As of today, I’ve been at the Lake for a whole week! I’ve nicely settled in, have gotten used to lazy mornings, and really have started to sink my teeth into the Harry Potter books.  I started them two days ago and already I’ve had to sheepishly phone my neighbour twice to ask for the next book in the series.  To be on the safe side, when I came to collect the Prisoner of Azkaban this afternoon I also picked up the Goblet of Fire.  Woo!

laaake.

We’ve had our fair share of weather in the past week as well.  Recently, it’s lent itself well to my habit of burrowing in my blankets all day, the Harry Potter books an engrossing companion.  The sunshine and calm lake of the first few days were banished by chilly winds and monotonous showers. Still, on the days when it was windy but not raining, my brother and I managed to get out on the kayaks do to battle with the waves.  Uh, I think nature won that one. :)

braving the waves.

But on to the cake! Today’s post is an accidental double bill.  See, the other day, my mum asked me if I would make her a gluten-free banana cake.  I happily complied and was just mixing the flour mixture with the butter and sugar when she walked into the kitchen and I froze mid stir.  I swore, realising I’d just botched the whole cake — somehow I’d managed to forget that I needed rice flour for a gluten-free cake and had used all purpose flour instead.

However, I had yet to add the banana to the rest of the batter.  I didn’t want to throw out my first cake, so I decided to do a little baking experiment; after all, if it tasted horrible, well it had been destined for the bin anyways. So I added some more milk to compensate for the lack of moisture provided by the banana and tossed in a handful of fresh blueberries.  And I’m happy to say I was quite pleased with the result!

*gluten-free* banana cake.

The Blueberry Cake smelled delicious and the top had browned to a lovely gold.  We didn’t cut it until a day or so after (too busy dealing with the banana cake and chocolate cake my Grandma made before I arrived).  I was surprised by how moist it was.  The cake has a coarser crumb, is still quite light.  The blueberries are a nice touch, but the real star of the cake is the buttery flavour of the cake itself.  A yummy, simple cake that is perfect with a mug of tea.

accidentally delicious.

The banana cake (when made with the correct flour) was also well received.  I’ve dabbled in a bit of gluten-free baking before, with various results.  One of the key secrets of success when adapting a recipe is choosing one that is appropriate.  For example, unless you want your cupcakes to taste like you’ve replaced the flour with sawdust, it’s a good idea to pick something that will provide extra moisture — like bananas or other pureed fruit, for example.  Also, baked goods such as brownies adapt well because they don’t have to rise much.

I used brown rice flour in this cake and as predicted, it remained dense, but was moist and tasty.  My mum whipped up a simple butter icing, which really added a nice sweet kick to the cake.

So without further ado, both recipes: Gluten-free Banana Cake and Accidental Blueberry Cake!

Gluten-Free Banana Cake

adapted from Company’s Coming: Cakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 c. mashed banana (2-3 overripe bananas)
• 1/3 c. buttermilk (add 1 tsp of lemon juice to normal milk and let sit for a few minutes until sour)
• 2 c. brown rice flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking toda
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
2. Mix banana with buttermilk.
3. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Add to butter mixture in 3 parts alternately with banana mixture in 2 parts beginning and ending with flour. Spread in 9″x13″ (I sprayed mine well with non-stick spray). Bake in oven for 45-50 minutes  or until an inserted wodden toothpick comes out clean.  Cool.  Frost with butter icing if desired.

Blueberry Cake

adapted from Company’s Coming: Cakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c. butter, softened
• 1 1/2 c. granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 c. buttermilk (add 1 tsp of lemon juice to normal milk and let sit for a few minutes until sour)
• 1 c. milk
• 2 c. all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking toda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 c. fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F (180C). Cream butter and sugar together. Beat in eggs one at a time. Add vanilla.
2. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Add to butter mixture in 3 parts alternately with milk mixture in 2 parts beginning and ending with flour. Spread in a deep 9″ square (I sprayed mine well with non-stick spray). Bake in oven for 50-55 minutes  or until an inserted wodden toothpick comes out clean.  Cool.

take me with you!