Gluten Free Pluot Coffee Cake

This recipe is heavily adapted from the Plum Coffee Cake Muffin recipe in The Allergen Free Baker's Handbook:


Among other changes, I adapted the recipe by using a different gluten free flour mix that does not use potato starch. I always substitute guar gum for xanthan gum since xanthan is derived from corn. I used fresh pluots in place of plums.

In my new effort to reduce sugar, I omitted the delicious crumb topping that Cybele Pascal's original recipe calls for in the book. By all means, use that topping if desired- I have made it before and it is delicious. But I was quite pleased that this simpler version also worked out very well. It is a very moist coffee cake, not too sweet, and just a hint of spice.

Gluten Free Pluot Coffee Cake (vegan)
Contains no gluten, corn, potato, coconut, dairy, eggs, soy, or refined sugar

Ingredients

• 3 cups of your preferred gluten free flour mix
• 3/4 teaspoon guar gum
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/4 cup light agave nectar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla powder
• 1 teaspoon organic cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1 1/2 cups organic unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup diced pluots (you could also use plums)

Method

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
• Grease a 9" pie pan, or line with parchment paper (I use parchment paper). 
• Whisk dry ingredients: GF flour mix, guar gum, baking soda and sea salt in small bowl, or use the food processor to combine.
• In a large bowl, mix grapeseed oil and agave nectar using hand mixer. Add vanilla, cinnamon, allspice, and applesauce, and mix until combined.
• Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until combined.
• Fold in the diced pluots.
• Pour batter into greased or parchment lined dish. You might have some extra batter- you could fill a mini-muffin tin, or a baby loaf pan. I made two baby loaves. I ate them before I thought about taking a photo to show here on the blog. You'll just have to take my word for it :)
• Bake in center of oven for 25-30 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the pan before serving.

Enjoy!

This coffee cake is good warm from the oven, room temperature, and cold from the refrigerator. Yes, I tried it each of those ways. It's a tough job, testing foods in my kitchen <smile>. It also freezes well and defrosts easily, so this is a good recipe to make ahead and keep individual slices in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast or snack.

More info on the nutritional benefit of: plums, cinnamon, apples, allspice
What is a pluot?
Another article about pluots