Wheat-Free/Gluten-Free Buttery Pound Cake

Celiac Disease and Pound Cake
April's new beau was recently diagnosed with Celiac disease, and has since discovered that it is difficult to learn how to eat all over again. Who can appreciate such a health conundrum more than I? I have had to change my diet twice now. There are a lot of things he and I can eat in common, but where we differ is in that he can eat gluten-free wheat, such as spelt. And he can't eat gluten in other grains like I can, such as oat and barley. In an experiment for him I decided to try a pound cake with my new 8" springform pan with alternatives that are safe for us both. My regular readers know that I love to substitute with oat flour normally, which is quite delicious and "oat-a-rific" as the gang likes to say. And now that I've had a slice, I'd say it's just as good both ways with a slightly different flavor.

The Wonders of Pound Cake
Pound cake on it's own is delicious, but it also serves as a great base cake where you might use a boxed vanilla cake. An example would be pineapple upside down cake. You can flavor your pound cake by adding things like almond, lemon, or orange extract with a bit of zest. You can top it with a glaze, several types of frosting, fresh fruit, chocolate ganashe, and something as simple as powdered sugar and a bit of fresh ground cinnamon. You can bake it in any bunt pan, but you can also bake it in different size pans to create multi-tier cake. It's uses are nearly endless where desserts are concerned.

Wheat-Free/Gluten-Free Buttery Pound Cake**

* 3 tablespoons soy milk, room temperature
* 3 extra-large eggs, room temperature
* 1 3/4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 1/2 cup white rice flour
* 1/2 cup tapiaca flour
* 1/2 cup amaranth flour
* 1 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
* 3/4 cup sugar
* 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Make a paper collar for your springform pan by spraying the bottom and sides with butter Pam, then secure parchment paper on the bottom and sides with the butter Pam.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together milk, eggs, and vanilla; set aside. Be sure to beat long enough to increase the size of your mixture to twice it's original size. Getting more air into your eggs will help to raise your cake and get air into it since the gluten is absent.
4. Place flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until well blended. Add butter and half of the milk mixture; continue mixing until moistened. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat for 1 minute.
5. Scrape down sides of bowl. Add half of the remaining milk mixture. Beat on medium speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides of bowl and add remaining milk mixture. Beat again on medium speed for 30 seconds.
6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Be sure to make sure than the batter is as even and level as possible since it will not settle as easily as a normal batter would. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 minuetes to 1 hour.
7. While cake is still warm, invert onto a wire rack. Completely wrap in plastic wrap to keep cake moist.

** For a standard non-gluten-free/wheat-free pound cake, substitute all flours with regular wheat flour and remove the xanthan gum from the directions.