Gluten Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake For Two

Tonight I was firing the oven up for a loaf of bread (that recipe is still under development), and got the urge to also bake something sweet while that was going anyway. This cake needed to bake at a slightly lower temperature (while also mostly preheating the baking stone on a lower rack in the process), so it worked great to do that that while the bread finished rising just a little more at “oven’s running” room temperature.

Today I settled on trying to throw together a half-batch version of this super-simple “Cinnamon Flop Cake” that I saved off r/Old_Recipes months ago.

Actually went scrolling back through my saved posts over there, looking for something sweet and easy I’d hoarded back that we had all the ingredients for. 😅 This one sounded promising. As it was, I ended up complicating the thing more by adding the obligatory pinch of salt and a little vanilla which sounded like it should be good. The coffee cake you make when the cupboards are getting a little bare, and you’re about to flop over?

The original recipe evidently came from Delicious AMISH RECIPES by Phyllis Pellman Good (“People’s Place Book No. 5”), which looks like it was published sometime during the ’80s.

It does use dairy, but no egg. And cakes are usually very simple to make GF. This should work well using most commercial 1:1 flour blends which are not formulated specifically for breads. It should also be easy enough to take dairy free, by using plant-based alternatives in place of the milk and butter.

One tip up front, though? Don’t try to skinch out on the butter on top. It adds a lot of flavor, besides a gooeyness and texture almost like it has a crumb topping.

I inevitably tore up the first piece out, especially trying to extract it from the pan with that spoon while it was still warm from the oven. But, that really is buttery-gooey in the middle, particularly. It’ll no doubt stay together better once things cool down and firm up more.

The only real quibble here is that I could have used more cinnamon on this one. Didn’t want to overdo it, but “that looks like a good heavy dusting all over” didn’t go quite as far as I thought. Still just about what I needed tonight, particularly with my blood sugar trending down anyway from staying busy instead of eating properly. 🙄

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Gluten Free Cinnamon Coffee Cake For Two

A very simple, egg free coffee cake made with ingredients you probably already have on hand. Perfect for fika!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Baking Time25 minutes mins

Total Time35 minutes mins

Course: Baking, Cakes

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Comfort Food, Egg free, Gluten free

Materials

• 1 cup flour (250ml)
• ½ tsp. xanthan gum if your blend doesn't already have gums
• ½ cup sugar (125ml)
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla sugar
• 1¼ tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. if it’s double-acting
• pinch of salt
• ½ tbsp. melted butter (around 10g)
• ½ cup milk (125ml)
• ½ tsp. vanilla extract or vanilla sugar

For The Pan

• ½ tbsp. butter (around 10g)

For Topping

• 3-4 tbsp. brown sugar loosely packed
• 3 tbsp. butter (around 40g)
• ground cinnamon to taste

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350℉/180℃.
• Gather your dry ingredients. This cake will go together quickly.

  I used a combination of around 25% each by volume of oat and sorghum flours, mixed with 50% of a starch-based commercial white flour blend here. Any multipurpose blend not specifically made for bread should work here. Only include the extra xanthan gum if your blend doesn't already contain it.

  The baking powder here isn't double-acting, so I use a little extra in a lot of things. Use the smaller amount if yours is.
  
• I decided to use vanillin sugar today, since it's just to add a hint of flavor to a cake where that's not the main note. You can use extract instead, and this should go in with the wet ingredients.
  
• Gather your liquid ingredients including all the butter. Reserve about ¾ of the butter for your topping.

  Chunk up the butter, and use a small portion of it to grease your baking pan well. I used a 1L capacity IKEA "oven to table" Pyrex storage container, which comes with a handy lid to clamp on top once your baked goods have cooled down.

  Set aside another small portion of butter to melt for the batter.
  
• Stir your dry ingredients together in a bowl. This batter is simple enough that I just mixed the whole thing with an eating tablespoon.

  Stir in your liquid ingredients, and pour the batter into the pan.
  
• Sprinkle on a good amount of cinnamon, and top with the brown sugar. I used a mix of light and extra dark for flavor, but choose whatever you prefer.

  Arrange cubed butter around the top, pushing it partway down into the batter.
  
• Bake for 20 minutes, then check for doneness by poking a skewer or toothpick into the middle. It's done when the stick comes out clean. Mine took 25 minutes in that pan in our oven.
• Enjoy! This is particularly good while it's still warm, with a nice cup of coffee or tea.