Plum and Hazelnut Cake with Cinnamon Frosting {Gluten and Dairy Free!}

A deliciously tempting mini 6″ cake that is naturally gluten and dairy free! Moist hazelnut cake with plum filling and dairy free cinnamon frosting. It’s delicious and easy to make, with no oil needed!

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A deliciously tempting mini 6" cake that is naturally gluten and dairy free! Moist hazelnut cake with plum filling and dairy free cinnamon frosting. It's delicious and easy to make, with no oil needed!

The first month of 2017 is almost over, and what a year it’s been already! It’s hard to ignore politics at the moment, but for our own personal sanity I think it’s a good idea to take a step away from it for a while. Just sit down with a cup of coffee, a good book and a slice of Plum and Hazelnut Cake with Cinnamon Frosting and have some “me” time in the midst of all the craziness. Doesn’t that sound good right now? So take a moment to grab this amazing recipe and then switch off for a while, you deserve it!

Plum and Hazelnut Cake - A deliciously tempting mini 6" cake that is naturally gluten and dairy free! Moist hazelnut cake with plum filling and dairy free cinnamon frosting. It's delicious and easy to make, with no oil needed!

From a more personal perspective, this year has been going pretty well for me so far. I’m still very reluctant to embrace this new gluten free diet though, my brain and my body just don’t seem to agree on this one! Experimenting with gluten free baking is a great way to help me embrace it though, especially when the results are as awesome as this Plum and Hazelnut Cake with Cinnamon Frosting. It came together so easily and the flavours and texture were just amazing. This was a gluten free baking success from the end of 2016, it’s just taken me a while to share it with you all, sorry about that!

Plum and Hazelnut Cake -A deliciously tempting mini 6" cake that is naturally gluten and dairy free! Moist hazelnut cake with plum filling and dairy free cinnamon frosting. It's delicious and easy to make, with no oil needed!

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This Plum and Hazelnut Cake with Cinnamon Frosting is not only gluten free, but it’s dairy free too. I didn’t set out to make it dairy free, it just kind of happened by accident! The beauty of this cake is it doesn’t need any additional fat like butter or oil, the fats naturally in the hazelnuts and egg yolks keep it plenty moist enough, which means it was just naturally dairy free. Which lead me to make the frosting dairy free, so as not to ruin it for all you lovely dairy intolerant people! I’d heard about coconut oil “buttercream” before of course, but it never sounded very appealing, I thought it would be overly greasy. But I tried it out and I’m glad I did, the consistency is that of frosting made with butter and it’s totally delicious. And don’t worry if you don’t like the taste of coconut, the taste is subtle enough that it’s completely hidden by the cinnamon.  

Plum and Hazelnut Cake - A deliciously tempting mini 6" cake that is naturally gluten and dairy free! Moist hazelnut cake with plum filling and dairy free cinnamon frosting. It's delicious and easy to make, with no oil needed!

The plum sauce is what really takes this cake from good to great! It’s sweet, tangy and so full of delicious plum flavour. And it compliments the rich hazelnut cake perfectly. It does get a little messy when cutting the cake, but that’s part of the fun when you cut a slice and delicious, plum sauce spills out, oh so tempting! Any leftover sauce can be used to drizzle on top of cake slices, or stored in the fridge to use on pancakes or as an ice cream sauce! Make sure you keep the skins on your plums to get that gorgeous, deep purple colour. 

Plum and Hazelnut Cake - A deliciously tempting mini 6" cake that is naturally gluten and dairy free! Moist hazelnut cake with plum filling and dairy free cinnamon frosting. It's delicious and easy to make, with no oil needed!

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It may seem odd not to add any extra fats into this cake, I wasn’t sure it would work when I was testing, but trust me, it works! The fats that are naturally in the hazelnuts and egg yolks keep the sponge moist, and the whipped egg whites keep it light. I would recommend grinding your own flour from whole hazelnuts (make sure you toast or roast them first) to keep the processing to a minimum – but if you don’t have a powerful enough processor (I use my Vitamix) then store bought will work. 

Plum and Hazelnut Cake -A deliciously tempting mini 6" cake that is naturally gluten and dairy free! Moist hazelnut cake with plum filling and dairy free cinnamon frosting. It's delicious and easy to make, with no oil needed!

This Plum and Hazelnut Cake is pretty simple to make (it seems like a lot of steps, but they’re all easy) and totally delicious, so you really can’t go wrong with this one. It’s an adorable little cake too, it would make the perfect Valentine’s Day dessert – just enough for two with left overs! Would you share?

Plum and Hazelnut Cake - A deliciously tempting mini 6" cake that is naturally gluten and dairy free! Moist hazelnut cake with plum filling and dairy free cinnamon frosting. It's delicious and easy to make, with no oil needed!

Plum and Hazelnut Cake with Cinnamon Frosting {Gluten and Dairy Free)

Prep

Cook

Inactive

Total

Yield 6-8 Slices

A deliciously tempting mini cake that is naturally gluten and dairy free! Moist hazelnut cake, with plum filling and dairy free cinnamon frosting! It's adorable, delicious and easy to make!

Ingredients

For the Hazelnut Cake:

  • 2 large eggs, separated
  • 50g (1/2 cup) white sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 100g (3/4 cup) hazelnut flour (homemade or store bought) 
  • 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
  • Pinch of salt

For the Plum Sauce:

  • 350g chopped plums (approx 5 plums/2 cups)
  • 100g (1/2 packed cup) light brown sugar
  • Juice of 1/2 medium lemon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

For the Cinnamon Frosting:

  • 100g (1/2 cup) coconut oil at room temperature (i.e. solid form)
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 375g (3 cups) icing sugar (confectioners/powdered)

Equipment needed:

  • a 6" deep cake tin
  • two large mixing bowls
  • a whisk
  • a stand mixer or handheld electric mixer
  • a metal spoon
  • a blender
  • a piping bag or zip lock bag with the end snipped off 

Instructions

To make the Hazelnut Cake:

  1. Preheat the oven to 175C/350F. Lightly grease a 6" deep cake tin with gluten/dairy free baking spray. 
  2. Beat the egg yolks with half of the sugar (25g/ 1/4 cup) and the vanilla extract in a large bowl until combined and pale. 
  3. Whisk the bicarb (baking soda) with the hazelnut flour, and add to the egg yolk mixture. Whisk until all combined, about 2 minutes,  the mixture will be very thick and sticky. Set aside.
  4. Put the egg whites in the clean bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or a large, clean metal bowl if using a hand mixer). Whip on medium high speed until egg whites are frothy and white. Add the salt and remaining sugar. 
  5. Whip until soft peaks form - i.e. when you remove the whisk the egg whites will hold a 'peak' that folds over. 
  6. Add 1/3 of the egg whites to the hazelnut mixture and use a metal spoon to mix the two together until combined. Add the remaining egg whites and use the spoon to gently mix until completely combined. 
  7. Gently pour the batter into your prepared cake tin.
  8. Bake for 27-30 minutes, until cake is springy to touch and a skewer inserted comes out clean. 
  9. Leave to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Slice the cake in two horizontally to make two cake layers. 

To make the Plum Sauce:

  1. While the cake is baking, make the plum sauce. 
  2. Put your chopped plums, brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice in a small sauce pan and stir to combine.
  3. Bring to a boil on a medium heat, and allow to boil for 2 minutes, stirring to keep it from sticking. 
  4. Reduce to a simmer and simmer for 5-7 minutes, until the plums are nice and soft and all the sugar has dissolved. 
  5. Leave to cool completely. Then put in a blender and pulse 1-2 times. Set aside ready for cake assembly

To make the Cinnamon Frosting:

  1.  Put the coconut oil in the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use an handheld electric mixer) and beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until coconut oil is smooth.
  2. Add the cinnamon and 1/3 of the icing sugar, beat on low until fully combined. 
  3. Turn the speed up to medium-high and gradually add the remaining icing sugar. You may need to add more or less, depending on your desired consistency.
  4. Beat for a further 2 minutes on medium-high speed until fluffy.

To assemble the cake:

  1.  Make sure the cake and sauce are completely cooled before assembling.
  2. Put one cake layer on your serving stand/plate. Spoon a few tablespoons of frosting on top and spread out evenly. 
  3. Spoon half the frosting into your piping bag and snip off the end. Pipe a thick border around the edge of the cake. 
  4. Fill the little trench you just made with plum sauce. 
  5. Place the other cake layer on top. Spread with more frosting and pipe another border. Fill the middle with plum sauce. Place whole hazelnuts around the edge of the cake
  6. Use remaining frosting to spread a thin layer around the sides of the cake. 
  7. Serve!

Notes

Will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 days

Best served at room temperature. 

Please note: All nutrition info is approximate

Courses Dessert

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 slice

Amount Per Serving

Calories 660

% Daily Value

Total Fat 31 g

48%

Total Carbohydrates 96.3 g

32%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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