Gluten-Free sour cream coffee cake for "National Coffee Cake Day"

As a writer for the Examiner.com we get these monthly updates with up and coming news and all of the National celbrations for the month.  That being said, I thought I would acquire new inspiration for cooking, baking and recipes in general.  So far this week I have been able to complete three out of the seven days.  Not sure if it is me, my computer, my camera, or my lack of computer skills, not to mention, my lack of enthusiasm this week.  So bare with me as I struggle through this time.

"National Coffee Cake Day" is normally celebrated on April 7th.  I actually baked the coffee cake on Wednesday, the 7th of April, but was unable to get to my blog until today. the 9th.  There just does not seem to be enough time in a day.

The gluten-free sour cream coffee cake I made was a recipe handed down to me by my dear friend Amy Radbill at the Davis Food Co-op.  It is pfairly easy to bake and it tastes absolutely delicious.  The nice thing about this recipe is that you can take this flour recipe or Amy's cake flour recipe and use it on ANY coffee cake recipe that you have.  All you do is trade out the regualr flour for this mix, and add a little xanthan gum and WA-LA!  You have wonderful coffee cake to go along with your delciously fragrant pot of coffee!!  Now one of the things that amy and I always laugh about is the fact that so many folks want to make cakes super healthy, and let's be honest, a cake is cake.  It is not meant to be super healthy, and on the same token you should not be eating cake all of the time.  But cake should not be heavy or dense, nor crumbly, it should be light and fluffy.  The nice thing about this recipe is that the lightness and fluffiness can be accomplished with either of the following flour mix recipes.  

Bette Hagman’s Featherlight Rice Flour Mix:



1 part white or brown rice flour
1 part tapioca flour
1 part cornstarch
Potato flour (not starch), 1 tsp. for each cup the other flours

*For exchange purposes 1 cup of wheat flour = 1 cup of featherlight mix.
*If you would like to purchase baking flour pre-mixed, Authentic Foods sells Bette Hagman’s Featherlight Rice Flour Mix, but it is much less expensive to mix your own.

Add all ingredients and mix thoroughly with a whisk.

Amy's Cake Flour

For 3 cups:

1 cup white or brown rice flour
1 cup cornstarch or arrowroot
2/3 cup potato starch
1/3 cup tapioca starch
1 tablespoon potato flour
For 9 cups:
3 cups rice flour
3 cups cornstarch or arrowroot
2 cups potato starch
1 cup tapioca starch
3 tablespoons potato flour

Add all ingredients and mix thoroughly with a whisk.
*For exchange purposes 1 cup of wheat flour = 1 cup of Amy's cake flour in ANY cake recipe.



Sour Cream Crumb Cake

Crumb cake is a great morning sweet with coffee or tea.  This recipe was adapted from the King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion; a book filled with recipes just waiting for gluten-free adaptations.  Nothing in the ingredient list has been changed except for the flour and the xanthan gum. 


For the Crumb
Dry Ingredients only:
2 1/2 cups featherlight rice flour mix
1 1/4 teaspoons xanthan gum
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

 Wet Ingredients only:
2 sticks butter (or butter subsitute), melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon almond extract

Thoroughly combine the dry ingredients.  Add the extracts to the melted butter.  Stir the butter into the dry ingredients until all of the dry ingredients are moist, and the mixture breaks into large clumps.  Set this crumb mixture aside.

For the cake
Dry Ingredients only:
2 cups featherlight rice flour mix
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt1 teaspoon baking powder

Wet Ingredients only:1 stick of butter
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs (room temperature)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream (or yogurt or substitute for sour cream or yogurt)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butter and flour a 9" X 13" pan.

Thoroughly combine the dry ingredients, and set them aside.  In a seperate bowl, cream together butter and sugar for about 3 to 5 minutes until it is fluffy.  Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, beating after each addition.  Beat in the vanilla and the sour cream.  Stir in dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the mixtures are well combined.

The batter will be thick; scoop it into the prepared pan, then wet your hands thoroughly, and pat the batter out to the edges of the pan.  When the batter is evenly spread, sprinkle the entire surface thickly with the crumb mixture.  Be sure NOT to break the crumbs up too small!!

Bake the cake for about 30 to 35 minutes.  it may still seem a little soft, but the cake tester should come out clean when the center is poked.