Yummmy Scrummy Carrot Cake goes Gluten-Free

I have probably shared the recipe for Good Food's Yummy Scrummy Carrot Cake before, because I do make it quite a bit!  But for today's try-out I thought I would use the recipe, substituting the ordinary self-raising flour for Dove's Gluten Free Self-Raising Flour.  We have one gluten-intolerant family member, and whenever I'm doing a tea party, I seem to make the same (albeit delicious) 'Hale and Hearty' Chocolate Chip Cookies...

(From a mix...Yes I know - what a scandal!)

...because they are a fail-safe option.  

I have amassed a good number of gluten-free cake and biscuit recipes, but I wanted to see how one of my favourites would turn out with just a tweak.

So I gathered together my ingredients and set on a journey of gluten-free discovery.

Into a bowl went 175g of soft brown sugar.

(It's meant to be light muscovado, but I had none.)

Add 175ml of sunflower oil 

(Oh yes.  Mr Gluten-Free is also Mr Dairy-free, so this is useful.)

Add three large eggs...

And give it a quick stir...

Add in 140g of grated carrot.

(I was a little short of carrot and decided to chuck in some grated apple instead - 60g of apple and  110g of carrot in this case.)

Add 100g raisins.

(Guess what?  We didn't have those either, so sultanas it was.  What's the difference anyway?)

Sieve in 175g gluten-free self-raising flour, a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda and a teaspoon of mixed spice.

(Another substitution - it's meant to be 1 tsp cinnamon, half of nutmeg and the grated rind of an orange. I had no orange and couldn't be bothered to grate fresh nutmeg or find the cinnamon, so grabbed the mixed spice instead.)

Mix briefly then pour into a greased, lined pan. (Mine was approximately 8'' by 4''.  Don't ask what that is in modern!)  Bake at 180degrees/160 Fan Oven/Gas Mark 4) for 40-45 minutes, till well risen and golden.

When cool, drizzle over icing made with icing sugar and orange juice .

(My final substitution - water in place of orange juice.)

The finished cake required testing, rather in the style of 'The Great British Bake-Off' - final tonight, woo-hoo!  Go James!

It looked pretty much the same as usual, just without the faint orange colour to the icing.

To the touch it was a little firmer than normal, which I think is to be expected because of the lack of gluten.  However, it was by no means heavy or solid, as I'd thought it might be, and had much the same rise as the gluten-y version.

Once cut, it had a good texture - crumby and cakey, if you know what I mean.  

And it tasted good!  There was a slightly sandy texture to it, but this wasn't unpleasant, just a bit different.  I think it would be acceptable to gluten eaters and gluten free-ers alike!