from Fairy's self-raising flour i.e 385 grams
- 1.5 cups sugar substitute like Natvia
- 1.5 tsp Baking powder
- 1.5 tsp Baking soda
- 3/4 tsp Salt
- 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
- 3 Eggs
- 1.5 cups Soured Cream
- 1.5 tsp Vanilla
Instructions
- Chop the pecans roughly and add to a small bowl. Break the dark chocolate bar into small pieces by hand. Mix the cinnamon powder and brown sugar and set aside
- In a large mixing bowl sieve, the flour, and the sugar – just to ensure no lumps go into. Add the baking powder and baking soda, softened unsalted butter, vanilla and eggs did not use an electric mixer just used a large spatula and mixed the whole thing together well until a proper thick mix was formed. Then I added in the soured cream and mixed well again
- Now pre-heat the oven to 180 degree Celsius
- Grease a 12'' cake tin using a generous blob of the unsalted butter and pour enough cake mixture to make a thin layer then sprinkle some of the pecan mixture. Repeat at least 3 times until all the cake and pecan mixture is alternatively used up
- Bake in the centre of the pre-heated oven at 18 degree Celsius for one hour
- Check using a toothpick or a thin knife to check if the cake is done by inserting it into the middle of the cake. If it comes out clean then the cake is done
- Place the cake tin on a wire rack and allow to cool completely before releasing the removable base of the tin
- Serve with freshly brewed tea
- Stores well in the refrigerator for at least a week in an air-tight tin
This cake contains soured cream and I wouldn’t keep it for longer than a week refrigerated but would love to hear from you if you have stored it longer and how.
Happy Baking!
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Fab recipe! I’m glad you enjoyed baking with my flour. Good to see a fellow biochemist!!
Hi Vicki! Am missing baking big-time and need to get back to it! Loved using your GF flour and oh helloww Fellow Biochemist!