Gluten Free: Lumpy Bumpy Cake

Inspiration can come from all sorts of places, some are exotic and others are mundane. Despite its slightly weird name, this lumpy bumpy cake recipe has rather unremarkable origins. I always nosey around cafe cake stands and while I was in Morrisons a few weeks ago, I saw “lumpy bumpy cake” for sale. Intrigued, I came home and asked chef Google about it. It’s basically a cake base with mousse on top, sometimes covered in chocolate sauce. Sounds good, yes? I thought so.

The joy of a lumpy bumpy cake is, as the name suggests, it doesn’t have to look perfect. If you suffer from cake-related performance anxiety, then this is the cake for you! It’s a great way to use up those cakes that have sunk in the middle or risen unevenly. Once you pile on the mousse, no one will know what lurks beneath. 

Strawberry and Banana Lumpy Bumpy Cake
Preparation time: 25 minutes 
Cooking time: 25 minutes
You’ll need:
For the base:

• 110g banana, mashed
• 55ml vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 110g gluten free plain flour mix
• ½ tsp baking powder (always check it’s gluten free)
• 35g fruit sugar ( or 50g caster sugar)

For the filling:

• 100g tinned strawberries in syrup, drained
• 150ml double cream
• 2 tbsp icing sugar

For the topping:

• a handful of dried banana chips, crushed into tiny pieces
• 25g dark chocolate chips, or grated chocolate

Make it!
The base:

1. Preheat your oven to 165°C/325°F/gas mark 3 and grease a 20cm cake tin, then line it with baking paper.
2. Put all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until you have a smooth, thick batter.
3. Pout the batter into the cake tin and spread it out, making sure the sides are higher than the middle. Don’t worry too much about a smooth surface - this is lumpy bumpy cake after all! 
4. Bake for 23-25 minutes.
5. Turn the cake out on a rack and leave to cool.

The filling:

1. Puree the strawberries until smooth. Any extra strawberries (my tin had 145g strawberries once drained) can be roughly chopped and added later.
2. Whip the cream and icing sugar until you have soft peaks.
3. Fold the strawberry puree into the cream. Add any chopped strawberries and gently fold them in too.

Constructing the cake.

1. Place the cake base on a plate. A little bit of the filling spread on the plate will stop it from moving around.
2. Spoon the filling on top of the cake. Again, precision isn’t necessary here, just plonk it on how you like!
3. Sprinkle the topping over the top.

Once you can make this, the world's your (lumpy bumpy cake shaped) oyster. You can make any flavour combination you like. Use the banana cake base with chocolate mousse, and add chopped peanuts to the topping. Try a lime cake with a mango puree mousse and grated coconut on top. Or go savoury with a plain muffin base and a cheesy mousse on top! The possibilities are endless.