Lemon & Elderflower Tartlet Cakes
Lemon and Elderflower. These cakes feel so British it hurts. I can just imagine sitting down for an afternoon tea and these luscious tartlet cakes been served on one of the cake tiers along with some scones. Just writing about afternoon tea is making me hungry, there’s nothing better than a whole selection of cakes I can actually eat laying in front of me… it doesn’t happen very often. For those vegan/gluten-free people out there, it’s even harder to come across a platter of cakes that you can consume. Fear not, these sweet little tea cakes are made from brown rice flour, chickpea flour and potato starch! They almost sound healthy now!
I’m sure if you’ve been tackling vegan/gluten-free baking for a while now, you’ll know that it’s a bit hit and miss, especially when using a pre-made gf flour. Although it is much simpler buying a packet of gluten-free plain flour, the results are never consistent, therefore trying to use your own blends is worth the extra effort. Buying all the different GF flours out there might seem a little tedious and costly, but I believe it is worth it. There have been many a cake in the bin using GF blends, which in my eyes equates to spending more money on rubbish cakes!
Also ladies and gents, if you’re put off with the idea of making a “complicated” GF cake, stop! Using a good, experimented recipe like below, all the hard work has been don’t for you! Simply follow the instructions and you should end up with some fabulous cakes that genuinely don’t taste gluten-free in half an hour. Yes, I’ve also tasted many a bad GF cake, but the spongy texture of this one did impress me and my fellow cake testers!
Enough about the texture, Rosie. Now onto the taste! Lemon cakes are under-rated in my eyes. Even I will dismiss a lemon cake for a chocolate one, yet it is often filled with a bloated regret. Lemon sweets always win in terms of a light, refreshing cake that somehow doesn’t make me unbutton my jeans. The zingy lemon is subtly combined with dried elderflower for a summery, floral taste. On top of that we have some poppyseed icing for the traditional lemon & poppyseed flavour combo. Mhm.
Let me know how these fluffy, GF tart cakes go in the comments below. I love to hear your feedback! Enjoy
- ¾ cup brown rice flour
- ¾ cup chickpea flour (besan/gram)
- ½ cup potato starch
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda/bicarb of soda
- pinch of salt
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- ⅓ cup cane sugar
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 cup water
- juice and zest of 1½ lemons
- 2 tbsp. dried elderflower*
- ½ cup icing sugar
- Juice of the remaining lemon
- 2 tbsp. poppyseeds
- Pre heat your oven to 350F/175C/Gas Mark 4 and very lightly grease 10-12 tartlet shells**
- Add brown rice flour, chickpea flour, potato starch, xanthan gum, baking powder & soda, salt and both sugars into a large bowl, stirring to combine fully. Make a well in the middle of your dry ingredients.
- In a separate bowl or jug, add all the other ingredients and stir to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the well of the dry ingredients and fold in until fully combined and no lumps remain.
- Pour the mixture into each tartlet shell ⅓ of the way up and put into the oven to bake for 15-20 mins, making sure a toothpick comes out clean to ensure they're cooked.
- Mix together the icing sugar and lemon juice until fully combined. If it's too thin, add more icing sugar. If it's too thick, add more lemon juice or water.
- Stir in the poppyseeds.
- If you have push pan tartlets, pop them out and slide a sharp knife along the base to release from the tin. If not, loosen the cake along the edges with a knife and slide an off set spatula underneath to pull up.
- Drizzle with the icing, and eat!
** I used 4" tartlet shells what have a loose bottom. I recommend using this type of tartlet shells, yet if this is not possible, the size of your tartet shell will change the cooking time, so please keep an eye on the cakes 15 minutes onwards.
You had me at poppyseed icing. These look absolutely divine – I’m way overdue with indulging in a lemon poppyseed dessert.
Thank you Erin! I hoe you try these out then! You won’t believe they’re Gluten-free
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