There is no denying the fact that those with a requirement to avoid gluten in their diet have limited (and sometimes none existent) choices when it comes to eating out. If they have a further allergic response (especially to nuts for example) then options are more limited still. Add into that a personal commitment to follow a plant based diet, and honestly, where is the cake for that demographic???
One of the earliest supporters of Wendy Bakes was the café / deli in my local village (shout out and big thanks to the lovely Jo @ThrussingtonVillageStore). Right from the off-set, she told me that vegan cake that was made without gluten was a real gap in the market, so I took up the challenge and have tried very hard to provide a variety of delicious options which satisfy both the auto-immune and the ethical requirements necessary.
Taking 'cake' at its most basic...the ingredients are butter, sugar, eggs and flour. So if we remove 'gluten' and 'animal based' from that list, what we are left with is... just sugar! Great if you want to make candyfloss, but more challenging if Victoria Sponge is what you are aiming at! There are a number of "Gluten and Dairy Free" baking books on the market, and "Vegan Baking" recipes - but they do tend towards the 'healthy eating' rather than the 'joyous eating' school of baking - the kind of cake which should carry a warning not to swim for at least 2hrs after consuming a slice for fear of sinkage.
Butter is relatively easy to substitute for a plant based alternative (although many contain other notifiable allergens which need to be considered). They don't behave in quite the same way as butter when heated, but this is generally manageable to still produce a great result. Eggs on the other hand are more of a challenge.
So my main recipe development focus just now is egg replacer powder, and aquafaba. Results so far have been 'mixed' - but Wendy Bakes will persevere.
It won't be long before sugar is joined in the list of basic cake ingredients with soya margarine, GF Flour and chickpea juice!