It’s fair to say that tear cake (pisarakook in Estonian) is a dessert I grew up with. Everyone in my extended family seemed to have their own version, and it was a familiar presence at every family gathering and celebration. Traditionally, it was made with rhubarb and plenty of sugar, but it works just as beautifully with tart apples, too.
This is my gluten-free take on my mum’s go-to dessert, inspired by those familiar family recipes and the flavours I grew up loving. Whether you make the tear cake with fresh rhubarb or sour apples, it’s a simple, comforting bake that brings a little taste of home to the table.
Gluten free sour apple tear cake
Course: DessertCuisine: EstonianDifficulty: Medium12
pieces15
minutes35
minutes280
kcalIngredients
- The base
150 g unsalted butter at room temperature
90 g brown sugar
4 egg yolks
160 g plain gluten-free flour
30 g buckwheat flour (can also be substituted with sorghum flour)
30 g amaranth flour (can also be substituted with plain gluten-free flour)
4 tbsp sour cream
2 tsp baking powder
- Toppings
Approx. 3 medium size (500 – 600 g) sour apples such as Granny Smiths
1 tsp ground cinnamon
4 egg whites
190 g caster sugar
Directions
- Mix the butter with the sugar for the base.
- Add the egg yolks one by one, mixing well after adding each yolk.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flours and the baking powder, then add the mixture to the butter and egg mix.
- Place baking paper on a medium size baking tray, and spread the dough evenly to form the cake base.
- Pre-heat the oven to 175 °C/155 °C fan/gas 3.
- Wash and peel the apples (or rhubarb stalks, if using instead), slice thinly, spread in a mostly single layer over the dough and sprinkle with cinnamon.
- Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, add a tiny pinch of fine sea salt to the the egg whites, whisk them into a soft foam, gradually add the sugar little by little and continue to whisk to a firm, glossy foam.
- Let the base cool slightly for 5 minutes, then spread the egg white foam evenly on top of the half-baked base, creating peaks with the back of the spoon if desired.
- Bake for another 15 minutes, or until the egg white top turns slightly golden/yellow.
- Cooling is very important in the process of forming the tears, leave the cake to cool in the oven for 15-20 minutes with the door ajar, then move to the coolest part of the house for at least another 20 minutes, the tears should form in about an hour.
Notes
- You can use brown sugar for the topping as well if not too fussed about the tears, but depending on the cooling temperature, it is possible to form some tears with brown sugar too.
Have you made these? Use #TheNonGlutenOne when posting on Instagram, so that I can re-share the love. Or let me know what you think of this recipe via my contact page or email info@thenonglutenone.com. Thank you.
