Gluten-free Limburg cherry cake

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 300 g flour mix, gluten-free
• ½ tsp baking powder, gluten-free
• 1 bag(s) of dry yeast
• 200 ml milk
• 40 g butter or margarine
• 40 g sugar
• 1 egg(s)
• 1 large jar of sour cherries
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• Flour, gluten-free, for hands and rolling out
• 1 egg(s) for brushing
• 3 tbsp granulated sugar

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

Limburgse kersenvlaai – for a 26 cm springform pan

Melt the butter (on the stovetop or in a microwave) and add the milk; the mixture should be at body temperature. Combine the flour, baking powder, yeast, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg and the butter-milk mixture and mix with a hand mixer fitted with a dough hook for about 3 minutes until lump-free (gluten-free flour doesn’t form gluten strands, so longer kneading isn’t necessary). Cover the mixing bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let it rise in a warm place for about 30-40 minutes, until the dough has risen and is fluffy. In the meantime, drain the cherries and collect the juice. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch with a little of the cold cherry juice until lump-free. Bring the remaining juice to a boil and thicken with the cornstarch. Don’t add all of the starch to the juice at once, just enough to create a thick, creamy consistency, like pudding. Then fold in the cherries and let everything cool. Preheat the oven to 190°C (top/bottom heat). Gently press together about 2/3 of the risen yeast dough with floured hands. Do not knead it too much, just carefully roll it out on a lightly gluten-free flour into a sheet about 28 cm thick. Place this in a prepared 26 cm springform pan, leaving a border. Pour in the cherry mixture and smooth it out. Roll out the last third of the dough and cut into about 10 1 cm wide strips. Arrange these crosswise on the dough in a grid. Place any leftover strips on top as a border. Brush the dough strips with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in the hot oven for about 30 minutes until nicely browned. Remove the pan from the oven and let the cake stand in the pan for 15 minutes. Then carefully transfer it to a wire rack and allow to cool further. This type of fruit cake is called Limburgse Vlaai in the Dutch and Belgian Limburg regions. Although vlaai exists outside of Limburg, it is considered a typical Limburg product. With bread dough and a fruit or rice pudding filling, it is the classic vlaai. With kneaded dough and fruit, it is called linzenvlaai, a version of the Linzer Torte.