Recipe reproduced with permission from Glenda Bishop. Glenda is a Registered Nutritionist, wellness coach, neuroscientist and educator.

The holiday season is fast approaching and I don’t see any reason why those of us with food intolerances have to miss out. A little tweak here, a little tweak there, and you’ll still have many amazing choices. Sure, there are some things that can’t be converted and will have to be skipped, but thankfully my all-time favourite isn’t one of those things. And now I’m sharing it without you... my Low FODMAP Gingerbread Cake with Orange Glaze.

Okay, so let’s quickly talk about how this recipe has been made safe for most food intolerances... First, the flour is switched to a gluten-free flour that’s also low FODMAP. I’ve used my own special blend in this recipe, which I highly recommend by the way, but you can use a store-bought blend if you prefer. Second, I’ve made the cake dairy-free by switching the milk to unsweetened almond milk, changing the butter to extra virgin olive oil–you seriously can’t taste the olive oil in this because of the strong gingerbread spices–and I’ve converted the icing to a glaze, so it doesn’t need butter. And, that’s it for the intolerance side of things really. Yes, those are some big changes from a baking point of view, but gingerbread is surprisingly forgiving because of the high moisture content.

One word of caution though for FODMAPs...

It wasn’t until after I created this recipe that golden syrup was tested by Monash University and found to be high in fructans at a portion of 15g, which is the amount that’s in one slice of this cake. Unfortunately, there’s really no fix for this ingredient because you need the golden syrup to get the flavour and texture right. However a portion of 7g golden syrup has a green light (low in fructans), so if fructans are a major concern for you, then you may need to limit your serve to half a slice.

Since this post is also part of the Recipe Redux and this month’s theme is aboutTrimming the Table and sharing a healthy dessert with family and friends, let’s talk about the healthiness of this recipe. I’m not going to pretend for even a minute that this cake is ‘healthy’, although it does have 20% less sugar than regular gingerbread cakes and uses monounsaturated fats instead of saturated fats (i.e.extra virgin olive oil instead of butter). That said, it’s still 100% a cake. So rather than making this cake good for your physical health, I’m making it good for your mental health. There’s nothing worse than sitting around watching everyone else eat the good stuff while you miss out. So this time, don’t feel restricted on your low FODMAP diet. Make this cake and take it with you so you’ll have something amazing to eat too. And if you’re in doubt about whether anyone will be able to tell if this is low FODMAP, gluten-free and dairy-free, why not do a test run beforehand. You’ll thank me for it! This cake is truly one of my favourite things.

Spicy Gingerbread Cake with Orange Glaze

Makes: 12 slices

Serving size: 1 slice

Special equipment: An 11 x 22 cm loaf tin

Ingredients

Cake:

• 175g (1 and 1/4 cups) low FODMAP gluten-free flour

• 1/2 tsp guar gum

• 1 and 1/4 tsp of gluten-free baking powder

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 2 tsp ground ginger

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp mixed spice

• 85g (1/3 cup) sugar

• 125ml (1/2 cup) unsweetened almond milk (or other low FODMAP milk of your choice)

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 180g (1/2 cup) golden syrup

• 60ml (1/2 cup) extra virgin olive oil

Icing:

• 1/3 cup icing sugar

• 2 and 1/2 tsp fresh orange juice

• Crystallised ginger, chopped (optional)

• Orange zest (optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 170C (fan-forced oven). Grease a loaf pan (11 x22 cm) and line it with baking paper.

2. In a large bowl, sift the flour, gum, baking powder, soda, and the spices. Add the sugar. Use a balloon whisk to mix the dry ingredients very thoroughly until evenly mixed. Add the milk and egg and mix until a very thick batter forms.

3. Put the golden syrup in a small bowl and gently heat in the microwave for about 1 minute on 50% power. The point here is to make the syrup runnier, but not to make it hot. Add the syrup and olive oil to the batter and mix until a thin batter forms. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.

4. Bake the cake for 1 hour at 170C until it’s cooked–a skewer inserted into the cake should come out clean or with a few crumbs on it. Remove from oven and leave in the tin for 10minutes, then turn onto a wire rack until completely cool (that will take at least 1 hour).

5. To ice the cake, make the icing by sifting the icing sugar into a small bowl. Add the orange juice and mix well until you have a smooth and thin icing. Pour over the cooked cake from the middle–the icing is runny enough that it will naturally drip down the sides. If desired, decorate with chopped crystallised ginger and orange zest.

Ingredient Notes:

• Based on the recommended portion sizes of individual ingredients in the Monash University Low FODMAP Diet app at the time of publication, this recipe should be low FODMAP, provided that the recommended serving size for this recipe is not exceeded, except for fructans content. If you’re highly sensitive to fructans, then you should restrict your serving size to ½ a slice.

• Gluten-free cakes have the best texture on the day they’re made, but this cake will still be good for a couple of days because of its high moisture content.

• If the gluten-free flour blend you’re using already contains a gum, such as xanthan gum or guar gum, you shouldn’t need to add any more to it and so can omit the guar gum from this recipe.

• Almond milk is low FODMAP, but you could also use lactose-free milk, soy protein milk or hemp milk, depending on your personal food tolerances.

• This recipe is naturally gluten-free and dairy-free, and can be made nut-free with a different milk. However, if you have an allergy to any of these items, or have coeliac disease, please check the labels on any purchased ingredients to ensure they are safe for your requirements.

Rachel is a university qualified Clinical Nutritionist based in Balmain.  She is also the busy working mum of two teenagers, so is practical and realistic with her advice . Rachel offers private consultations to improve your family's health and well-being. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram for more healthy tips and tricks. 

If you'd like help implementing a low FODMAP diet I can help you.  Find out more about my services here. If you’re after more delicious low FODMAP recipes go here.

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