12 Days of Meyers - Gluten Free Meyer Buttermilk Cake

This wonderful blogger and dear friend is also one that is very dear to my heart. I first met her several years ago at the first Austin Food Swap. Back then, I was not sure what a "food swap" was all about. Kate explained it with such ease and her sense of hospitality was warm and open. The swaps have gotten bigger and better over the years, but my fondest memories are of those first small swaps. Since that first meeting, I have picked loquats with this lady and enjoyed tea on her lovely patio. Her hospitality is no secret to locals as she is the author behind 'The Hip Girls Guide To Homemaking", a spin-off from her hugely popular blog. Along with her wife  JoAnn and their sweet little pup Isobel, she lives in a super cool house in East Austin where you will most likely find her canning, writing, repurposing or getting ready for a class to teach.  She is as lovely as the ideas in her book and I'm so excited that she took time out of her busy schedule (finishing the second edition of Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking) to whip up a Meyer creation for this series. She bakes gluten-free so no surprise that she made this tasty cake for this post. Enjoy!

This is a variation on the buttermilk cake I make often, both as a last minute dessert and as a brunch party special touch. I've also doubled the recipe and made cream cheese frosting to end up with a birthday layer cake. I adore this cake and have Julia to thank for turning me onto it. You can use the flour combination in my original post or use a gluten-free flour blend like Pamela's [Artisan] or basic I have a few temporary dietary restrictions so I've substituted out the dairy buttermilk and the sugar (indicated in the recipe in parenthesis). I dare say you can't mess up this forgiving not-too-sweet cake.

Meyer Lemon Buttermilk Cake (gluten-free)

by Kate Payne

of Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking 

1. Grease an 8- or 9-inch baking pan of any shape. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Combine your dry ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl:

1 cup gluten-free flour mix (that doesn’t contain leaveners, baking soda/powder)

1/2 cup sugar (I used coconut palm sugar)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

3. Combine your wet ingredients in a separate bowl:

1/2 cup buttermilk  (I whisked together 125ml almond milk, 25 ml coconut milk, 2 tsp strained Meyer lemon juice)

1 egg

1/2 stick (or 1/4 cup) butter, melted

1/4 tsp vanilla extract (or Meyer limoncello if you have it!)

  finely grated zest of 1 large Meyer lemon

4. Add wet to dry, and mix to combine so there are no more dry flour-y patches. Pour into prepared pan.

5. Bake for 10 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for about another 10-12 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when a toothpick poked in the very center comes out without dough-y goo. Serve warm or at room temperature with lemon curd, Meyer lemon marmalade or strawberry jam!

Store at room temp, sealed in a parchment bag for up to 3 days or freeze.

Gluten What?

So my son told me not long ago that he had to stop taking my yummy treats back to his house because his roommate was gluten free and having all that stuff around was just a big tease. I was crushed! Well, not really, because I always consider those things as challenges.

So I started down that road of gluten free cooking. At first I paid high dollars for gluten free mixes. They were OK but boy, were they expensive. Then I decided I would try my hand at making a gluten free baking flour that would be cup-for-cup the same as all-purpose flour in any recipe. My lovely friend Kate from Hip Girls Guide to Homemaking turned me on to the Art of Gluten Free Baking website for a recipe to make a cup-for-cup mix. I went to the local Asian market and bought all the rice flours and starches to make the mix and it did come out pretty good. Luckily for me, Kate also hooked me up with some xanthum gum (that stuff is really pricey!) that she buys in bulk since she lives a gluten free life herself. I ended up making some citrus sugar cookies with that mix during the holidays only to make a HUGE mistake... I decorated them by rolling each in candy sprinkles that coincedently were made and packaged in a wheat-borne environment. Really?????? Ughhh, OK, so that was a fail (but provided a good laugh to many of my gluten-free friends). Over it and moving on, I gave the rest of that batch of flour to my son's roommate which he says he has since used to make breaded chicken and other flour-based recipes. With all the craziness of trying to find good gluten free recipes I seemed to miss one of the key components along the way. I was trying too hard. It occurred to me that if I just stop for a second and pay attention, I have a whole bunch of yummy recipes that don't have flour in them at all. No excuses, trying too hard just ripped a hole in my check book and gave me a ton of unneeded, self-induced stress. So a day late and a dollar short, I am looking at this in a whole new way and I'm just going to keep baking delicious cookies for my son that won't make me break a sweat or my budget, I'm jus' sayin'!


Double Chocolate Orange Truffle Cookies
Adapted from this recipe

3 cups powdered sugar
2/3 cup cocoa powder (I used Hershey's Special Dark cocoa)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3 egg whites (at room temperature)
1 tbs. of orange juice
2 tbs of orange zest
1 tbs. of vanilla
2 cups of chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Place parchment lined cookie sheet in freezer to chill.

In a large mixing bowl with a whisk, mix the sugar, cocoa and salt. With a wooden spoon, mix the egg whites, orange juice, zest and vanilla. When mixed well, stir in the chips and incorporate well. Place tablespoon sized mounds on baking sheet and bake 12-13 minutes until they have a nice sheen and hold there shape. Cool and enjoy with a glass of milk. No, really, you will need something to drink with these bad boys. They are decadent and rich. Oh, and gluten free! *Insert jazz hands here*