Gluten Free Orange Liqueur Tipsy Cake
NH's ABC WMUR Cooks Corner December 7, 2016 and my orange liqueur tipsy cake - devoured by the crew, they don't care that's it's gluten free, it's delicious. I used rum with the orange juice today. One of my December recipes for Beyond Celiac (originally National Foundation for Celiac Awareness).
In England we used to make this for weddings in a 16 inch square deep cake pan using a complete bottle of sherry or brandy until the cake was literally sitting in a puddle of alcohol laced syrup.
I made this for a Bridal Shower with Bride and Mother of the Bride, both celiac disease. I left my kitchen aid beating the completed batter and it was the fluffiest version yet.
Photo is of Kahlua Version.
Cake:
1+ ½ sticks butter (6oz, 170 g) very soft (Earth Balance is a good substitute)
¾ c sugar (6 oz, 170g)
3 extra large eggs or 4 large eggs
1 tbsp (15 ml) gf vanilla extract
Zest of one large orange
1/3 c almond flour 1+1/4 oz/35 g
1 c, 4+1/2 oz King Arthur gluten free flour (not containing xanthan gum)
4 tsp (20ml) gf baking powder
pinch of salt
2 tbsp (30ml) milk
no xg.
Syrup:
2 c (16 fl oz, 480 ml) orange juice
1/3 c sugar
1/2 c (4 fl oz, 120ml) Orange liqueur. Grand Marnier is wonderful but also far more expensive than Triple Sec or Gran Gala. Choose whichever you can tolerate. Brandy or rum as an alternative. Rum and Brandy should both be naturally gluten free, it is the flavorings that normally add the gluten.
1. Preheat oven to 375*/190* and grease and gf flour a 10”/25 cm across the top bundt pan with food spray. A spring form pan can also be used but the cake would then have to be placed in a different container for the syrup to soak in.
2. Place softened butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla extract, flour, almond flour, baking powder, milk and salt in mixing bowl and beat with electric mixer until soft, fluffy and creamy - at least 2 minutes. Stir in orange zest, it tends to stick to beaters and you then have to scrape zest off. Don’t skimp on this beating. Mix will look whiter as air is beaten in. It might look slightly curdled but that won't affect taste or texture. When I walked away from stand mixer and it beat longer, the texture was even lighter when cooked.
3. Spoon batter into prepared bundt pan,(it will only about half fill pan) smooth top and bake in preheated oven for approx. 30-40 minutes until cake is well risen, deep golden brown and deeper brown around the edges. It might have a crack in the middle but this will be hidden when you invert the cake. Note: a dark pan will darken cake sooner.
4. Remove cake from oven and leave to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Then use a thin spatula or thin plastic knife to release all edges of cake including center hole.
5. Turn cake out of pan onto plate. There is no need to let cake cool further.
6. Make syrup by dissolving sugar slowly in orange juice, bring to the boil and simmer gently for 1 minute. Remove from heat, cool for a few minutes and add alcohol.
7. Pour half of prepared syrup into bundt pan and return cake to bundt pan. (no need to wash pan first). Pour remaining syrup over cake and leave in pan for about 10 minutes until cake has absorbed all syrup. It will look as if it is swimming in liquid at first.
8. Carefully turn out onto serving plate (otherwise it might break) and leave to finish cooling. Don’t leave it in the pan to cool, it becomes difficult to turn out. This cake does not need cream, but my mother (and me) always served it with whipped cream and sliced almonds sprinkled on top.
Note:
I whip 1 cup of whipping cream with 1 tablespoon Orange liqueur and 1 tablespoon powdered sugar. then I cut cake into slices and spread or pipe cream on top of each slice. Finish with chocolate curls, grated chocolate or chocolate shards. Add a pinch of xanthan gum to cream to keep it firmer.
You can also leave cake whole and increase the quantity of cream and smother cake in cream with lots of chocolate curls and sliced almonds.
Note: 1/3 of recipe makes about 4 muffin/cup cake size, about 15 minutes cooking.
