Preparation

• Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk them (whole) with an electric mixer (or in the stand mixer with a wire whisk) until they become frothy.

  💪 I was skeptical, yet even on their own, meaning without sugar, they whip up nicely and become frothy (not like with sugar, it must be said, but they hold up well).

  Add the jam and blend again.

  Add the blueberry juice and mix, then the oil and mix again (at low speed, but even manually is fine).

  Sift the baking powder and mix it with the flour, or rather with the flour mix, which includes: rice flour, corn starch, and potato starch.

  ☝ Note on the flour: since the recipe called for a cake mix, before buying it, I checked that there were no additives among the ingredients (this is sometimes the case, as I learned when I made my first gluten-free dessert, the clementine muffins). Since the mix in question contained only rice flour, corn starch, and potato starch, I trusted it and bought it, and it performed excellently.

  Those who do not want to buy a mix or have difficulty finding it can easily buy rice flour, corn starch, and potato starch separately and then use them in equal parts.

  Alternatively, I suggest following the proportion I tried in the clementine muffins (repeating the link for you, here), which assured me an excellent result: by proportioning, to obtain the 250 g needed for this recipe, you can use 75 g rice flour, 75 g corn starch, and 100 g potato starch.

  At this point, peel the apple, cut it into small pieces (almost minced), and add them to the mixture.

  Line the bottom of a cake pan with parchment paper and pour in the mixture.

• Bake in the oven for 35 minutes at 392°F, lowering to 356°F after 15 minutes.

• 👉 I used my heart-shaped pan which is wide and shallow, so my gluten-free and no added sugar cake turned out a bit lower than expected (my sister-in-law’s was taller). Using a 9-inch or 9.5-inch pan can certainly yield a taller cake, and the baking time may need to be adjusted.

  Regardless of the pan used, I recommend always adjusting the baking time to your own oven. In fact, the ‘original’ baking time was supposed to be 25 minutes, a whole 10 minutes difference! It’s really true that every oven is unique.

  I show you the last piece of Aunt Laura’s cake, the raspberry version from which the recipe you’re reading was born. 🙂

• For the jam topping (I used 2.5 oz, but for a smaller diameter cake, less might suffice), you can proceed either when the cake is still warm or after it has cooled. In the latter case, if the jam is thick and difficult to spread, you can slightly warm it or simply soften it with a teaspoon or two of water (mixing well).

• However, the final decoration is optional, this gluten-free cake is also excellent as a simple breakfast cake. 🙂

• Just out of the oven, it is super soft, I resisted the temptation to taste it immediately because it was evening and I wanted to photograph it in daylight, 😀 the next day the softness it had just out of the oven had given way to a denser texture, but still well-cooked and with a really great flavor.

  And who knows, maybe next time instead of baking it in a heart-shaped mold I’ll put it in a square pan and… transform it into brownies! 😀 Enjoy!