Wedding cake - gluten, dairy and alcohol free

[Birdie Wife]

Hi Guys,

My mum offered to make us a wedding cake. When I told her of some of the guests' allergies, she nearly freaked ! I know one of you (or maybe several!) have some fabulous recipes up your sleeves, could someone recommend a cake recipe that fits the bill?

Thanks in advance!

[contadina]

Sorry no recipes, but I'd be tempted to make a small gluten and alcohol-free fruit cake (no needs to ice as it generally gets cut into wee slabs anyway) and that way the rest of guests wouldn't have to forgo a lovely booze-enriched piece of cake.

[Annpan]

My sister made us a GF chocolate wedding cake... mostly out of ground almond - I don't know where she got the recipe though It wasn't a specifically GF recipe, just happened that way.

If you want to do the fruit cake thing I am sure you have loads of options, as the majority of that is fruit anyway... you could soak the fruit in some fruit juice or syrup instead of alcohol... but beware that it will not last the way that an alcohol loaded cake would.

Doves farm do a really great GF flour and if you use a recipe that involves mixing jam in it can be really great(I do a chocolate marmalade GF cake) The goeyness of the jam seems to make up for the lack of gooey gluten in the flour.. GF flour can sometimes make for a very crumbly, gritty cake.

Health food stores will have plenty of replacement options for milk and butter - not sure about a replacement for eggs.



Finally - you can't please everyone and bare in mind that many allergy sufferers (including me and my MIL) get used to having to go without... just eating the icing...have a piece of shortbread instead, etc, etc. You won't be upsetting anyone, but it would be nice to offer alternatives.

[Birdie Wife]

That sounds really nice... any chance you could get the recipe from your sister? A lot of the OHs family are teetotal in fact, as well as OH, so we aren't looking for a boozy cake (though OH eats a nice fruit cake I do which uses a good drop of stout in it for flavour). I think we'll have two tiers, the main one with the good stuff in and the smaller one for the allergy sufferers! Eggs not a problem, in fact the more the better as my hens are popping them out like bullets

[Annpan]

I shall Email my sister forthwith - I might only get the name of the recipe book, but it might be worth a look in the library for it.

Ours was 2 tiers too... and one of the headaches my sister had was to find a chocolate cake dense enough to support the weight of a second tier.

[ina]

You could always support the second tier with some kind of solid structure...

I sometimes make a cake with a sponge base that's just made from ground almonds (or hazelnuts) and eggs and sugar; but that isn't very strong. And I once made a four tier birthday cake (40th birthday) with an almond sponge - that contained half almonds, half flour - don't know whether that would work with gluten free flour, though!

[Ellendra]

Make an ice cream cake with almond milk, or maybe a fruit sorbet cake?

[Annpan]

My sister says it was from a sainsbury's magazine, it was a sachertorte(sp?) recipe. But all the sachertorte recipes that I have have regular flour in them, but I know that the one she made was mostly eggs and ground almonds I am confused now... but here is a phot of it anyways.

It was 3 tiers (just shows how well I remember it ) The decorations were designed and made by my BIL who is a oragami expert

[Birdie Wife]

That looks stunning... I'm so hungry now, and it's still an hour before lunch... I'll have a look in my posh chocolate cookery book for their sachertorte recipe. Thanks!!

[Lady Willow]

How about a main cake that will satisfy most of the guests, then some cupcakes (which are all the rage now) for those will allergies or moral issues with their diet.

Here's one I saw earlier ....

[Silver Ether]

This is a rich fruit cake I made for yule it really yummy and it got eaten by every one ... Oh I left out the almonds because of allergies to nuts.

1kg mixed fruit.
125g butter.
4 beaten eggs
440g unsweetened crushed pinapple.
125g almonds.
1tsp of xanthan or guar gum .....( I actually used agar agar as thats was in the cupboard.)
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda.
1 tsp cream of tartar.
1 cup of gluten free flour ... ( why we have switched to cups from grams is beyond me !)
1 tsp nutmeg.
1tsp mixed spice.
I tablesppon of Amaretto,
1 tablespoon of Cointreau.
You can change the alcohol to something else you prefer or use almond / orange essence instead.

Cook the fruit and liqueures on high in the MICRO ...... yes its a dead easy cake and fast.
Add the butter and spices.
Add all the other ingredients and mix together.
Put into a glass dish greased or lined and cook on HIGH in the MICRO for 15 minutes.

Test with a skewer when it comes out clean its cooked.
Let it cool before removing from dish.

[hetty]

I always make gluten and dairy free fruit cake as my son has allergies. it doesn't seem any different from ordinary fruit cake. I just substitute the flour with Doves farm gluten free flour and use Pure dairy free margarine. Fruit cake doesn't have to have alcohol in either.

I haven't found substitutes for lighter cakes such as sponges work so well though.

Susan

[ina]

I always make gluten and dairy free fruit cake as my son has allergies. it doesn't seem any different from ordinary fruit cake. I just substitute the flour with Doves farm gluten free flour and use Pure dairy free margarine.

Oil works just as well if you have trouble finding vegan marge; I use oil in almost everything now (unless I want the real butter taste!).

Aradia - that cake looks fantastic. Really impressive.

[Lady Willow]

I haven't found substitutes for lighter cakes such as sponges work so well though.

Susan

Would you like the recipe for this dairy-free cake?

[Silver Ether]

mmmmm I would ... and can you post a slice please while I hava a cuppa...