Dairy Free Tea Cakes Recipe

This Dairy Free Tea Cakes Recipe is Gluten-Free and Vegan.

Made with a blend of almond flour, potato starch, and unsweetened applesauce, these light sponge cakes are naturally delicious especially topped with fresh berries!

What you need to make this recipe.

• Almond Flour. The base flour alternative used in this recipe.
• White Rice Flour Avoid using a glutinous rice flour.
• Potato Starch Helps make these cakes moist.
• Salt Helps bring out the other flavors.
• Leaveners Baking Powder and Baking Soda.
• Canola Oil Another neutral oil, such a vegetable oil, can be substituted.
• Unsweetened Applesauce Added for flavor and as a sweetener.
• Sugar Regular granular sugar.
• Oat Milk. Oat milk has the perfect consistency for baked recipe such as this one.
• Vanilla Extract. Added for a flavor balance.
• Berries Such as raspberries or blueberries.

How to Make Vegan and Gluten-Free Tea Cakes

• Prep Time 15 minutes .
• Bake Time 12 minutes .
• Servings 24 mini financiers or cakes.
• How to serve : Serve with tea, milk, or as desired.
• Notes: You will need a mini-muffin pan, liners, large mixing bowl, whisk, and a cookie scoop.

.

1. Prepare Preheat your oven to 375° F. Also, prep your muffin pan for nonstick. Liners can work in this recipe.
2. Dry Ingredients. In a medium bowl, use a whisk to combine together the almond flour, Rice Flour, Potato Starch, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.
3. Wet Ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, use a clean whisk to combine together the oil and applesauce until fully emulsified. Add the sugar and whisk the ingredients until it has fully dissolved. Lastly, whisk in the oat milk and vanilla extract.
4. Combine. Add the dry ingredients from the first bowl to the large mixing bowl and whisk until smooth and lump-free.
5. Transfer. Use a small cookie scoop to fill the muffin cups ¾ full. Then place a berry or two on top of each of the muffins.
6. Bake Bake the muffins for 11-12 minutes or until they turn golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing to fully cool.

Tips for making the best tea cakes.

The dry ingredients (almond flour, starch, rice flour, and leaveners) are whisked together before combining them with the other ingredients in the larger bowl. This is done to aerate the flour and ensures that the leaveners are evenly distributed, avoiding any "bitter pockets."

More helpful tips for you.

1. Sometimes a recipe such as this one will have the batter rest just after being combined. We are not resting in this recipe however, as once the oat milk and applesauce are combined with the baking soda and powder, the chemical reaction starts immediately and we do not want to miss out on that.
2. When placing the berries on top of the tea cakes, keep in mind that this batter is relatively thin (due to the oil and oat milk) and heavy fruit can sink straight to the bottom and create a soggy base. Some berries do better when cut in half or smaller pieces.
3. These tea cakes must be allowed to cool in the pan once they are taken out of the oven. This is because gluten-free and vegan cakes are very fragile when they first come out of the oven. The starches need time to "set" as they cool.

FAQ

• Can I substitute another flour for the almond flour?
  Almond flour provides the essential fats and structure for this dairy-free recipe. If you have a nut allergy, sunflower seed flour (oat flour can also work but will be much thirstier) is the best 1:1 swap. Note: Using sunflower flour may turn the inside of the cake slightly green due to a natural reaction with baking soda, but it is perfectly safe to eat!
• Why is there potato starch in this recipe?
  Potato starch is the secret to a "springy" texture. Since there is no gluten to hold the tea cakes together, the starch acts as a binder. If you must substitute, use cornstarch or tapioca starch.
• Can I use a different liquid instead of oat milk?
  Oat milk is really best for baking a recipe such as this once as it has an ideal texture and, because of its natural sugars, the tea cakes can achieve a beautiful golden-brown color in the oven. Other vegan milks can work in this recipe but, the structure of the tea cakes can be affected.
• My cakes are gummy in the middle. What happened?
  'Gummy' tea cakes usually happens for two reasons:
  Underbaking or not allowing the tea cakes to fully set while cooling.

Variations.

• Chocolate Chip Tea Cakes - Chocolate Chips add a third of a cup of chocolate chips to the rice flour first so to avoid sinking.
• Lemon Tea Cakes- Sub in a tablespoon of lemon juice for the oat milk.
• Ditch the fruit and simply dust your tea cakes with powdered sugar.

How to store tea cakes.

Once your tea cakes have fully cooled and set, they can be stored in an airtight container. When properly stored, tea cakes should keep for up to two days at room temperature or frozen for up to a few months.

You may also be interested in these dairy free recipes.

• Buckwheat and Banana Nut Muffins
• Oat and Seed Granola Bars
• Apple Crumble Loaf Dessert
• Vegan Chocolate Olive Oil Cake
• 32 Irresistible Vegan Desserts to Try
• 21 Easy Recipes Made with Oats