Raspberry Bakewell Cake

I went to Costa Coffee last Friday at lunchtime to indulge in my new favourite coffee - a flat white.  I wondered why I felt so speedy walking around Tesco afterwards and now I see they contain two shots of espresso!!

With my coffee I ordered a delicious bakewell slice. Anthony [my partner] loves them too but can't partake because of his pesky gluten allergy. So he asked me to make him the next best thing.........which is my gluten-free version of Raspberry Bakewell Cake

I first found this recipe while looking for gluten-free cake recipes.  This has half flour and half ground almonds in it.  I decided to substitute the flour with gluten-free flour and it comes out perfectly.

Here are some of my tweaks:

I don't use a food processor, instead I cream the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs and flavourings.  The I sift the ground almonds and flour into the mixture in two parts.

REALLY IMPORTANT - I add 2 tsp of almond essence - otherwise, to my mind anyway, it doesn't taste  like something with "Bakewell" in the title should.

I use Doves Self-Raising Gluten-Free flour instead of normal self-raising flour

Check the cake after 40 mins to make sure it isn't going too brown on top and too dry inside.  Lessening the cooking time will make the middle stay moist and more like a traditional bakewell slice.

Making pukka bakewell slices are on my "must make" list, however to make a traditional slice I'm going to use semolina - which isn't gluten-free - sorry Anthony, you'll have to reach for the anti-histamine spray. 

Photo courtesy of BBC Good Food & Costa Coffee