Recipe: GF Lemon Poppy Seed Angel Food Cake :: MMM (Must Make Monday)

April 30, 2012 by Laureen Fox | 20 Comments

I have been a collector of recipes for as long as I can remember but I never manage to find enough time to try all the recipes I collect and that was the reason my MMM (Must-Make-Monday) series was born. The idea was to force myself to choose at least one recipe from my Must-Make-List each week. I would post the results here on my blog. Solid idea, or so I thought, but with my recipe collection growing faster than the speed of light, I could use a month of Mondays and still not get to all the recipes in my collections. That’s the other thing, since I started this series, my collection has become plural. It started with the Must-Make-Page on my blog site but now, I also have a Must-Make Board on Pinterest.

One of the things I like about my MMM (Must-Make-Monday) series, is that it forces me to follow through and use the recipes in my collections. I cross a recipe off my Must-Make-List after I have used it and add it to my Made-This (TAB). You can view archive postings from my MMM (Must-Make-Monday) series, by clicking on my Must-Make-List page and then clicking on the Made-This TAB.

To start things off this week, here are a few recipes, that I’ve come across recently. Categorised but listed in no particular order, these are recipes that I would love to try but haven’t gotten around to yet. They are to become the newest additions to my Must-Make-List.

Important *** I have not tagged these recipe links as Gluten, Grain, Sugar, Dairy, Egg or Nut Free, nor have I labelled them as Vegan or Vegetarian. Please review and confirm the recipe meets your dietary requirements before you begin baking.

Sweet:

Grain Free Petit Fours Recipe Gluten Free Almond Cookies by Mid Eats. These cookies look good and seem easy enough to make. Mostly, I’m interested in trying Heba’s method for creating darker cookies by broiling them for a minute.
Overnight Bittersweet Meringues by Remedial Eating. I just love Molly’s blog! The website’s clean, minimalist style, her writing, her photos, oh yea, and her recipes too. These chocolate meringue cookies look and sound really good. Although her recipes are not usually gluten free, the meringues are naturally gluten free. That is as long as one is careful to use a gluten free chocolate bar.
All Natural Almond Butter Banana Ice Cream by Inspired Edibles. Is it warm enough to declare it Ice Cream Season? I do believe it is!
Cinnamon Swirl Scones by Daily Bites. Another fantastic looking recipe from Hallie!
Buckwheat Pecan Thumbprint Cookies by Nourishing Meals. I like buckwheat and these cookies sweetened with applesauce, maple syrup and filled with sugar-free jam, sound like a nice healthy alternative to the sugary sweet treats I often crave.

Breakfast:

Light and Fluffy Coconut Flour Pancakes by All Day I Dream About Food. I know, I know, I’m crazy about collecting recipes for coconut pancakes but in addition to a delicious recipe, Carolyn shares some helpful hints about working with coconut flour.

Salad:

Apple Broccoli Salad by Flavors by Four. The broccoli salad I’ve been using, is with grapes. I would love to try this recipe with apples in the salad and my homemade yogurt in the dressing.

Appetizers & Party Food:

Tasty Tuna Boats by NY Metro Parents. These Tuna Boats are adorable!
Honey Roasted Chickpeas by Yummy Inspirations. We used to buy honey roasted peanuts but I bet these chickpeas are better.

Savoury:

Gluten Free Grain Free Crepes by Real Food Forager. I want to try these with a savory filling or maybe I will do as Jill suggests and cut them into strips, salt and dry them for use as crispy crackers.
Hemp Seed Alfredo Sauce With Zucchini Noodles by Veggie Nook. This looks like it would make a perfect lunch.
Roasted Smashed Potatoes by It’s A Keeper. I just happen to have a bag of little potatoes and would love to give this recipe a try.
Coconut Curry Lime Chicken by Living Simply Gluten Free. Coconut, Curry and Lime? Yes please!
Halibut Cakes by Gluten Free Spinner. I tried this recipe last year and absolutely loved it! I’m adding it to my Must-Make-List as a reminder to make it again

Miscellaneous:

Weekly Gluten-Free Roundup by Maura at Celiac Kitchen Witch. Interested in more Gluten Free Recipes and Reviews? You should sign up for this weekly list that Maura compiles.

Today you are You, that is truer than true.There is no one alive who is Youer than You.~ Dr. Seuss

And now it’s time to see what’s been cooking in the Fox Kitchen…

It was only recently that I first heard about adding flavouring to Angel Food Cakes. Before going gluten free, my only experience with baking Angel Food Cake, was with the plain white mixes that came in a box. Now that I’ve learned how easy these are to make from scratch, I don’t think I will ever bother with the boxed variety again, even if they happened to be gluten free.

This Lemon Poppy Seed Angel Food Cake by The Meltaways, although not Gluten Free, sounded and looked fantastic. Something I was eager to convert to gluten free.

As with most recipes that only need a small measure of flour, Angel Food Cake recipes are easy to make gluten free. You do however need a large measure of egg whites which can leave you with a bunch of yolks to find a use for. The first few times I made Angel Food Cake from scratch, I also had to make lemon custard and lemon pie filling to use up the yolks but these days I pick up a carton of Naturegg – Simply Egg Whites.

I used all White Rice flour the first time I made a GF Angel Food Cake. Although the flavour was great, I found the cake to have a kind of gritty mouth feel. I’ve considered using Amaranth or Quinoa flours but worried they might affect the flavour. I’m thinking now, I could just increase the amount of lemon zest and poppy seeds in this recipe to mask any strong flavours those grains might impart. If you don’t care for the flours in this recipe, feel free to switch them up. Stick to flours that are of a lighter variety, not any of the bean or nut flours but some of the lighter grain flours should do alright.

I’ve never baked an Angel Food Cake in anything other than an ungreased tube pan, so I believe one of those is essential. You will also need an electric mixer or a really, really strong arm to beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks.

I guess I should warn you that this recipe calls for the use of White Sugar, something I generally avoid but in this case, I just wasn’t sure how to get around it. I am however open to suggestions. If any of you have made Angel Food Cake, or any meringue based recipes with unrefined sweeteners, I would love to hear about it. Please leave a note in the comment section to share with me and my readers.

I couldn’t resist throwing in this picture of my two-year old grandson. He is the youngest member of my “tasting panel” and as you can see by the expression on his face, he is anxiously waiting for his food blogging Nana (me) to finish taking pictures. He is little, but takes his job as a taster very seriously. As soon as the camera came out, he pulled over his step stool, ready to get right down to it!

Recipe: GF Lemon Poppy Seed Angel Food Cake

View Print Friendly Recipe Here

Gluten Free | Dairy Free | Vegetarian

Summary: A beautiful homemade gluten free Angel Food Cake lightly flavoured with Lemon and Poppy Seeds

Inspired by: Lemon Poppy Seed Angel Food Cake from The Meltaways [not Gluten Free]

Ingredients

1 Cup brown rice flour, or sweet white rice
1/2 Cup cornstarch, or starch flour of choice
3/4 Cup white sugar, sifted
1 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 2/3 Cups egg whites, at room temperature, about 11-12 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar
1 Cup white sugar, sifted
zest from 1 lemon, about 2 tsp, finely minced, or 1 1/2 tsp lemon extract
2 Tbsp poppy seeds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325.
In a medium bowl, add flour, cornstarch, 3/4 cup sugar, gaur gum and whisk until well blended. Set aside.
In a large mixer bowl, beat egg whites until frothy. Add cream of tartar (helps the eggs to hold their volume), continue to beat the egg whites.
Slowly add remaining 1 cup sugar and beat until soft peaks form.
By hand, with a spatula, gently fold in lemon zest and poppy seeds.
Slowly add the flour mixture, gently folding in each addition before adding more.
Once all the flour is fully incorporated, spoon the batter into a 10″ ungreased tube pan.
Bake for 60 – 70 minutes, on a lower oven rack, to allow room for the cake to rise. When done, the top is firm, cracked and a nice golden colour.
Allow cake to cool upside down in the pan before removing. I use an inverted funnel to hold the cake upside down while it cools.