This is very much a quick, no-frills affair: simplicity with a great flavour.
This cake is softer than a cake made with traditional flour and crumbles more easily, but I find it holds together very well when sliced and eaten. It really doesn’t need extra gums etc in it that you often have with gluten-free baking to bind it together.
Freeze the sponge before assembling it!
I fully recommend freezing the cooled cake before filling it and/or covering it. You then simply leaving the cake to defrost in the fridge before diving in.
I do this will almost all my decorated sponge cakes, including wedding cakes as it makes life easier. As with most cakes, freezing ensures you don’t get crumbs everywhere and there is no risk of the cake breaking. With a gluten-free cake being more delicate, the freezing is an extra guarantee that the cake won’t crumble when assembling it.
The filling
The filling here is whipped double cream, slightly sweetened with some vanilla icing sugar, and chopped strawberries. The top is dusted with vanilla icing sugar.
Ideas for further cakes or decorating cakes are on my post here.
A light sponge
This gluten-free cake, using the all-in-one method is very light and melt-in-the-mouth and eats very easily!
I like to add finely grated lemon zest to the mixture: it lifts a sponge such as this in a subtle way. You can also mix the juice with a little sugar and drizzle it over the sponges when they come out of the oven, if you wish.
A gluten-free cake sponge: makes a 6″ cake with generous depth
- 3 medium free-range eggs (at room temperature)
- 175g very soft unsalted butter
- 175g gluten-free self-raising flour
- 1.5 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
- 175g caster sugar
- finely grated zest of one large lemon, optional
(1) Grease and base-line two 6″ sandwich tins and preheat the oven to 160°(fan).
(2) Put the cake ingredients – making sure they are at room temperature – into a bowl and beat well with a wooden spoon until incorporated: it will only take a minute or so. As the flour is gluten-free there is no danger of over-beating the mixture!
(3) Transfer to the cake tins and smooth off. Bake for about 20 minutes until well risen, light golden brown and the cakes are just coming away from the sides.
(4) Leave to cool for a few minutes in their tins and invert to a cooling rack until completely cold. Peel off the greaseproof. You can freeze it, wrapped in greaseproof, once fully cooled down.
(5) Sandwich together with whatever you like: jam, cream, buttercream, fruit curd………..
Phil's Home Kitchen 
The cake looks wonderful, amazing that it’s GF, love Victoria Sponge.
LikeLike
Thank you. Yes and even lighter as a GF cake
LikeLike
They are utterly beautiful sponges. Can I ask which actual flour you used please?
LikeLike
Thank you. I used Dove’s Farm gluten-free self-raising flour which works excellently
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m so impressed and must try it myself. I’ve never had good enough results but I must be to blame as that is one beautiful and perfect looking cake!
LikeLike
Yes go for it. When I’ve made cakes and they’ve not done what they should it really is frustrating…but usually its down to the oven being too hot or too cold etc..Although I have been known to omit a key ingredient!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
My dad is Coeliac and I’ve struggled to make him things both healthy and cake related. As he gets food on prescription I can use Juvela GF flour mixes and they work beautifully. I did a recent blog post on it actually. But my readers are a tad outraged that it’s prescription only lol. I feel I need to master Doves flours until such time you can buy Juvela, which truly is an excellent product 🙂
LikeLike
I’d never heard of Juvela until now. I now only use Dove’s when I make GF bakes and swear by them – although like any brand, it takes time to get used to when it comes to adapting non-GF recipes
LikeLiked by 1 person
hey i just tried this recipe and it tastes delicious, my only problem is every time i make sponge cake it crumbles apart, so I’m un able to work with or put any fillings on, do you have any advice on how to stop this happening ? x
LikeLike
Hi. I am glad you like the taste. I am not too sure about the excess crumbling, although it will be slightly more crumbly than a normal Victoria sponge.
You could add an extra egg yolk to bind it together more which I did for some glutenfree brownies recently and worked a treat. Or try cooking just a fraction less
For covering and for fillings, I am an advocate of freezing the baked and cooled sponge and fill/cover while frozen: the cake will hold its shape perfectly without any danger of breaking apart and as it defrosts you will have a ready-to-devour filled cakes.
Regards
LikeLike
I have used this recipe twice now. I have tripled it for a three tier 8” cake and today quadrupled it for a four tier 8” cake. I do use 100g of ground almonds instead of 90g of flour. I have been trying numerous recipes over the last 5 years since my husband and daughter are coeliac and this is amazing. My cakes have been light, nice and thick and not crumbly. Thank you so much
LikeLike
Hi Karen, I am so pleased you enjoy this recipe. And I love the use of the almonds in there
LikeLike