Adding liquid to gluten-free cake, but not milk..?

[beckym8678]

Can anyone help? I have to make a gluten-free, dairy-free banana cake for a rather allergic little boy. It's a recipe i've made a hundred times, but not without 'normal' flour and milk... I'm using dove's farm gluten free self-raising flour, and I understand you have to add extra liquid. The recipe calls for milk, can I use water instead? Or perhaps extra banana? Am not sure what role the milk usually plays, beyond slackening the mix. Can't use any kind of milk at all, nuts, soya, cow, all off the menu.... Help!

I find just substituting GF flour for normal flour doesn't work. You need to follow a specific GF recipe IME. That said, water may be fine. Good luck!

Water is your safest bet then.

Milk would just be to slacken it as you say, although I guess the fat content in the milk might add something so you could always add a teaspoon of oil or something too? Otherwise perhaps apple juice would work.

Brilliant, thanks both of you. Shall do a trial run to see whether my recipe works with gluten-free flour, am hoping that being a fairly unsophisticated banana cake it'll be more forgiving than most...

Ps as bakers with gluten-free experience, can you direct me to any cake recipes which last well? I have to bake it four days in advance, hence the choice of banana cake (this recipe usually tastes best a few days later, if not scoffed as soon as it's cool enough!)

Almond milk.

Oat milk, if worried about fat content a but of oat cream? Must say my GF baking always comes out hard as rocks - even following doves farm recipes

I make gluten, dairy & soy free banana bread and add applesauce to keep it moist, works every time. That and a bit of water and it will be fine.

I also make a 'butter' icing from pure spread and light muscovado sugar which hoes really well.

Coconut milk can be v useful like this too

Sadly he can't have almond, coconut, oat milks or 'any other milk you can possibly think of' apparently! some major allergies going on here... Applesauce a great idea though (all fruits are ok) and I like the sound of the icing, thanks again!

www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/banana-cake/

Ah thanks Lagoonablue, shall make mine and yours and compare and get fat...

Coconut? Really? Poor mite!

I did a chocolate orange cake with orange juice once, worked well. I'd be tempted to maybe try using ab innocent smoothie with banana in or something maybe?

For GF flour in absence of a specific recipe stating amounts of different gf flours, then a generic gf flour mix (like doves farm) + xanthan gum works ok.

Xanthan gum, right. Have some of that for the GF gingerbread men I've just made him (v pleased with those, smelt weird before baking but the test run batch is being gulped down by my kids, no problem. Haven't let on that there's chickpeas and rice in there!) here if anyone's interested...
Chocolate orange cake sounds good, though chocolate and cocoa both out too! Not an easy challenge, this one.

It's really nice of you to go to all the effort. I'm a coeliac so no gluten and DS is allergic to dairy & soy. It's always lovely to be included

If you google Nigella's polenta lemon drizzle cake that works well as a gluten free cake, it keeps well too. I also find that substituting gf flour for normal flour doesn't work, I have some fab gf chocolate cake recipes, it's a shame he can't have chocolate.

Rice milk? There's rice flour in the Doves Farm, so surely that would be okay?