Moonlighting Bakes FAQs
Almond Cinnamon Tea Cake
What is a “Small Cake”?
My cake recipes have been developed over the years to feed a small group of people when I teach classes and host social crafting events. I call them “Small Tea Cakes” to indicate that this is a smaller than usual cake recipe designed for a little afternoon tea.
Almost all my recipes are designed to be baked in a 15cm x 8.5cm (approx. 6.1 x 3.4 inch) loaf pan which yields 8 modest cake slices. See below tips for finding one! I also sometimes will use a 20cm loaf pan if I want a flatter style cake.
When I was making full sized cakes, I ended up with a lot of leftover cake and, as I live in a small 2 person household with strict dietary requirements, I was very sad to be throwing away so much delicious cake!
About 8 years ago I attended a knitting class at my local yarn store and met the lovely Caroline W. Rowe who is famous for her just4Me recipes, designed to suit small 1-2 person households. I was inspired by her to scale down my recipes which solved all my cake wastage problems!
I happily purchased Caroline’s book “The Power of Baking with Mindful Intent” which - was written in collaboration with Caroline’s daughter, Dr Susan L. Rowe - as soon as I was able and have gifted copies to friends who also live in small households. Luck struck again and allowed me to run into Caroline a couple years ago (at another knitting event) so I had the opportunity to thank her for sharing her knowledge with us. I highly recommend people look at her website – carolinerowe.com – for recipes (sweet and savoury!) and excellent blog posts about converting recipes to accommodate dietary requirements and to prevent food wastage.
Please note that all my recipes are my own and have been tested over a number of years to ensure they work time and time again. Also, all my recipes are gluten free and I usually use lactose free milk to suit my own dietary requirements.
Where can I find a 15cm loaf pan?
Wiltshire Mini Loaf Pan
I use the Wiltshire Mini Loaf Pan which is 15.5 x 8.5 x 4.5cm. It can be purchased via their website (see link below) and Amazon.com.au.
https://www.wiltshire.com.au/products/rose-gold-mini-loaf-pan-15-5cm?variant=40826305118282
Any brand of mini loaf pan can be used as long as they are of approximately the same dimensions.
I also sometimes use a slightly bigger 20cm/8inch loaf pan when I want a flatter style cake (eg Almond Cinnamon Tea Cake). I use the Wiltshire 21cm Silicone Loaf Pan which is 21 x 10 x 6.5cm.
Do I need any special equipment or tools to make your recipes?
Apart from ensuring that you have a 15cm mini loaf pan, very little baking equipment is necessary. Most of my recipes require:
· 1 regular set of kitchen measuring cups and spoons,
· 1 medium sized mixing bowl for dry ingredients,
· 1 small mixing bowl or jug for mixing wet ingredients,
· 1 whisk or Danish dough whisk for blending the batter and
· 1 silicone spatula for gently folding in ingredients and scraping batter into the loaf pan.
Sometimes I will use an electric hand mixer for creaming butter or whipping egg whites but this can be done with a normal whisk and some elbow grease!
I also use a small electronic kitchen scale for weighing ingredients when required.
I use plain grease proof/baking paper to line my loaf pan to ensure my cake lifts out cleanly. Please ensure you are not using Waxed Paper!
Which Gluten Free flour do you use?
I always use All Purpose Plain flour so the amount of raising agent (eg baking powder etc) can be controlled. I found my recipes turned out very dry and crumbly when using Self Raising blends due to too much raising agent. In Australia, my preferred store-bought gluten free flour is Orgran Gluten Free All Purpose Plain Flour, which is available in most supermarkets nationally.
As I do a lot of baking , I prefer to blend my own All Purpose flour mix as it ends up cheaper than buying store-bought blends in the quantities I need. My very simple all purpse GF flour recipe is:
· 200g Brown Rice Flour
· 200g White Rice Flour
· 150g Glutinous Rice Flour
· 150g Tapioca Flour
· 1 ½ tsp Xanthan Gum
Recipe yields 700g of Gluten Free All Purpose Plain Flour which is approximately 5.6 cups of flour.
Which Almond Flour do you use?
I always try to use a super fine almond flour. My favourite brand is the Kirkland Signature Almond Flour Blanched 1.36kg which is available at Costco and online via Amazon.com.au.
Why do you use Gelatine powder in most of your recipes?
Removing gluten from a baked recipe means other ingredients must be added to prevent the cake from drying out prematurely and leaving a chalky texture. Gelatine powder is added to keep the cake crumb light and moist for up to 3 days. I use McKenzie’s Gelatine Powder 100g which is available in most supermarkets in Australia. Substitute with agar agar or pure pectin powder if you would like a vegan option. If you prefer not to add a moisture agent, the cake crumb will become dry very quickly and will need to consumed on the same day as it is baked for a pleasant eating experience.
Can I substitute the sugar in the recipe for sugar-free sweetener?
For a while now - when baking just for myself - I have been making my recipes with sugar-free sweetener to accommodate a new dietary requirement and I haven’t noticed much difference in the crumb texture. I simply substitute the same amount of sugar for sugar-free sweetener. Please note granulated and powdered sweetener cannot be swapped with liquid sweeteners as that will alter the moisture levels in the recipe detrimentally!
I prefer to use Allulose based sweetener when I can as it performs the most similar to sugar in baking and doesn’t have a noticeable aftertaste. Otherwise I use Monkfruit and Erythritol based sweetener blends such as Lakanto Baking Monkfruit Sweetener and Lakanto Brown Monkfruit Sweetener. I prefer not to use Stevia based blends as I do not enjoy the aftertaste but have used Whole Earth Baking 100% Natural Baking Sweetener with good results.
Can I double your recipes to make a full/bigger sized cake?
I have developed and tested my recipes over the years to specifically fit the dimensions of my 15cm mini loaf pan which is not just a normal cake recipe halved. Also, gluten free baking is not as flexible as “normal” wheat flour based baking and the ingredient quantities are very specific. Feel free to try though and let me know if it works out!
Can I use wheat flour to make your recipes not Gluten Free?
Short answer is NO! Gluten free recipes are specially formulated to work with flours that do not contain gluten and usually include specific ingredients to compensate for that. If you use wheat flour instead of GF flour, you may end up with a very strange textured cake! I highly recommend searching for a similar recipe that is designed for wheat flour instead.
