Gluten-free Baking

My boyfriend Michele had an operation this weekend so to cheer him up I promised to make him a cake of his choice. Now, being a coeliac (I know, an Italian coeliac, how depressing!), it's always a bit of a gamble when I try and bake for Michele. My biggest dilemma is usually whether to try to adapt a normal cake recipe using gluten-free flour or whether to go for a tried and tested gluten-free version. The problem with this second option is that often the types of gluten-free flour vary enormously from recipe to recipe so gluten-free baking is never really an exact science. For this reason I was sold when I stumbled upon this Gluten-free lemon drizzle cake recipe on BBC Good Food which uses ground almonds and mashed potato instead of flour. I have to say that despite having over 100 positive reviews, I was a little sceptical about using potato as I thought it might be a little stodgy and, well, potato-ey, but I have to say I was extremely impressed with the results! I was left with a light, fluffy and extremely moist sponge with a sweet hint of lemon but nothing too over-powering. I would go as far as saying that the drizzle topping over gilded the lily really as the sponge was already perfectly sweet and moist without it. My Italian family, who normally seem a little under-enthused by British baking due to its high butter content, also seemed to enjoy my 'English cake' as they finished it all within 2 days!

So thank you Jane Hornby for posting such a great recipie that I'm sure to make and adapt again and again!