Can I Make The Lemon Meringue Cake Gluten Free?

Our answer

Nigella's Lemon Meringue Cake (from FEAST) has thin layers of sponge cake that are topped with meringue. The layers are sandwiched with lemon curd and whipped cream before the cake is served. We suspect that it may be possible to use rice flour as a gluten-free alternative (or a gluten-free plain/all-purpose baking blend) and often a 50/50 combination of a gluten-free flour and ground almonds (almond meal) gives a moister result than using all gluten-free flour. Or for a much easier gluten-free option you may prefer to try Nigella's Lemon Pavlova, which is also a combination of meringue, whipped cream and lemon curd.

The cake will be even more delicate with the gluten-free flour, so you will need to consider this when handling the layers. They still need be left to cool completely in the cake pans. It should be possible to invert the bottom layer on to a serving dish without too much problem. However, putting the top layer on to the filling could be a bit more tricky and you may need to use a cake lifter (which looks a bit like a large metal table tennis bat) or a pizza peel or paddle to help to manouvre the cake layer into place. However, we would mention that we have not tried the cake with gluten-free flours, so are unable to guarantee the results.