Coffee Cake

I had never made a coffee cake before and was slightly nervous about making my first one when I volunteered to do so for my friend's brunch. I had no idea that making a coffee cake could be so easy, and yet so tasty! This recipe makes a delicious, delicate, not-too-sweet coffee cake, that will make your friends forget they are eating something gluten-free.

What you will need:

• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 1/4 cups cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 xanthan gum

Topping:

• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter

-Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch round or square baking pan.

-Combine the oil with the sugar in a medium-size bowl. Add the eggs. Beat with an electric mixer until light yellow and a little thicker. This will take a minute or two with a mixer, or build up some muscles by doing it by hand until the mixture is extra bubbly. Add the other batter ingredients and beat well. The batter will be very thick. Spread the batter in the prepared baking pan.

-Mix all the topping ingredients together in a bowl, until they crumble. (The sugar will not be evenly mixed with the butter, because in order for this to happen, the mixture reaches a creamy texture). Sprinkle evenly on top of the batter in the pan.

-Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle tests cleanly.

And that's it!

If you are looking for a place to start in gluten free baking, this is a great one, because the process is so simple, the baking time is very easy to judge, and the result is so rewarding, for both you, and your friends (gluten free or not!).

(This recipe is the corn-based version of the Coffee Cake recipe from "You Won't Believe It's Gluten Free" By Roben Ryberg. Potato flour and rice flour based versions of this recipe also exist.)