Gluten Free Sponge Cake Filled with Jam and Cream

 An easy to make gluten free sponge cake with a light and soft crumb. Split and fill with jam and cream and it makes the perfect centrepiece for a decadent afternoon tea.

Whether you’re gluten intolerant or not, it’s a good idea to have a few delicious gluten free bake recipes up your sleeve. You just never know when you might need to make one. I’ve always included at least one gluten-free cake at bake sales or when I host an afternoon tea. And there’s usually someone who’s really grateful for the option.

It’s also good to ring the changes and I expect we could all benefit from the odd gluten-free day.

Gluten Free Sponge Cake

A sponge cake is a wonderful thing. It’s easy to make, looks good and is a firm favourite with pretty much everyone. Fill it with jam and cream and you have a gorgeous centrepiece for an afternoon tea.

You can make it plain, or jazz it up with citrus, vanilla or rose. I added some calamansi citrus zest to this cake batter as there were a few that had just ripened on our tree. And I used the juice to make the sour milk. Take a look at my vegan drizzle cake with calamansi for more information about this intriguing citrus fruit.

My go-to gluten free flour is the one from Gluten Free Fairy. Her flour is a nice mix of teff, sorghum and buckwheat with tapioca and potato starch. And it’s all wholegrain too. Nevertheless, I like to vary my bakes from time to time. So for this gluten free sponge cake, I mixed in some of the quinoa flour I received from Hodmedod’s.

I baked my gluten free sponge cake in my HealthyFry air fryer. This works brilliantly for small cakes as you don’t need to spend time and energy heating up a large space. It’s also great for summer baking when you just don’t want the heat from the oven. It bakes perfectly well in the oven though. You certainly don’t need an air fryer.

Sandwiching the Cake

As this cake is baked in one tin, you’ll need to cut it in half horizontally. Make sure you have a good sharp serrated knife and that the cake is cool before you cut it. Then all you need to do is sandwich with jam and whipped cream. I used my easy homemade strawberry jam.

As well as adding citrus zest to the sponge, I whipped the cream along with some of my rose syrup. This is one of my favourite things to do with this scented cordial. It adds such lovely floral notes and a bit of sweetness too.

This is the sort of cake that’s best to eat on the day you make it. Although it will last through to the following day. It has a tendency to dry out quite quickly and the cream won’t last that long. For this reason I’ve given quantities for a small gluten free sponge cake that will give four generous slices or six more modest ones. But you can easily double this if you’re feeding a crowd.

If you do double the recipe, bake two separate sponges in 20 cm (8″) round tins for about twenty minutes. Then sandwich with the jam and cream.

For a complete step by step with accompanying photos, scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

How to Make Sour Milk

Sour milk is great for baking. It reacts with baking powder to create lots of bubbles. This in turn helps to raise and lighten cakes, soda bread, scones and pancakes. When we were lucky enough to have a supply of raw milk, I used to have a steady flow of sour milk. Raw milk if left a while, sours naturally.

I find it’s a bit hit and miss with pasteurised milk, occasionally it sours if left long enough, but more often than not it just goes off. You can tell by the smell and taste of the milk. If it smells rotten, it probably is. But if it’s just gone sour, it’s absolutely fine for baking.

If you don’t have any naturally soured milk to hand, however, it’s incredibly easy to make a ‘cheat’s’ version of sour milk.

Just add 1 tbsp of lemon juice or vinegar to a measuring jug. Top it up to 250ml with milk. Stir and leave at room temperature for five minutes. By then it should have curdled and thickened slightly, which is just what you want. This works as a buttermilk substitute as well.

For this gluten free sponge cake recipe, I only needed a small quantity. So I made some with two teaspoons of citrus juice and three tablespoons of milk.

Other Gluten Free Cakes You Might Like

• Apricot almond cake
• Caramelised pear and honey cake
• Chocolate almond cake
• Chocolate polenta cake
• Coconut chocolate cake made with chickpea flour (vegan)
• Walnut cake

Keep in Touch

If you’d like more layer cake recipes, follow the link and you’ll find I have quite a lot of them. All delicious, of course.

Choclette x

Keep in Touch

Thanks for visiting Tin and Thyme. If you make this gluten free sponge cake, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below. Do share photos on social media too and use the hashtag #tinandthyme, so I can spot them.

For more delicious and nutritious recipes, follow me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest.

Choclette x

Gluten Free Sponge Cake. PIN IT.

Gluten Free Sponge Cake – The Recipe

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5 from 6 votes

Gluten Free Sponge Cake

An easy to make gluten free sponge cake which you can split and fill with jam and cream. It makes the perfect centrepiece for a decadent afternoon tea.

Cook ModeToggle to keep screen awake

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Afternoon Tea, Dessert

Cuisine: British

Keyword: cream, gluten-free, jam, sponge, sponge cake

Servings: 6 slices

Calories: 428kcal

Author: Choclette @ Tin and Thyme

Equipment

• air fryer (affiliate link) optional

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp milk
• 2 tsp citrus juice (I used sour calamondins)
• 125 g unsalted butter softened
• 125 g golden caster sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 175 g gluten-free flour (I used a mix of 50g quinoa flour and 125g Free From Fairy’s)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3-4 tbsp jam for filling (I used my easy homemade strawberry jam)
• 100 ml double cream (heavy cream) for whipping
• icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Metric – US Customary

Instructions

• Line the bottom of a 15 cm (6″) round tin with a circle of baking paper and grease the sides so that the cake doesn’t stick when you try to turn it out.
  
• Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
  
• Beat in the eggs, one by one.
  
• Sieve in the flour and baking powder and stir to combine. Then add the milk and stir until everything is just mixed.
  
• Scrape into the prepared tin and bake at 180℃ (350℉, Gas 4) for 30 minutes. (I baked mine in my air fryer at 160℃ (320℉, Gas 3)).
  
• The top should be firm to the touch when done and an inserted skewer should come out clean.
  
• Leave in the tin to cool for ten minutes or so, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
  
• Once cooled, cut the cake in half horizontally. A serrated knife is good for this.
  
• Spread the jam over the bottom half.
  
• Spread the cream over the jam..
  
• Finally, place the top half gently on top of the cream
  
• Dust with icing sugar, if desired.
  

Notes

If doubling the recipe, bake two separate sponges in 20 cm (8″) round tins for about 20 minutes, then sandwich with the jam and cream. 

Please note: calories and other nutritional information are per serving. They’re approximate and will depend on exact ingredients used.

Nutrition Estimate

Calories: 428kcal | Carbohydrates: 48g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 123mg | Sodium: 37mg | Potassium: 135mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 857IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 88mg | Iron: 1mg

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below letting us know how you got on and do share a photo on Instagram. Tag @choclette8 or use hashtag #tinandthyme.

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I’m sharing this recipe for a gluten free sponge cake with Lost in Food for #CookBlogShare.