xmakina Low FODMAP, gluten free and lactose free
An enormous thank you to Becky at Gluten Free Cuppa Tea and Luna at Lil’ Luna for providing the base ideas
Strawberry Pound Cake with frosting
A delicious treat for a weekend at home with friends or family, this cake comes with a delicious, strong strawberry flavour with the topping adding a delicious alternative to cream for a bit of summer any time of the year.
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- electric hand mixer for the frosting
The Cake
- 200 grams lactose free spread vegetable spread or softened lactose free butter
- 200 grams caster sugar
- 4 medium eggs beaten
- 200 grams gluten free self raising flour, sifted
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 128 grams strawberries diced (~4 pieces each)
- 1 handful gluten free flower for rolling the strawberries in
Frosting
- 114 grams lactose free cream cheese
- 32 grams lactose free spread vegetable spread or softened lactose free butter
- 192 grams icing sugar, sifted add more for a thicker frosting
Garnish
- 4-5 strawberries diced (~6 pieces each)
Instructions
The Cake
- Line a 2lb loaf tin (standard size) with greaseproof/parchment paper.
- Preheat the oven to about 180C / 160C fan
- Cream the dairy free spread and caster sugar together until pale, light and fluffy. This can be done by hand or with an electric hand mixer if you have one.
- Pour in a small amount of the eggs and stir the mixture until it’s fully combined. Repeat until you’ve added all the eggs. If you add too much at once, it’ll take you much longer to stir it all in.
- Fold in the gluten free self raising flour and baking powder.
- Take your diced stawberries and in a small bowl with the handful of gluten free self raising flour, toss them gently by hand to get a nice even cover of flour.
- Add the strawberries to your cake batter and give the whole thing a few gentle stirs to make sure the strawberry pieces are spread around
- Pour the whole mix into your loaf tin and give it a nice flat top with a spatula or the bottom of your spoon. If any strawberries are sticking out, give them a nudge down and smear some batter over the top of them.
- Pop the cake in the middle of your oven and leave for about 55 minutes. You can test the cake is cooked by pushing a skewer (or clean knitting needle in a pinch) into the middle of the cake. It should come out clean. If it doesn’t, give the cake 10 more minutes and test again in a different part.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and place on a plate to cool completely. The bottom will be much softer than the top, so be careful when moving it.
Frosting
- Wait until the cake has cooled in the pan and is on the cooling plate/rack before starting
- Cream together softened butter and cream cheese until smooth
- Slowly add in powdered sugar and mix on low speed with a hand mixer. The mixture will become a very thick but still runny cream and should smell amazing. Keep mixing until the consistency stops changing.
- Transfer the cake to a plate if it isn’t already with a lot of space around the edges.
- Slowly pour most of the mixture over the centre of your cake, moving from one short edge to the other across the top. The frosting will spread out and gently run down the sides and pool along the bottom
- After you’ve poured all the frosting, use the excess in the plate to top up and cover any bits along the side that were missed. Spoon up the excess and add it to the top above the missed piece and the frosting will handle the rest
Garnish
- Take your smaller diced strawberries and gentle scatter them over the top of the frosting. They should sink in slightly on their own, but give them a very gentle push if needed
Finishing Up
- Place the cake into the fridge and leave it to set overnight. The frosting will be firm to the touch but not hard.
- Slice off about 2-3 inches per serving. The edges are fine as is, but I recommend scooping up some of the excess icing and placing it on top for pieces from the centre to add a bit of extra moisture.
- Keep the cake stored in your fridge with cling film wrapped around it and the plate. It should keep for about 3-4 days.
Notes
- You can buy loaf-tin liners from most supermarkets and I cannot recommend them enough for working with this kind of cake
