Miniature gluten-free schichttortes

However you pronounce it, a Schichttorte makes for another near Herculean feat in time management. Only Luis managed to complete the challenge with a finish to be proud of. The rest of the bakers suffered all kinds of mishaps from a lack of layers to chocolate glaze sliding off hot, just out of the oven, cakes. And what a weird cake this one is. More layered pancake than traditional torte, most people who have grilled a cake have done so because they knocked the oven dial off “fan” by mistake.

In the spirit of inclusivity and after feeling sorry for my gluten-dodging friends and family who, yet again, assumed they’d be missing out on the fruits of this week’s technical bake, I decided to go wheat-free. Most tortes are flour-free anyway, so it’s not such a great leap. I have also simplified Hollywood’s Schichttorte by miniaturising it.

I used a miniature sponge tin to make my version, which means eight instead of Paul’s twenty layers. Aside from less layers, another bonus of these mini treats is that they take no time to cool, so you can have them iced, decorated and in your cake hole in half the time.

Make no mistake, these gluten-free cakes are still more fiddly to make than your average tea loaf, but this is week 9 of Bake Off after all. Times have moved on since Week 1’s simple cherry cake. It’s time to get the baking big guns out.