I’ve made a gluten free breakthrough! Meet my new go-to sponge recipe. After a lot of experimentation and a bit of luck, and this has turned out to be one of my favourite gluten free recipes so far. This Gluten Free Pineapple and Coconut Upside Down Cake is sweet and light, and you simply can’t tell it’s gluten free.
The sponge mix works great for cupcakes (you’ll see some coconut lime GF cupcakes on here soon!) and for family sized bakes like this. Most of this cake was wolfed down in minutes with a nice dollop of ice cream, and in fact I can see my husband hovering in the kitchen finishing off the leftovers right now 🙂
The Gluten Free Pineapple and Coconut Upside Down Cake Recipe:
Gluten Free Pineapple and Coconut Upside Down Cake
I've made a gluten free breakthrough! Meet my new go-to sponge recipe. After a lot of experimentation and a bit of luck, and this has turned out to be one of my favourite gluten free recipes so far. This Gluten Free Pineapple and Coconut Upside Down Cake is sweet and light, and you simply can't tell it's gluten free.
Ingredients
Pineapple Topping:
- 50 g (3 tbsp + 1 tsp) unsalted butter softened
- 50 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- 7 pineapple rings preferably pineapple rings in syrup from a tin, but fresh, or tinned in juice will work fine too
- 7 glace cherries
Sponge:
- 140 g (1 cup + 2 tsp) gluten free plain (all-purpose) flour
- 70 g (1/2 cup + 1 tsp) coconut flour
- 2 tsp gluten free baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 50 g (1/2 cup) desiccated coconut
- 2 large eggs
- 70 ml (5 tbsp) vegetable oil
- 400 ml (14 oz) tin full fat coconut milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- juice of 2 limes (this is approx 4 tbsp)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 170C/325F (fan). Begin with the pineapple topping. In a bowl, beat the butter and sugar together for a couple of minutes. Then spread this over the bottom of a 20-22cm loose bottomed cake tin.50 g (3 tbsp + 1 tsp) unsalted butter, 50 g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
- Arrange the pineapple slices over the bottom of the cake tin and place a cherry in the middle of each.7 pineapple rings, 7 glace cherries
- Now make your sponge. In a large bowl, mix the plain and coconut flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, sugar, salt and desiccated coconut. This is your dry mix.140 g (1 cup + 2 tsp) gluten free plain (all-purpose) flour, 70 g (1/2 cup + 1 tsp) coconut flour, 2 tsp gluten free baking powder, 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda, 200 g (1 cup) granulated sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, 50 g (1/2 cup) desiccated coconut
- Then in another bowl, mix the eggs, vegetable oil, coconut milk and vanilla extract. Then add in the lime juice. Pour this wet mix into the dry mix, give everything a stir until combined and pour into the cake tin on top of the pineapple slices.2 large eggs, 70 ml (5 tbsp) vegetable oil, 400 ml (14 oz) tin full fat coconut milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, juice of 2 limes
- Place in the oven and cook for 40-50 mins. You can check it's done by inserting a skewer into the cake. If it comes out clean, it's done.
- Leave to cool for about 10 mins, then run a knife around the cake (to ensure it's not stuck to the tin), turn upside down onto a plate, remove the cake tin and serve with ice cream.
Notes
***Tip*** To store, place in an air tight container and refrigerate. It should keep like this for 3-4 days.
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Nutritional Information is per serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 333kcal | Carbohydrates: 40g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 245mg | Potassium: 231mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 110IU | Vitamin C: 3.1mg | Calcium: 63mg | Iron: 2.1mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Do you think that using whole white milk and all gf flour mix instead of the coconut ingredients would compromise the texture of the cake. It looks really good but I can’t use the coconut.
Thanks,
Scott
Delicious! I used normal plain flour and it was worked just as well. Next time I’d line the bottom and up the sides a bit as a lot of the sugar and butter mix leaked out; my loose bottom tin must be a bit too loose! I might add a little lime zest next time too as I couldn’t taste it. But thanks for a great recipe
This is my go to sponge for when I have to make a gluten free cake, it is delicious. Thanks.
Looks delicious and easy. I just wish I knew the measurements…I’m in USA.
Hi Marcy,
I’m slowly working through my list to include US measurements. I believe US cup sizes are different, so I always find it difficult to convert. It’s on my to-do list. In the meantime, this website is useful for conversions: http://www.jsward.com/cooking/conversion.shtml
Hi – sounds and looks delicious! Two questions – can it be made with an egg substitute and can I freeze it? Thanks!
Hi Martha,
I’ve got to say I haven’t tried either. I would imagine freezing the cake would be fine – so long as you open freeze it for an hour before wrapping (to stop the wrapper sticking to the pineapple).
I’m not sure about the egg substitute. The eggs do give the cake rise, but they’re not the only thing that does this – the lime and bicarb of soda (acid and alkaline) does too. If you give it a go with a substitute please let me know how it went. Thanks!
Looks delicious, pinned!
Thanks for pinning Lily 🙂