I have a weakness for chocolate (don’t we all?), little bites in the shape of chips or kisses or wrapped around peanut butter. But when it comes to cake, lemon is the flavor I seek.
As I’m learning to bake gluten-free, I turn again and again to recipes by Elizabeth Barbone; you can find her at Gluten-Free Baking and at Serious Eats, where she writes the Gluten-Free Tuesdays column. Her recipe for gluten-free grapefruit pound cake caught my eye, and with a sick kid home on Friday, I had all the time in the world to experiment in the kitchen.
Living in California, I have a few small lemon trees with plump, ripe fruit – a perfect subsitution for the grapefruit in Elizabeth’s recipe. With my zester in place, I gathered rice flour, sweet rice flour and all the other gluten-free baking ingredients that make this cake moist, sweet and rich. Perfect with a cup of coffee, or for sneaking quick bites in the middle of the night.
I followed Elizabeth’s recipe to a tee except for a few modifications. Check out her recipe, and follow my kitchen tips if you prefer lemon over grapefruit:
- Zest 4-5 large lemons; hold lemons aside to juice. Use the zest in place of the grapefruit zest for the cake.
- Juice the lemons and use 1/2 cup lemon juice in place of the grapefruit juice for the glaze.
- I also stirred in 1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar after taking the zest off the heat.
Me too, lemon over chocolate any day. I’m going to try my mother’s recipe for shortbread that calls for rice flour. Do you think that means regular or sweet? Thanks –
Hi Liz! If it doesn’t specify then my guess would be regular. I’m glad to have another lemon cake fan!
This recipe is fantastic. My husband and I gobbled it up. Thanks for sharing.
I wish I could have had this with my morning coffee. Love baked goodies made with lemon. Mmm!
Mmmm, this looks delicious! I love lemon (and other citrus) in my baked goods as well. It almost makes them feel lighter 😉
It sounds amazing! I could totally see myself snacking on/sneaking this in the middle of the night too.
Wow, that looks so good! It doesn’t look as dense like most gluten-free baked goods! I’ll have to try this out so I have something to offer my gluten-free friends!
Gotta love lemons right off the tree! Thanks for the gluten free tips.