Gluten-Free Cherry Cake

This Gluten-Free Cherry Cake is a store cupboard staple bake. Fluffy and tender with a sugary crust and packed with fruity glacé cherries. It’s an easy cake to make, no frills, but packed with flavour from our well chosen gluten-free flours with absolutely no xanthan gum. The perfect accompaniment to any morning or afternoon tea.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1 10

Total Time1 25

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: British

Servings: slices

Calories: 514kcal

Author: Georgina Hartley

Ingredients

275 g glacé cherries*
125 g rice flour
70 g millet flour
30 g tapioca flour + 1 tablespoon
120 g almond flour ground almonds in UK
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
225 g unsalted butter at room temperature
225 g caster sugar + 3 teaspoons
4 eggs medium sized, 60g each
1 lemon unwaxed, organic

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 180°C / 160°C fan assisted /gas mark 4 / 350°F.
Grease and line a 20cm x 10cm height (8 inch x 4 inch height) round cake tin.
Chop the cherries roughly, so some are halved and some quartered.
Toss the cherries with the extra tablespoon of tapioca flour until all the cherries are well coated then set aside.
Whisk together the flours, almonds, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Beat together the butter and sugar, using a stand mixer or electric beater, until light and creamy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after every addition.
Pour in half the flour and mix in well, scraping down the sides. Mix in the zest and juice of the lemon then add the other half of the flour.
Rest your cake batter for 20 minutes at this point to help the gluten-free flours absorb the liquid ingredients.
Stir in the cherries until evenly dispersed then pour into the cake tin.
Bake for about 70 minutes or until an inserted cocktail skewer comes out clean.
Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then turn out carefully. Leave to cool fully on a wire rack then sprinkle the three teaspoons of sugar over the top of the cake.

Notes

My best tip for this cake: Using Homemade Glacé Cherries will take your cake to another flavour level.

Gluten-free flour substitutions

Rice Flour/ Millet Flour. You can replace either flour with sorghum flour or oat flour.
Tapioca Flour. You can swap with arrowroot powder.

All-Purpose Flours. I don’t recommend substituting the flours for a branded gluten-free all-purpose blend. However, you can use my Homemade Gluten-Free Flour Mix which gives great results. It is a balanced mix of wholegrain and starchy flours, eliminating the need for xanthan gum. The blend includes sweet rice flour, sorghum flour, oat flour, and tapioca flour, providing structure and texture without extra binders. You can swap the rice flour, millet flour, tapioca flour and the almond flour for 345g of this Homemade FTL blend.

Baking tips

Room temperature. Make sure all the ingredients are at room temperature, including the eggs.
Beating the butter and sugar. Beat the butter and sugar for at least 5 minutes so they are very light, pale and creamy.
Adding the eggs. Break your eggs into a separate bowl before adding to the cake batter.
Curdled mixture. If your mixture looks curdled when you add the eggs don’t worry. Add your flour and it will bring your ingredients back together.
Rest your batter. This cake mixture contains rice flour which likes a little rest before going into the oven. It helps the flour to absorb more liquid ingredients.
Fan assisted oven. I recommend baking your cakes in a fan assisted oven (if you have one). Gluten-Free flours can retain more moisture so I find that by keeping the air circulating in the oven during the bake it lightens the cake a little. If not, you can bake in a regular oven at the settings written in the recipe.

Store. This is a great cake to make in advance as it keeps well for up to 3 days. Store in a cool dark place (but not the fridge) in an airtight container.

Freeze. This Gluten-Free Cherry Cake freezes very well. Allow to cool fully then wrap up tightly in cling film and then aluminium foil to avoid any freezer spoilage. Freeze for up to 2 months. To defrost, allow to sit out at room temperature overnight then unwrap, sprinkle with the sugar and serve.

US customary measurements: These US measurements for the ingredients provided are based on a conversion calculator. This recipe was tested with metric measurements and I recommend using a digital scale to weigh ingredients for the most accurate results. READ MORE >>> Why you should always weigh vs measuring with cups

Nutrition Information: Please note that the nutrition information provided below is an estimate based on an online nutrition calculator. It will vary based on the specific ingredients you use. Please seek a professional nutritionist’s advice for further clarification.

The nutrition serving is for 1 slice of cake, assuming the cake is cut into 10 servings.

Nutrition