Gluten free grapefruit poppy seed loaf cake!
I’m not sure how it’s Thursday already this week. Where has time gone?? Easter weekend went by in a whirlwind, but what an amazing weekend it was! We had the most glorious sunshine, which resulted in long countryside walks to the pub, fires outside, bluebell trips, BBQs, margaritas and dancing to Beyonce on Netflix in our pjs. That woman is a god.
Getting back into the swing of it this week has been a bit of a struggle. But at the moment I’m working on switching the branding up for my blog which is so exciting and I can’t wait to share it with you. I’ve got some articles to write and few shoots to sort too, so it’s all a-go. I’ve moved my Beyonce dancing to the kitchen, channelling her finest moves for the ultimate motivation.
The recipe I can’t wait to share with you this week is a gluten free, grapefruit and poppy seed loaf cake. Looking back on the Monash FODMAP app (my fave), it says that a small amount of grapefruit is FODMAP friendly (is this new or has it always said that??) either way I got excited and CAKE had to happen.
An update on the lemon drizzle classic, this is a really easy but delicious bake, that bar a few grapefruits, uses ingredients you’re likely to already have in the cupboard. Syrup poured over the cake whilst still warm makes it super moist (sorry) and a simple icing drizzled over the top, made with fresh grapefruit juice and icing sugar finishes it off in the best way. I was quite generous with my poppy seeds, because if a cake says it has poppy seeds I really wanna see and taste those poppy seeds you know, but you could reduce the amount or take them out altogether if you like. Bake for friends coming over, wrap up without the icing for a lovely gift or just treat yourself in the afternoon with a cuppa.
Gluten free grapefruit poppy seed loaf cake recipe notes:
- This recipe uses FODMAP friendly ingredients and should fit in with FODMAP limits. I follow the Monash University app data to create FODMAP friendly recipes – if unsure, as always, please ask your dietician or GP
- You could try experimenting with lemon, orange or lime here (also I feel grapefruit and gin cakes are a thing??)
Ingredients
For the grapefruit and poppy seed loaf cake:
175g unsalted butter, room temp
175g caster sugar
Zest of 2 grapefruits
3 eggs
125g gluten free self-raising flour (I used FREEE)
50g ground almonds
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tablespoons almond milk
For the syrup:
Juice of 2 grapefruits
75g caster sugar
For the icing:
Juice of 1 grapefruit
130g icing sugar
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
Method
- Preheat your oven to 180C/160C fan. Grease and line a 2lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
- Beat together the butter, caster sugar and the finely grated zest of 2 grapefruits until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until well combined before adding the next. Sift over the flour and fold in, followed by the almonds, salt and poppy seeds.
- Add just enough milk to bring the mixture to a dropping consistency, then spoon into the prepared tin and even out the top. Bake for about 50-55 minutes, until a skewer comes out dry (a few crumbs clinging on to your skewer are all good!).
- To make the sugar syrup: over a low heat, mix together the juice of the grapefruit with the sugar, until the sugar has dissolved. While the cake is still warm, poke holes all over the top of it and slowly pour over the syrup, waiting for the cake to absorb it in stages. Allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, before turning out on to a wire rack to cool completely.
- To make the icing, place the icing sugar in a bowl and slowly add the grapefruit juice, stirring all the time until you reach the consistency you want. Drizzle over the cake when cool and top with a generous sprinkle of poppy seeds.
I love seeing what you’ve created – so if you make this recipe (or any other from this site) please take a photograph and tag me @shecanteatwhat or with #shecanteatwhat and #fodmapfriendlykitchen on social x
Photographs by Emma Croman
