Deviously deviating from the recipe.
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I wasn’t sure what to call this bake so I settled on:
Doughy – not a regular cake mix, but not quite a pastry mix
cinnamon – well, I did use cinnamon
churro – they sort of look like churro chunks!
cakes – well they are a form of cake, right?
I was following this recipe because I wanted something with a fluffy texture that didn’t require me to buy more ingredients like tapioca flour, etc., although they are on my shopping list.
So I pretty much followed the recipe to a tee until the quantities – so basically I didn’t follow it right from the start, aha. I substituted regular sugar for Xylitol, which in itself isn’t the issue as this is a natural, guilt-free sugar alternative. I just didn’t put nearly enough into the mixture. The cinnamon aroma smelt great but it barely permeated throughout the mixture. As a guide, folks, when it comes to cinnamon, more is more. Anyway, my deviation is the reason why my bake looks so different to the one I followed. I injected some much needed sweetnesss with a thick, rustic layer of icing sugar. I will be back for round two, with vengeance or just the correct quantities for the swirl cakes! It was nice to make something that wasn’t as light as the fairy cakes, but not as dense and crisp as Viennese. These held their squidgy texture even after being baked which made for a nice change – plus they were quick to cook.
Scroll down for the recipe.
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Without further ado, the revised recipe:
Dough:
- 280g of flour – I used a basic G.F white flour.
- 1 ts of xanthan gum
- 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder
- pinch of salt
- 120 g Xylitot
- 126 g Vitalite spread (or other dairy-free spreads)
- 2 eggs beaten
- Vanilla essence to taste
I roughly poured 1/4 (small) cup of Xylitot +more ground cinnamon – the original recipe states 1 1/4g. However, it depends on how strong your cinnamon is! In my case – I’ll need to double this (and I did for my second attempt).
Let’s Go
Place parchment paper on a baking tray and when ready, set the oven to 175/180 C (takes 10-12 minutes to cook).
Pour the flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, salt and Xyliot sugar into a jug and mix.
Then add the spread, 2 beaten eggs, vanilla essence and combine using your hands to form a dough that can hold its form.
Place parchment paper under the dough and another layer over the dough (so the rolling-pin doesn’t stick.) Or if you’re me – so the glass cup doesn’t stick.. Roll out the dough until it is less than 1/3 inch thick – or if you’re me, roll until it touches the edges of the paper and can’t looks ‘about okay’.
Take the top layer of parchment paper off and spread a thinish layer of Vitalite on the dough all the way to the edges. Then combine Xylitol and ground cinnamon in a small cup (I used about 1/4 of a cup of Xyltol sugar and lots of cinnamon). Liberally sprinkle across the whole area right up to the edges.
Using a sharp knife, cut the dough into four sections of equal size. Starting at the long edge of one section, roll up into a tight coil and sprinkle the edges with Xylitol and cinnamon (optional). Cut the coil, roughly into one inch chunks and place on the parchment paper that’s on the baking tray. Make sure the chunks sit swirl side up.
Repeat this for the other 3 sections.
The oven needs to be on for 180 C for 10-12 minutes and placed no higher than the middle shelf. If you’re chunks are quite big/ dense, extend the cooking time which I had to do the second time by an additional ten minutes.
Optional step: Once cooked and cooled, mix up the icing sugar and glaze the cinnamon swirls (I use pre-made icing sugar and just add water). Okay, in this case, I needed to add more sweetness so I got a little trigger happy with the icing.
I’m going to repeat this recipe again in the very near future and hopefully I’ll have a couple of photos to add of how the cakes should have turned out in the first place. The sultanas are soaking in black tea as I type! However, the King family enjoyed this bake – and if I didn’t let on that I ‘deviated’, well they’d be none the wiser that they are missing out on the swirly goodness!
UPDATE! 22/08!
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Now these are what I’m talking about! I soaked sultanas overnight in hot black tea and added these into the mixture – to compensate, I poured in more flour to stiffen the mixture.
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