GLUTEN FREE BANANA CHIFFON CAKE

Gluten Free Banana Chiffon Cake

Right.  It's been a long time since my last post.  
No regrets though (sorry dear readers) as real life takes precedence over virtual life!

"Cloud 9" GF Flour Blend from Costco & Whole Psyllium Husks

Secret Ingredients:  GF flour blend by Cloud 9 (purchased at Costco, Vancouver); Whole Psyllium Husks (purchased from any health food store)

a tall and mighty chiffon cake takes the cake

So much has happened but I won't bore you with the details (which are available on my twitter and Instagram feeds anyway! bwahaha). But I've shown up so that's what matters!  I am finally winding down at work; lookings towards the summer to start baking and experimenting again.    I have made many a GF chiffon over the years and I'm always experimenting with store-bought flour blends.  The latest blend was purchased at our local Costco and includes plenty o' fiber!  

if you want to gild the lily, drizzle some icing (but who has the time?) and serve with fresh berries

If you are making anything with brown sugar or don't mind little black flecks (that look like pepper) in your finished product, Cloud 9 is fine.  The little black flecks are the buckwheat in the gf flour blend.   The ingredients listed on the package are:  rice flour buckwheat, corn starch, potato starch, tapioca flour, xanthum gum.  I have used it for banana bread, thickening a chowder and coating chicken to pan fry and it's quite nice and handy to have on hand.

those black flecks are from banana and buckwheat!  look ma, roughage in cake form!

The additional psyllium husks adds even more fiber plus has the additional benefit of creating a nice chewy texture not achievable with gf flour blends generally.  I use psyllium husks and can get away with doing away with xanthum gum in my own gf flour blend.  In this particular case the xanthum gum was already in the mix but oh well...extra fiber won't kill us will it?

perfect snacking cake for the kiddies, who have been in cake-withdrawal these past few months

This banana chiffon doesn't taste gluten free.  The crumb is tender and moist.  Make sure you do not pack in the gf flour while measuring or your cake might be too dry.  The more bananas you have, the better imho.


Peace.  
See you more this summer people!

CAKEBRAIN'S BANANA CHIFFON
(adapted from Cooks Illustrated)
1 ½ cups light brown sugar, lightly packed [I have successfully replaced half the brown sugar with various other sugars like Coconut Sugar or cane sugar]
1 1/3 cups Cloud 9 GF FLOUR BLEND (see picture above) OR your favourite GF flour blend
1 ¼ tsp baking powder [I used Magic Brand]
¼ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
3 tblsp psyillium husks (see pic above for details)
7 large eggs, 2 left whole, 5 separated (at room temperature).  [I confess I used extra large eggs]
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tblsp vanilla 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, psyllium husks, baking powder, 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.)

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