Almond Cake, Gluten & Dairy-Free

FAMILY FAVORITE

There are a fair amount of gluten-free people in my family. And as the most enthusiastic cook in the group, I am often assigned the dessert course. Making one dish that everyone can enjoy is always my intent—and I’ve tried a lot of gluten-free recipes. But the gluten-free option most often is not very good. It’s rarely something I want to waste calories on.

Then my cousin Lou shared this Gluten-Free Almond Cake recipe with us. I made it once and it immediately became a staple on our dessert table. It’s so popular now that at our last birthday get-together it was the only thing I made. No one was disappointed and everyone walked away happy and satisfied.

Ingredients

2 cups almond flour + more to prep the pan
6 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 cups (10.5oz) superfine sugar
Grated zest of 1 orange
Grated zest of 1 lemon
4 drops almond extract
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting
Fresh berries

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Beat egg yolks and sugar to a smooth pale cream.
3. Beat in the zests and almond extract.
4. Add flour and mix very well.
5. With clean beaters, beat the egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form.
6. Fold them into the egg and almond mixture (the mixture is thick, so that you will need to turn it over quite a bit into the egg whites).
7. Grease an 10″ non-stick springform pan with vegetable shortening and dust with almond flour.
8. Pour in cake batter.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, or until it feels firm to the touch.
10. Let cool before turning out.
11. Cover with apricot jam, dust with confectioner’s sugar, and top with fresh berries.

This Gluten-Free Dairy-Free Almond Cake serves 10.
Approximately 295 calories per slice.

Alternative toppings

• Tapioca pudding as frosting
• Assorted fresh berries