Gluten Free Citrus Cake with Caramelized White Chocolate & Passionfruit Jelly

Gluten free citrus fruit cake soaked in spiced syrup, topped with layers of rich, caramelized white chocolate ganache and fresh passionfruit jelly.

Hi everyone! Today I have a beautiful, layered, worthy labor of love that’s the perfect treat after some sun soaked fun. This cake is a moist, flavorful, textural journey that just so happens to be gluten free!

The base of this cake is a recipe I learned in culinary school. I actually became so fond of this recipe that I included it in my final exam! This orange cake is gluten free breadcrumb (regular breadcrumbs can be substituted 1:1 for the gluten free breadcrumbs if you so choose) and almond flour based, which gives a lovely springy texture and denser crumb, perfect to support the other layers!

As someone who has baked her fair share of cakes, this is the only cake I’ve ever seen that goes into a cold oven. Once the cake is in, the oven is then turned on, including the preheating time in the total bake time. While the exact reason for this peculiar step wasn’t explained to me explicitly in school, I believe this causes the leavening agent to react with the batter at room temperature longer, creating a slightly lessened reaction at 350F, which changes the overall rise. Regardless, this cake has come out flawless every time I’ve attempted, so I wouldn’t suggest tweaking this step. I have, however, tweaked other facets of original recipe slightly but the simplicity of this cake remains the same.

The warm, baked cake is doused in a citrus and spiced simple syrup which keeps the cake impossibly moist and juicy (think Greek portokalopita). If white chocolate and passionfruit aren’t really your cup of tea, I highly suggest making the cake layer alone as it is absolutely delicious!

The white chocolate layer this cake is not your regular white chocolate ganache. If you’ve never caramelized white chocolate, here is your sign to change that! By caramelizing the white chocolate, deep, rich, well, ‘caramel' notes are added, creating beautiful intrigue in an otherwise cloying ingredient (sorry, white chocolate lovers)! The caramelization process is arduous, I won’t lie to you, but the time will pass anyway and this way you’ll have caramelized white chocolate! The method is simple: we spread the chocolate on a lined baking sheet in a low temperature oven, scraping up and redistributing the melted chocolate every 10 or so minutes. This ensures even caramelization and mitigates the risk of burning. The caramelized white chocolate is then added to warm cream to make a silky, buttery ganache.

The final layer, the passionfruit jelly, was inspired by a batch of beautiful fresh passionfruit I found at my grocery store. You can, of course, use bottled or canned passionfruit juice, or any fruit juice you’d like! The recipe will remain the same.

After the cake has been baked, I’ve kept it in its springform pan, which is as important in this recipe as any of the ingredients. The pan maintains the cakes structure while multiple liquid elements are added. I did not release the cake from the sprinfrom until I was ready to serve.

This cake is best served chilled and enjoyed straight away. It will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. Happy baking!

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