Almond Cake

OCTOBER 19, 2020

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Do you have random cake cravings? I’m not a big cake person, but I do occasionally want a light, tasty cake for snacking. I’ve tried many gluten-free cakes, and to be honest, I have yet had a wheat-free grain flour based cake that truly blew my mind. I think it’s one of those foods that will never come close to the gluten versions.

Nut-based cakes, however, is another level of cake. I don’t recall when I first made this almond cake, but I’ve been making it for years because it always satisfies my cake snacking urges. It is quick and easy to whip up! The original recipe is from Elise Bauer. I’ve made adjusted the recipe a bit to fit my palette. I reduced the sugar, as I prefer a less sweet cake. I also use Meyer lemon for a sweeter fragrant. I find this recipe very forgiving when it comes to incorporating other flavour ingredients, such as 1.5 tbsp of matcha in place of cardamom, or orange instead of lemon! However, I usually stick to the lemon and spice variation since I believe it is the best combination. After-all, the Persians named their version of almond cake (with cardamom and rose water) the Love Cake… it’s oughta be good!

Nut-based cakes, however, is another level of cake. I don’t recall when I first made this almond cake, but I’ve been making it for years because it always satisfies my cake snacking urges. It is quick and easy to whip up! Unfortunate I do not recall which recipe I started with, but I’ve made adaptions to fit my palette. My most recent version is spicing it up with cardamom, which I learned about from a former-coworker on using cardamom in desserts. I also use Meyer lemon for a sweeter fragrant. I find this recipe very forgiving when it comes to incorporating other flavour ingredients. However, I usually stick to the lemon and spice variation since I believe it is the best combination. After-all, the Persians named their version of almond cake (with cardamom and rose water) the Love Cake… it’s oughta be good!

This is an adaption of the original recipe by Elise Bauer.

Almond Cake

YEILD: 1 x 8″ or 9″ cake

INGREDIENTS

4 large eggs, separated, room temperature
⅓ cup of granulated sugar, dived into 2 equal portions
1 ½ cups of almond flour
1 tsp of baking powder
¹⁄4 tsp of ground cardamom
pinch of salt
1 tsp of Meyer lemon juice (or use regular lemon)
2 tbsp of zest from Meyer lemon (or use regular lemon)

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Grease an 8″ or 9″ round cake pan with butter or neutral flavoured oil. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together 4 egg yolks, ¹⁄6 cup of granulated sugar and lemon zest. Set aside.
In a separate large bowl, whisk together almond flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt.
With a spatula or a wooden spoon, mix in the almond flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Mix until all ingredients come together and form a paste. You should not see any lumps of flour. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat (on low speed if using electric mixer) the 4 egg whites until foamy. Continue to beat the egg whites (at medium speed) while gradually adding in the remainder of the ¹⁄6 cup of granulated sugar. Beat (on high speed) until soft peaks form. A soft peak is when the egg whites form a peak when you flip the whisk upside down and holds its shape for a few seconds.
Gently fold into the egg whites, one third at a time, into the almond paste mixture. The air whipped into the egg whites is what make the cake light in texture.
Once you do not see any egg white streaks in the mixture, pour the batter into the grease cake pan.
Bake in the preheated over for 30 minutes.
Take the cake out of the oven, and let it cool in the pan before serving.

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