Gluten-free glorious bakes

Caramilk macadamia brownies, toffee apple crumble, orange drizzle cake...

Just when you thought banana bread couldn’t get any be er, it does – and goes gluten-free too! Cook a slab instead of a loaf, then cut rounds and join with finger-licking-good frosting.

Preparation time 15 mins plus cooling and freezing Cooking time 30 mins Makes 8

1/ cups gluten-free self-raising flour 2 tsp gluten-free baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/ cups almond meal

1 cup quinoa flakes

1 cup dark brown sugar

‰/Š cup milk

2 free-range eggs

100g unsalted buŒer, melted, cooled 1 tsp vanilla extract

2 ripe bananas, mashed

Finely chopped pistachios, to serve Fresh raspberries, to serve

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING 250g cream cheese, so–ened 50g unsalted buŒer, so–ened 1 tsp vanilla extract

1/ cups pure icing sugar, si–ed,

plus extra, to dust

STEP 1 Preheat oven to 160 C fan-forced (180°C conventional). Grease and line a 20 x 30cm lamington pan with baking paper.

STEP 2 Siƒ flour, baking powder and cinnamon together into a large bowl. Stir in almond meal, quinoa and sugar.

STEP 3 In a jug, lightly whisk milk, eggs, buŠer and vanilla together. Mix in mashed banana. Add to dry ingredients and mix to combine.

STEP 4 Spread baŠer in prepared pan. Bake for 30 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Freeze in pan for 1 hour (see Cook’s tips, right).

STEP 5 For the frosting, in a medium bowl using an electric mixer beat cream cheese, buŠer and vanilla together until combined. Gradually add siƒed icing sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Transfer to a piping bag fiŠed with a small plain nozzle.

STEP 6 Using a 7cm round cuŠer, cut 8 rounds from cooled cake slab. Halve each round horizontally, using a small serrated knife. Place boŠom layer of cake halves on a small plate or plaŠer. Pipe on frosting, sandwich with tops and ice. Decorate with chopped pistachios, dust with extra icing sugar and serve with raspberries.