Ekadasi Cake- gluten-free

Okay, so Ekadasi is all about cooking less and praying more, but there are times when you might need a cake recipe, especially if you have a young and hungry family who need encouraging to keep grain-free all day, or if there is a special appearance day on which Ekadasi rules are followed, but a celebratory feast is also called for- such as Lord Ramacandra's appearance (Tuesday 12th April here in the UK). 
This cake is made with buckwheat flour. Great River Organic Milling, Organic Specialty Buckwheat Flour, 25-Pound Package   Flour, Buckwheat, Organic, 25# Bulk As buckwheat is actually a member of the rhubarb family its seeds are not considered to be true grains so it is permissable on Ekadasi. Despite the fact that I now have a whole queue of draft posts awaiting publication,  I'm posting this recipe next because I think it's one of my most versatile cakes yet: it can be vegan or not and it is wheat and gluten-free. It can be made, as here, to Ekadasi specifications, or made with soya milk on other days...you can change the flavouring too. Excited yet? Well anyway here's the recipe:-
These amounts  make a cake in a 9x7" (22.5x18cm) tin or the round equivalent. It makes 8 portions, so if you are catering for more, just scale up the quanities and it should work fine; just be cautious with the liquids and add less juice if the mixture seems too runny- follow your baking instincts!

250g buckwheat flour
1 tsp ground ginger
2 tsps bicarbonate of soda (NOT baking powder)
150g demerara or soft light brown sugar
4 tabs desiccated coconut
10 semidried apricots*, finely chopped (*note: if you are going to use dried fruit on Ekadasi, make sure it does not contain vegetable oil. In the UK, Aldi apricots and Sunmaid raisins are okay)
200ml almond milk/fruit juice
2 tabs lemon juice (about 1 smallish ) lemon
50ml peanut or sunflower oil (organic cold-pressed sunflower oil has a strong smell and taste though)
the grated rind and juice of 1 orange
  • Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl with the apricots
  • Measure out the liquids in a separate container
  • Add the liquids to the dry ingredients, beating well for about a minute.
  • Place in the prepared cake tin (oiled and floured, or dampened if you are using silicone)Wilton 2105-4923 24-Cavity Silicone Brownie-Squares Baking Mold and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for about half an hour, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean.


The flavour of the finished cake is not especially gingery or coconutty: I suspect you could add more of either of these ingredients to get a more distinctive taste.

Comments

  1. Trust you to make a farali cake! Will try it out in the next navratri. Won't my guests be surprised to have cake at asthami dinner!

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  2. I was just about to try this recipe out, when I encountered "tabs". What is that in other measurements?

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  3. And tsp, is that tablespoon or teaspoon?
    And what is tsps?

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  4. tab is tablespoon and tsp is teaspoon- sorry for any confusion!

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  5. Awesome! I will definitely give this one a try for Ekadasi in a few weeks... My partner is a Bhakta and I'm always looking for new egg-free recipes to make for him as well. Happy to have found your blog!
    Hari Bol!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks:) hope you find the recipes here useful and enjoyable. Don't hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries.

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  6. In my old (70's issue) Hare Krishna Cookbook the abbreviations Tsp and tsp are used to distinguish between Tablespoon and teaspoon. I find it very helpful and easy to remember- big T, big spoon!

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  7. Sorry, my mistake, the cookbook uses T. and t. respectively

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