Please don’t be put off, this is not coffee tasting AT ALL! I’m sure you could add a really strong coffee, but I was a little dubious so didn’t go for full-on coffee flavour, and this suited the whole family and friends who got to try a bit too! Yummy and not too dense, I feel like my cake-baking is getting better even after these few Cake Days recipes… we shall see once I start decorating!

I didn’t do any extra flour additions for this one, I just used a straightforward bag of Gluten Free Plain Flour from Doves Farm and went with it. I think another time I’d like to try making my own flour mix as I found that this was a really great way to become familiar with all kinds of alternative gluten free flours, and it gives a different texture to what you might be expecting. So… keep a look out for my recipes with different flour mixes, like my gluten free Apricot and Almond cookies… soo moreish… I made THREE batches each with a different mix and they got munched in no time!

This recipe is also great for a quick(ish… it does need one hour to bake) one to do as, all the ingredients get blended up, put in a greased tin and then once it’s cooked, you let it cool (if you can wait that long!) and that’s it… no icing required! I love it when a simple recipe is really great tasting!

Coffee and Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

190g Dairy Free Margarine

130g Gluten Free Plain Flour

190g Soft Light Brown Sugar

3 Eggs

60g Cocoa powder (make sure it’s gluten free!!)

1 Tsp baking powder

20ml milk – soya, skimmed or whichever milk you usually use!

1 tablespoon strong coffee (brewed and cooled… I made up a mug of coffee and made it really strong then took a spoon of coffee out of it… I hope this was right, but there wasn’t really any guidance on how this was best done. I think it you want a stronger coffee taste, just make a reeeeeally strong cup of coffee!)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 170 C

Spritz some spray oil into the loaf tin (I used a silicon one after a lot of recommendations) and then sprinkle some flour into the ‘tin’ and give it a shake so that the inside is lightly coated.

1. Cream together the butter and sugar (take it from this point onwards that I will be creaming and mixing by hand until further notice… I am still awaiting the arrival of my birthday and hopefully, fingers crossed a mixer of some description will be winging it’s way to me… we shall see)
2. Scoop down all the mixture from the sides with a spatula, then gradually beat in one egg at a time into the mixture. Between each egg, be sure to keep scooping down the mixture as it will hit the sides and you’ll end up with an uneven mix!
3. Sift the flour, cocoa and baking powder into the mixture, pour in the milk and coffee and mix everything in really well with a spatula – make sure you mix until everything is cocoa coloured and be really exact with this as their tends to be cheeky bits of un-cocoa-ed batter and that is not the look we are going for here!
4. When the batter is smooth, tip it into the loaf tin you greased and floured earlier on, then bake in the oven for 1 hour or until a knife/skewer comes out clean from the centre. A tip if you’re using a silicon loaf tin is to stand it onto a tray as, because the silicon is flexible, it can be a nightmare to get in the oven, so it’s good to stand it on a tray and slide it in, also it means the loaf tin won’t fall in the slats (is this the right word??) of the oven shelf!
5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool completely (if you can wait that long…)

Best enjoyed with a cup of tea and a good book! 

This one went down really well with my gluten-eating family, although by now, they’re pretty much loving all of the gluten free alternatives I bring home as they find they taste a lot lighter.

Enjoy!

Rubelle’s Moon