Gluten-free but really good: lemon cake, cheese buns and chocolate cookies – recipes

A few years ago my youngest daughter Lucia and I were diagnosed with celiac disease (mine is not full, only latent). We are now on a strict gluten-free diet as it is the only treatment for celiac disease.

When we received Lucia's diagnosis, I wanted to make sure that She always had access to healthy food and delicious cuisine: good bread and pastries, a few sweet treats. This was partly due to my experience as a trained nutritionist, but also my upbringing.

Growing up in New Zealand with Tongan and Dutch parents, all of my early Happy memories revolve around food: eating it, of course, but also preparing it. From baking banana bread to using bananas that were turning black, to making coconut milk from scratch, or cooking dinner for the many aunts, uncles, and cousins ​​who inevitably showed up every evenings with my grandparents waiting to be fed. Cooking in our house was a way to share the love, and I wanted to make sure Lucia didn't miss it.

So I started dipping my toes into the world of gluten-free baking - which shouldn't come as a surprise, I guess, because baking runs in the family. My grandfather was a baker and courted my grandmother with fresh loaves of bread.

But the gluten-free recipes I could find were pretty hit and miss, so I experimented until I was happy.

If my daughter and I faced this challenge, I thought others surely did too, so I opened the Wholegreen Bakery in Sydney.

Over the years that followed it was such a joy to watch the business grow and help give back the pleasure of eating to so many people. It is an extremely rewarding and fulfilling experience to give someone back the food they love to eat.

Lemon Coconut Cake with Lemon Frosting

(Photo above)

Grain and dairy free, light, fluffy and fluffy: this is one of the most popular lemon cakes we've ever made in the bakery.

Serves 8

80 g coconut flour (⅔ cup) 100 g powder almonds (1 cup) 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp ground cinnamon 6 eggs, at room temperature 295 g caster sugar 330 ml sunflower oil (1⅓ cups) 1 tsp vanilla paste Zest and juice 2 lemons, plus juice of 1 extra lemon for brushingToasted coconut flakes, to garnish

For the lemon glaze 250 g gluten-free icing sugar, sifted (2 cups) 60 ml lemon juice (¼ cup) Finely grated zest of 1 lemon, plus extra sprigs of zest for garnish

Preheat the oven to 170C/150C fan with the oven rack positioned in the middle of the oven. Grease a 20cm round cake tin and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper.

Sift the coconut flour, ground almonds, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl and whisk together thoroughly. (Don't be tempted to skip this step - coconut flour in particular should be sifted as it tends to be lumpy and difficult to break down during the mixing process.)

Using a stand mixer with the whisk attachment or in a large bowl with a hand mixer, whisk the eggs and sugar together at high speed until pale and fluffy. Slowly add the oil and vanilla and continue whisking for 30 more seconds.

Using the paddle attachment on low speed, add the sifted dry ingredients and mix until everything is mixed. thoroughly. Then add the zest and juice of two lemons and mix well. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, turning halfway through for even cooking, until whether the cake is dark golden brown, a skewer inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean, or the cake springs back when gently pressed on top with two fingers. (If the cake looks a little dark on top near the end of the baking time, don't worry - that's how it should look. It won't burn.)

< p class="dcr-8zipgp ">Remove the cake from the oven and brush the top with lemon juice. Allow to cool completely in the pan before releasing the spring, removing the sides and peeling off the parchment paper if necessary. Remove the bottom of the cake tin by sliding the cake onto a serving plate.

For the lemon glaze, combi...