Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake / Water Caltrop Flour Cake

This gluten-free chocolate cake made with water caltrop flour has a light texture, airy crumb. The flavor of water caltrop flour melds beautifully with chocolate to give a unique taste.

Baking a glutenfree cake was on my mind for a long time. A flour that I always wanted to use in my baking is the freshwater caltrop flour. The flour has a light texture and a subtle sweetness. My mother makes delicious halwa with it. It has a great flavour that is unique. Popularly known as Singhara atta, the flour is rich in potassium and low in sodium. It is a good source of iron, calcium, phosphorous and zinc. It is a source of good carbohydrates and minerals. It is rich in dietary fibre and a good source of energy.

Singhara atta, also known as water chestnut, water caltrop and paniphal is very popular during fasts and a lot of delicacies are prepared with it. It is gluten-free flour.

Last week, I baked a chocolate cake with water caltrop flour. The cake rose well. My apprehensions were allayed when family tasted it and let out joyous notes. It had a great taste and texture. Kids loved the taste and that was a huge signal that the experiment was a success. A new recipe was born and compiled.

The crumb was a little dry. We enjoyed the chocolaty slices loaded with ganache. We had half of it next day with warm custard.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups water chestnut flour
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter (1 stick)
• 1 cup unrefined cane sugar
• 2 free-range eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 100ml buttermilk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line one 8 inch round cake pan.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together first five ingredients. Pass the mixture through a strainer to remove lumps.
3. In another bowl, beat butter and sugar till light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time. Mix well.
4. Add vanilla extract.
5. Now add dry ingredients. Add in three shifts. Every time you add flour mixture, add buttermilk and mix well. The batter will be light, smooth and thick.
6. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top turns golden and a toothpick inserted into the centre comes out clean.
7. Turn off the heat and let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
8. Invert onto the rack to cool.
9. Slice when cold.
10. Drizzle some ganache on top or serve with warm custard or icecream.