Little Gluten + dairy-free Rhubarb, Lemon + Pink Peppercorn Cakes

We’ve just returned home from a long overdue family holiday, our first overseas holiday will the whole family since we took the kids to Vietnam many moons ago and it seems our return has coincided with the most manic time of year! Everything from November onward starts to feel like it goes at double speed. So while I beaver away over here with 101 things to do (like all of you too, I’m sure!), I thought I’d quickly share this super simple recipe for these little spring cakes… in the dying days of spring. As you do.

While most of the blogging world are busy talking about pumpkin pies and Thanksgiving dinners, down here in New Zealand things are just warming up and I can not wait for summer to begin! Last summer I had a stall at our local markets selling various little gluten-free cakes (some just like these) and while I don’t have any plans to do the markets again this summer, there’s no reason you can’t whip these up yourselves now you have the recipe 🙂

Although not a true peppercorn from the pepper vine, pink peppercorns have a similar peppery flavour, albeit a slightly fresher almost sweet and citrusy version. While great used in savoury dishes, it also lends itself to sweet applications too! I love pairing it with strawberries in the summertime, and its flavour adds a subtle peppery note to these pretty little gluten-free cakes.

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Little Gluten + Dairy-free Rhubarb, Lemon + Pink Peppercorn Cakes

I’ve cooked my cakes in mini bundt tins; however, they could also be cooked in paper cases in regular muffin tins or as a large cake (you’ll just need to adjust the cooking time). The sweet tang of the lemon icing adds a little something something, but should you be wanting to stick with a relatively low-sugar option, simply cook the batter in muffin tins and serve un-iced. You can find buckwheat flour at most supermarkets and health food stores. For my US readers, try and source raw buckwheat flour, it’s lighter in both flavour + taste. Find pink peppercorns at selected supermarkets or substitute for freshly ground black pepper if unavailable.

Servings 9

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup ground almonds (almond flour/meal)
• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour see headnotes
• 1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
• 1/4 cup unrefined raw sugar
• 1 teaspoon pink peppercorns finely ground, plus extra to serve
• finely grated zest 1 lemon
• pinch fine sea salt
• 1 large stalk rhubarb finely diced (approx 1 cup once finely diced)
• 2 large free-range eggs
• 1/3 cup light-flavoured extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup milk of your choice, I used rice milk

Lemon icing

• 1/2 cup pure icing sugar sifted
• lemon juice

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 170°C. Grease a 9-tray mini bundt tin.Place ground almonds into a medium bowl, sieve over buckwheat flour and baking powder. Add sugar, ground peppercorns, lemon zest and salt and whisk well to combine. Add rhubarb and mix. In another bowl combine egg, olive oil, milk and vanilla and whisk to combine. Pour wet mixture into dry and stir until just combined. Divide cake batter between tins and bake 12–15 minutes or until risen and golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. 
  
• Remove from the oven and set aside 5 minutes before removing from the tins and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. When cakes are cool, sieve icing sugar into a bowl and add just enough lemon juice to reach a thick pouring consistency. Drizzle a little over each cake and scatter the tops with extra ground pink peppercorns. Best eaten on day of baking, but will store airtight for 2 days.

Notes

This recipe was first created for and featured in Nourish Magazine.