GF BANANA CHIFFON CAKE HEAVEN

GF Banana Chiffon Cake with Condensed Milk Drizzle and Organic Local Raspberries

Third time’s a charm with my GF  Chiffon experimenting!  The kids were happy to eat my failures because they were so tasty.  However, it was time for a flavour shift.  I had 2 spotting bananas on the counter and pureed them for the batter. 

The Condensed Milk Drizzle is my preference over an icing sugar drizzle.  It was way easier as I always have some in a container in the refrigerator.  The berries are a tiny tart and like jewels in the syrupy drizzle.

This chiffon is a winner and doesn’t taste GF.  See that crumb?  It was soft and moist but not gummy.  It hung upside down to cool and did not collapse.  It had good structure but was ever so slightly wobbly tender.

The following GF flour blend recipe is the one I have tripled and kept in an airtight container to be used in place of regular flour.  It has been truly amazing and I imagine you can adapt it, as I have seen numerous permutations on the net.  For cakes, you will find that using the Thai Rice Flour brands that I have pictured below are important for fine texture.  You will find the 3 Elephants Brand rice flours in Asian markets.  They are really cheap.  You can buy a whole bunch at once and  blend up your mix.  For the other starches, I believe brands are not as important. 

CAKEBRAIN'S FAVOURITE GF FLOUR BLEND RECIPE:

2 1/4 cups superfine Thai Rice Flour (Asian market)

1/4 cup potato starch

2/3 cup tapioca starch

3/4 cup sweet rice flour (Thai brands are best)

1/3 cup cornstarch

2 teaspoons xanthum gum

• In a large airtight container, combine the flours together well.  I use a large wire whisk to mix the flours thoroughly.  Be particularly vigilant about distributing the xanthum gum as it is a small quantity compared to the rest of the flours.
• Use this GF Flour Blend in place of regular cake flour or all-purpose flour.  
• You do not have to worry about sifting as it's not lumpy
• You do not have to worry about overbeating as there's no gluten to develop.

CAKEBRAIN'S GF BANANA CHIFFON CAKE RECIPE

(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)

1 ½ cups sugar
1 1/3 cups GF FLOUR BLEND (see above recipe), OR your favourite GF flour blend
1 ¼ tsp baking powder [I used Magic Brand]
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
7 large eggs, 2 left whole, 5 separated (at room temperature) 

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
½ tsp cream of tartar 

2/3 cup water

1 cup very finely mashed ripe bananas (about 2 large or 3 medium) [make sure bananas are very ripe—with brown spots on the skin]

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325°F. Whisk sugar, gf flour, baking powder and soda and salt together in large bowl (at least 4-quart size). Whisk in two whole eggs, five egg yolks (reserve whites), water, oil and extracts until batter is smooth. Stir in pureed bananas.

2. Pour reserved egg whites into large bowl; beat at low speed with electric mixer until foamy, about 1 minute. Add cream of tartar, gradually increase speed to medium-high, then beat whites until very thick and stiff, just short of dry, 9 to 10 minutes with handheld mixer or 5 to 7 minutes in standing mixer. With large whisk, fold whites into batter, smearing any blobs of white that resist blending.

3. Pour batter into ungreased large tube pan ( 9 inch diameter, 16-cup capacity).

4. Bake cake on lower middle rack in oven until wire cake tester inserted in center comes out clean, 60-70 minutes. Immediately turn cake upside down to cool. If pan does not have prongs around rim for elevating cake, invert pan over bottle or funnel, inserted through tube. Let cake hang until completely cook, about 2 hours.

5. To unmold, turn pan upright. Run frosting spatula or thin knife around pan’s circumference between cake and pan wall, always pressing against the pan. Use cake tester to loosen cake from tube. For one-piece pan, bang it on counter several times, then invert over serving plate. For two-piece pan, grasp tube and lift cake out of pan. If glazing the cake, use a fork or a paring knife to gently scrap all the crust off the cake. Loosen cake from pan bottom with spatula or knife, then invert cake onto plate. (Can be wrapped in plastic and stored at room temperature 2 days or refrigerated 4 days.)

6.  Serve with a drizzle or condensed milk and fresh raspberries.

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