Gluten- and sugar-free cakes for an American to bring to a weekly cake event in the UK?

January 20, 2011 11:40 AM

I'm looking for some good recipes for gluten-free and sugar-free cakes or similar desserts to make and bring to my university department's weekly cake devouring event. I'm an American in the UK, if that's at all relevant.
posted by iamkimiam to Food & Drink (9 answers total)

This is the best gluten-free baking book. Anything by Bette Hagman is going to be great. I'm sure someone is going to come in at some point and recommend the website Gluten Free Girl but I have had such bad luck with success using her recipes (and I'm a former pastry chef - I know what I'm doing).
posted by cooker girl at 11:42 AM on January 20, 2011

I know nothing about gluten free diets-do they prohibit the use of sugar substitutes? I have a cheesecake recipe with splenda or stevia that people seem to like but I don't know if that would qualify?
posted by supercapitalist at 12:17 PM on January 20, 2011

Best answer: I can't help you on the sugar-free, but this gluten-free lemon drizzle cake (with potato!) is absolutely brilliant - a colleague brought it to a work event and everyone was crazy over it. I'm not sure if you could use some kind of non-sugar sweetener like honey as a substitute, but it's worth trying for such an amazing cake!
posted by ukdanae at 12:18 PM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I'd make Gateau Lawrence (original recipe from Joanne Harris' My French Kitchen).

It is by far the best gluten-free thing I have put in my mouth. I've made it several times and it is perfect for department events because the damn thing is so rich that each person just needs a sliver (= many servings).

This isn't sugar-free but it only requires 2/3 c for the entire cake. This cake wouldn't taste right without real sugar so you may want to give this a pass if that sugar-free is an absolute requirement.
posted by special-k at 12:28 PM on January 20, 2011

Similar to the above, the flourless chocolate cake from Martha Stewart is VERY good, though not quite sugar free. I used bittersweet chocolate and less than the half cup it calls for and it is divine. It's not really cake but no one I serve it to cares. I would think any sugar substitute would work well in the recipe.
posted by hecho de la basura at 12:53 PM on January 20, 2011

It's gluten-free week on the Kitchn blog, and they have several dessert recipes that look good.
posted by smich at 1:00 PM on January 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Oh goodness. I'm gluten-free and fructose-intolerant (meaning I avoid all natural sweeteners, including honey) and the only decent GF/SF cake I've encountered is Myra's New York Style Cheesecake. I've served it to both GF and gluten-eating folks and everyone has loved it.

I can also attest to the success of the aforementioned Martha flourless chocolate cake recipe, but there's no way that I can figure out to make it sugar-free since even bittersweet chocolate contains some sugar.
posted by chez shoes at 1:10 PM on January 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

There are some nice recipes out there for fudge-ish things based mainly on dates. Of course, they end up having the same sort of sugar content as stuff made directly with sugar, so if your colleagues are diabetic, that won't help. But if they are just anti-sugar for some other reason, you could try them. They are gluten-free in any case.
posted by lollusc at 5:28 PM on January 20, 2011

Best answer: I think you might like this blog:

http://healthyindulgences.blogspot.com/
posted by TheClonusHorror at 8:53 AM on January 21, 2011 [3 favorites]