This recipe marks my first Gluten Free Dessert on the blog!! After almost half a year of existence, I have somehow managed to please both dessert enthusiasts and fitness freaks. This is an Almond Cake – true to it’s taste. Kept simple, this cake is what your body DESERVES after coming back from your place of work. So what are we waiting for? Let’s get into it.
Gluten Free Cake – Almond Flour
If you are unfamiliar with the word Gluten. It’s an ingredient which is found in all type of flours, more in some than others and act as a binding agent. So let’s look at the breads you eat? Do you see the spongy spider web looking inside of the bread being very stretchy and flexible! That’s because of Gluten!
Similarly, all purpose or even Cake flour have Gluten inside them – for the cake to properly bind together. A lot of other cakes especially Bundts use corn flour with Gluten for better shape and durability.
This cake uses Almond Flour, which is made of well, Almonds and doesn’t have Gluten – thus promoting better nutrition. Along with almond flour, to help the cake bind well – it uses a lot of eggs! The purpose of these eggs are dual, read the next paragraph to learn about it.
About the Rising Agent
If you read the instructions, you might be surprised to know that there is no Baking Powder or Baking Soda used here to help the cake rise. Instead, eggs have been used.
Egg has been separated into Yellow and White. The Yolk which is the yellow part of an egg, helps with the binding as mentioned above. AND, the white part if whisked thoroughly can turn into meringue – also known as Soft Peak.
This soft-peak is what your cake needs to RISE! And since, Almond Flour is lighter, egg whites are more than enough ensuring your cake has no powdered substance or artificial rise whatsoever.
Tips to Bake a Great Cake:
1. Temperature: Use room temperature ingredients, especially the ones you keep in the fridge, like milk, eggs, butter. Room temperature will guarantee better results.
2. Don’t Over mix: Avoid using a whisk attachment, use a paddle or spatula again. Over mixing your batter can lead to a less fluffy cake. Mix it only till when it’s required.
3. Avoid Opening the Oven too much: Every time you open the oven to check on your cake, you change the temperature of the oven, which can lead to cracks on the cake.
4. Sieve your Dry Ingredients: Try and sieve all your dry ingredients, from flour to coffee powder. It will lead to a cleaner batter and softer cake.
For more tips on how you can perfect your cakes, click here.
Sliced Almonds
As mentioned above, the cake kept simple is made with only 5 ingredients – Almond being in two if them.
It’s made with Almond Flour BUT it also uses sliced pieces of Fresh Almonds to give that extra nudge of Freshness and Taste to the cake.
There are a couple of ways to include almonds in the batter. The first being mixing it in a batter just how you would do for Chocolate Chips. But what I like more is making a thin bed of almond on top of the batter just before you are ready to slide the cake into the oven for baking.
Equipment
- 8-9" Cake Pan or Springfoam Pan
- Stand Mixer or Electric Whisk
- Cup Measurers
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 1½ cup Almond Flour
- 4 Eggs separated
- ½ cup Caster Sugar
- 1 tbsp Lemon Zest finely grinded
- ¼ cup Sliced Almonds
Instructions
- Begin by lining your cake tin either springform or normal with a parchment or using oil and flour. It's better to line the bottom with a parchment paper. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F).
- Take two bowls. In the first bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until pale-is yellow and completely mixed together. Add almond flour and lemon zest to this mixture and mix well using a spatula.
- In the second bowl, using an electric whisk or a stand mixer, beat the egg whites until it soft peaks. It will look like cloud! Once you feel, this is the most peak it would get then you're done.
- In multiple small batches, table spoon worth at a time incorporate the egg whites into the egg yolks until mixed . It may be tedious but it's extremely important for the cake to rise. Don't overmix.
- Transfer the batter to your lined Pan and add sliced almonds to the top of the batter, forming a thin bed. Put the cake in the Oven for baking for 15-20 minutes, until done.
- Once done, let it cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack. You may sieve some caster sugar on top of the cake as well.
Closing Note
Someone once rightly said “a recipe has no soul, you must bring soul to the recipe”, so here I am, trying to bring my passion for food into easy to make recipes from around the world.
My name is Sohail Nath and I welcome you to my happy place, @boy.eatsworld.
This blog, my creativity’s nest covers travel inspirations, authentic yet homemade recipe and food blogs.