It’s a brand-new year and a brand-new I am a Food Blog! Okay, not completely brand-new, but Mike did do a little re-design, which you can read a little bit about here. The start of a new year usually means that people are on the look out for recipes that just a wee bit healthier. I’m not really one to be all fanatical about the healthy stuff, but I do think this cake is nice, light and perfect if you’re looking for something sweet but not too crazy after all of your holiday indulgences. Plus, starting off the new year with cake for breakfast is something I can definitely get behind.
This cake is tender, lemon-y, and light (due to the whipped egg whites). If you don’t have any almond flour on hand, you can always use your food processor to make some, but I like having a bag kicking around in my pantry. Almond flour is great for the obvious (macaron) and the not so obvious (almond chicken fingers). I get the feeling that people think that almond flour is a specialty sort of ingredient – mostly for gluten-free baked goods – but the truth is, I really like baked goods made with almond flour. It lends a moistness and chewy texture that I’m really in to.
Other things I’m really in to: New Year’s Resolutions. Are you guys resolution types? When I was younger, I never really believed in them, but now that time keeps marching on, I like to take some time at the end/beginning of the year to reflect on what I’ve accomplished and what I want to focus on. 2014 was a crazy year and I’m hoping 2015 will be just as wild. My 2015 resolution: be fearless. Two tiny words, but I’m hoping that this year is the year I learn to judge myself less, be a little more secure, and live my life without reservations.
Cheers to fresh starts, learning to love ourselves, gluten-free lemon loafs, and to a brand-spanking-new 2015!
Gluten-Free Lemon Almond Cake Recipe slightly adapted from Simply Recipes
makes 1 small loaf
- 2 eggs
- zest from 2 meyer lemons
- 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 cup almond flour/ground almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/8 tsp cardamom
- pinch of salt
- thyme sprigs, lemon slices and powdered sugar, to serve
Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly butter or grease your loaf pan (I used a small loaf pan, similar to these).
Separate your eggs carefully: yolks into a medium-sized bowl and whites going into a large absolutely grease-free bowl. You need to make sure the bowl of whites have absolutely no fat – this will help them whip up nice and fluffy. Lightly beat the yolks and add the zest and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Mix until smooth. Add the ground almonds, baking powder, and cardamom. Mix until smooth.
With an electric mixer, or good old fashioned elbow grease, whip up the egg whites until they start foaming. Sprinkle on a pinch of salt, which will help the structure of the whites. As they start increasing in volume, sprinkle on the remaining 2 teaspoons of sugar into the eggs as you beat until soft to medium peaks form.
Fold a small amount of the whites into the yolk mixture being sure not to over mix. Gradually fold in all the whites, a bit at a time, being sure not to deflate. You should have a light and fluffy batter. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool. Lightly dust with icing sugar and enjoy with thinly sliced lemons and thyme sprigs.
Lemon and almonds…oh yay!
Tried your receipe, the egg yolk part becomes very crumbly, which makes the folding impossible. The egg white is peaking but not moiste enough to melt the egg yolk crumble. Any suggestion?
There could be a couple of things happening. Are you using large eggs? Also, the almond flour should not be packed into the cup – fluff it and then spoon into your cup measure. What do you mean by the egg white is peaking? When you’re folding the whites into the almond mixture you need to fold in a little white at a time to loosen it up before folding in all of the whites. Also, it’s not the thinnest batter – scoop it into your pan as opposed to pouring it. Hope this helps!
Your cake looks amazing! i have made this cake exactly to your directions and recipe. and it’s nowhere near as high as your loaf. Any tips? Eggs were fresh with orange yolks. Almond flour. baking powder. im pretty sure i had all of the listed ingredients and whipped the egg whites until soft to medium peaks and folded it gently. maybe not gentle enough.
Please advise!
Thanks!
hi menj!
what size pan did you use? i used a mini loaf pan, which makes it look a lot taller. did you fold a bit of the whites into the almond mix first and then fold in the rest of the whites gradually?
It just looks delicious!
I love this cake! I made it today – substituting maple syrup for sugar – and it was beautiful. Thank you for the recipe!
I love lemons! These loaves look so tasty. Thanks for the GF recipe.
I made this yesterday and wanted to pass along my tips if others try it –
1) The loaf is smaller than it looks. I went out and bought the MINI tins and the batter only filled one mini. If making this for brunch for a group, you’d need to make at least 2.
2) If you grind your own almonds, make sure to grind super, super fine. Mine were a bit course and it really impacted the texture of the loaf, and not in a good way.
3) Measure exactly with the cardamom. I used a slightly heaped 1/8 tsp and the loaf was very strong on the cardamom flavor.