Description
Inspired by my mother’s upside down vanilla maple cake this Maple Lemon Sourdough Cake is a light treat that will satisfy your dessert cravings. If you have a brown rice or sorghum gluten-free sourdough starter, you can use it for this recipe!
This sourdough cake prepared with local organic maple syrup and lemon is unique because it’s also free of all top allergens. So no eggs, gluten, soy or dairy! See option A in Step 1 for the rice-free option.
Note: If you are making this cake for a special occasion make sure to plan ahead, as the first step requires 5 hours of resting time.
Inspired by Cultures for Health. Many of the sourdough recipes on their site are wonderful but are not all free of gluten, dairy or eggs.
Ingredients
Step 1 (option A – rice-free):
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1 cup light buckwheat flour
- 1 cup homemade hemp milk*
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup active GF sorghum starter
Step 1 (option B):
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/2 cup sorghum flour
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup white rice flour (or replace with more oat flour)
- 1 cup homemade hemp milk*
- 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup active GF brown rice starter
Step 2:
- 1 tablespoon baking powder**
- 1/2 teaspoon pure lemon extract***
- 1/4 cup maple syrup for the batter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons water****
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/3–1/2 cup maple syrup for the base layer (or 1/4 cup x2 if making a two-layered cake)*****
- Plus: Additional maple syrup for serving
Instructions
Step 1:
1. To a large glass bowl, combine flours, hemp milk, lemon juice and starter.
2. Mix well, cover and place the bowl in a warm area of your kitchen for 5 hours.
Step 2:
- Once Step 1 is complete, preheat your oven to 425° F.
- To make a 1-layer cake, the easiest version, grease one 8-inch square oven-safe dish with coconut oil.
- In a small bowl, combine wet ingredients: lemon extract, 1/4 cup of maple syrup, coconut oil, water and salt.
- Sprinkle baking powder** overtop the dough mixture bowl in Step 1.
- Add wet ingredients to the same large bowl, gently fold in until combined, the batter should be light in texture.
- To bake the cake with maple syrup, pour 1/3 to 1/2 cup of maple syrup to the bottom of the dish.*****
- Add cake batter on top of the maple syrup.
- Bake for 30 minutes until edges are golden.
- Cool cake for 10 minutes and serve directly from the dish.
- Drizzle each slice with extra maple syrup if you wish. Enjoy!
Additional baking options:
Please note that for either of these following methods options using parchment paper is very helpful but optional. It will make removing and flipping your cake(s) onto a plate much more manageable.
Using two 8-inch pans (for a 2-layer cake):
- Line two 8-inch round cake pans with unbleached parchment paper and grease with coconut oil.
- Pour 1/4 cup of maple syrup in both pans as the base layer.
- Add cake batter on top of the maple syrup.
- Bake for 20 minutes until edges are golden.
- Cool for at least 30 minutes, with a butter knife or other straight tool, gently separate the cake edges from the pans. With the help of the parchment paper remove cakes from the pans and flip them onto each other on a serving plate. Be careful not to break them. Spread the top of the cake with more maple syrup, if you wish, or drizzle each slice with a little syrup when serving.
Using one 6-in springform cake pan:
- Line the base of the springform pan with unbleached parchment paper and grease with coconut oil. You can also do a ring of parchment paper with oil, for the contour of the ring.
- For one cake, pour 1/3 to 1/2 cup of maple syrup as the base layer.
- Add cake batter on top of the maple syrup. TIP: place your cake pan onto a baking sheet just in case the maple syrup leaks out a bit. You can also place or cover the base (see pic) of your springform pan with foil in case the syrup leaks.
- Bake for 30 minutes (up to 40 minutes) until edges are golden.
- Cool the cake for at least 1 hour. Once completely cooled release the clip on the springform pan. With the help of the parchment paper remove the cake from pan. Flipping it over is optional depending on how the cake looks. If the cake is very rounded at the top, you could leave it upright. Spread the top of the cake with more maple syrup if you wish, or drizzle each slice with a little syrup when serving.
Notes
This cake is best enjoyed on the same day or the next. For day old cake, you can warm up each slice in the microwave for a few seconds before serving.
I’ve tested this recipe with only 3 hours of fermenting, and it wasn’t enough. The cake bakes up denser. Ideally, you want to wait until you can see airiness to your dough. Noticeable bubbles will appear as the dough ferments. Five (5) hours is best. Longer fermentation will result in a sourer cake, not my personal favourite.
The Maple Lemon Sourdough Cake is baked at a higher than average cake baking temperature. When I bake this cake again in the future, I will test lower temperatures to see if yields a better texture.
* To prepare homemade hemp milk, combine 1/3 cup hemp hearts (seeds) with 1-1/4 cup water in a high-speed blender and blend until frothy and white. Pour the hemp milk through a nut mesh bag, cheesecloth, or superfine strainer to remove larger unwanted bits. You could try other plant-based types of milk, but I haven’t tested this recipe other than with fresh homemade organic hemp milk. Hemp milk is terrific as it is allergen-friendly (nut-free, soy-free, dairy-free, etc.).
** Gluten-Free, Corn-Free & Aluminum-Free Baking Powder.
***As an alternative you could try with more fresh lemon juice and fresh organic lemon zest. Although the pure lemon extract works best.
**** Depending on your ingredients, how you measure your ingredients, etc. You might not need the extra 2 tablespoons of water. If your batter is very thin, leave it out. If your mixture is on the thicker side, then add it in.
***** The cake(s) can be baked without the base layer of maple syrup. You can always add maple syrup when serving.
******Consider leaving the cake in the pan if you don’t want to risk breaking it. Just note that it will be sticky and be careful not to serve the bottom piece of parchment paper. If you know that you will prefer to serve it from the cake pan, perhaps leaving out the parchment paper is best!
