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If you thought that people with gluten allergies or even Celiac disease do not get to enjoy cakes; think again. This gluten and diary free recipe for my almond cake with orange/lemon zest is a hearty cake recipe that not only treats me to a delicious, moist cake but is also very simple to prepare.
I prefer to use almond flour in the cake which is a flour made of blanched almonds. Since the flour is rich in oil, we do not need to use additional butter in the recipe. However, I do prefer to separate the eggs then use them at different stages of making the batter. Beating the eggs whites separately ensures that the cake turns out fluffy and not dense.
A trick to separate the eggs is to separate them when they are cold. This makes it easier to get the yolk out without any residue falling into the whites. However, before whipping and using in the recipe, the eggs must come to room temperature. Some people prefer to bake this cake with lemon zest. It turns out super yummy with that but, I prefer to make it with orange zest and just a few drops of orange emulsion. The orangey flavour imparts an additional deliciousness to the cake and the aroma wafts through the house as the cake bakes. Absolute temptation!
The best part about this recipe is that this has just a few steps.
INGREDIENTS
- 4 large-sized eggs, separated into 4 egg yolks and 4 egg whites and then brought to room temperature
- 1 Tbsp orange zest + few drops of orange emulsion OR 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/2 cup white sugar, divided into 2 equal portions because we shall incorporate it twice in the recipe
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (use regular white vinegar if apple cider is not available)
- Pinch of salt
- icing sugar for sprinkling on top of the cake
- 2 tbsp almond slivers for garnish
METHOD
- grease an 8 inch spring form tin and set aside
- preheat oven to 180 deg C
- In a bowl whisk together almond flour, baking powder and cardamom powder till they are mixed together.
- In a large mixing bowl add the egg yolks and half the sugar (1/4 cup) and the orange zest and beat till combined.
- Into the above whisk in the almond flour, baking powder and cardamom powder. This will lead to a doughy mixture.
- In a separate bowl add the egg whites and whip them with an electric mixture on low to medium speed till you see the mixture start to get frothy. At that stage add the apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt. Increase whisk speed to medium and continue whisking. The mixture will start to turn white and spongy. Gradually add the left over sugar (1/4 cup), bit by bit and increase the speed of the whisk to high. The vinegar, sugar and salt help the whipped egg whites to maintain their structure better. After about 5-6 minutes you will observe peaks form as the whites aerate. At that stage add the orange emulsion (is using). The mixture will turn a blushing shade of orangish-coral. Continue whisking till stiff peaks form and the whipped whites stick to the bowl. A trick to know if the whites are well whipped or not is to invert the bowl once the whipping is done. If the whites do not slide or fall and hold their structure then the mixture is ready.
- Once above is ready use ½ of the mixture to mix into the doughy cake batter to loosen it a little. Once it is loose, add the remaining egg whites but one spoon at a time. Remember not to over mix the remaining whisked egg whites. The purpose of adding the second batch is to aerate the cake so that it is fluffy after baking. If we over mix the whites then the air bubbles will break and the cake will turn out dense.
- Place the batter in the greased tin and bake at a 180 deg C for 30minutes. In a microwave oven the time could be anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour. Insert a toothpick in the center of the cake to test if it’s baked, remove from the oven and allow cooling in the tin for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the cake and then open the spring form tin.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before you add the dusting of icing sugar. After the cake is cool, you can take icing sugar in a sieve and sprinkle that over the cake.
- Garnish with slivered almonds and serve.
check also – https://onsonalstable.com/vanilla-cake/
