What to do with a Gluten Free cake that didn't work out.

On Thursday evening I tried to make an old family favourite spice cake into a gluten free one.  The original cake did not call for an egg but I put one in and then just substituted gf flours for the gluten free.  Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't.  This one was so dry the kids would call it sawdust cake. I by accident had doubled the recipe (never do this the first time converting a recipe!) and some of the ingredients were fairly costly so I did not want to throw it away.  What I did was look for a recipe that was similar but NOT Gluten Free.  I crumbled up the gluten free loaf cakes into a large bowl and measured out the crumbs.
Gluten Free Spice Cake- This is the one that flopped .
1 cup teff
1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup arrowroot flour
1 egg
3 tsp. baking pwd.
2 tsp. guar gum
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ginger pwd
1/8tsp. cloves
1/8 tsp. mace
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. allspice
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup Rogers Syrup
1 cup milk.

Wheat Flour Spice Cake - this is what I converted the flopped gluten free one too.
2 cups raisins soaked in 3 cups water
1 cup shortening, butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups flour
3 eggs
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
If  you look at the two recipes you will see they are similar.   To reuse the flopped cake and remake it into a decent wheat cake (for your family and friends who do not have to eat gluten free) you will take the flopped cake and crumble it into fine crumbs into a large mixing bowl.  You can do this with your hands for most flopped gluten free cakes.   When comparing the recipe you will see the flour amounts are almost the same.  Measure out 1-2 cups of the crumbled flopped cake and place in another large mixing bowl.  Add 1- 2 cups wheat all purpose white flour.  DO NOT add any spices, salt  or sugar as there is enough in the flopped cake.  Add the eggs, the shortening and the raisins along with the liquid the raisins were soaking in.  I also added 3 more teaspoons baking powder.  Mix with a hand mixer until well  mixed.  You may have to add a bit more batter to make a  thick batter (should be a batter not a dough).  Pour into greased loaf pans about 3/4 full. 
Bake for 1 hour at 350 until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  What I did above will give you a bit of an idea of how to do it.  My mom gave me this idea.  Last year I was teaching my son to make gluten free Christmas Fruit Cakes for his small bakery.  He ended up with quite a few flopps and my thrifty mom could thought it was such a waste to throw out all that cake and fruit.  We gave her all the flopped ones and she just used her favourite fruit cake recipe using the crumbld flopped cake for about half the flour ingredients.  You would never have known her Christmas Fruit cake was made from flopped gluten free fruit cakes.

You can also make Gluten Free Crumb Cookies out of  your flopped cakes or breads. 

Gluten free Crumb Cookies 

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar (if using bread crumbs, omit is using sweet cake crumbs or just add less)

1 cup dry shredded coconut

1 cup dry cake, cookie or bread crumbs (or a mixture)

1 /4 cup cornstarch.
Preheat oven to 350 F.  Beat eggs until frothy.  Add sugar, coconut, crumbs and cornstarch.  Stir well.  Drop onto an ungreased baking sheet.  Bake 10 - 15 minutes until they just start to brown.  Makes 12.