Flour, flour, wherefore art thou, flour?
The shelves are empty across the land - no plain flour, self-raising, coconut, spelt, buckwheat or besan. Nope, not even wholemeal.
Never fear - you can still bake yourself a pick-me-up teacake. All of these slices don't need a dust of flour to taste amazing. You will, however, need nut meal for many of them. If you can't get your hands on almond, hazelnut, or cashew nut meal, you can make your own.
Make your own
Making your own nut meal or flour is easy. No need to peel your nuts before processing either. Source: Getty Images
- Place the nuts in your food processor and blend.
- Sift the meal through a fine-mesh sieve and re-process any remaining chunkier bits.
- Repeat until all of the nuts are processed to flour.
Keeps well for up to one month in the pantry, or longer if refrigerated. You can also freeze nut meal for up to three months.
No flour cakes to make
Aside from bypassing the current flour shortage, all of these flourless cakes are gluten-free and rather spectacular.
Food Safari's orange almond cake just keeps on giving. Source: Alan Benson
There's a delicious 'toasty' undertone to this rich chocolate cake. Source: Alan Benson
This pretty cake is an absolute show stopper, but it’s also one of the easiest cakes you’ll ever make. Source: Murdoch Books
A smooth mousse layers crunchy meringue and everyone is happy. Source: Murdoch Books / Greg Elms
This not-too-sweet gluten-free cake is a marvel: the cake stays moist even after a couple of days. Source: Benito Martin
Creamy, fluffy meringue top over a nutty-cakey-biscuity base. Source: Brett Stevens
Chewy layers of cashew meringue are sandwiched with a rum-spiked buttercream to create this traditional Filipino dessert. Source: Alan Benson
To make sugared rose petals: paint petals with egg white, toss them in sugar and lay to dry until crisp. Source: Bloomsbury
Only ten minutes of prep time to make your new favourite afternoon tea loaf. Source: Chris Chen
