My mom adores cake. When she was a little girl, her favorite after school snack was a slice of cake and a glass of milk. Fast forward some (or many, sorry Mom!) years to the sad day when she learned that she is gluten intolerant. I know there are plenty of gluten free products out there and she has tried a lot of different (mostly awful) breads, cookies and sometimes even cakes. But the things she misses most are delicious cakes and cookies. When I come across something that could be made gluten free without too much fiddling or loss of flavor, I am excited to give it a try.
This almond cake recipe was published last summer in the NYTimes, from Ottolenghi. I have several Ottolenghi cookbooks and use them often, but had never tried a sweet recipe. The recipe as written was for a loaf cake made with almond meal, semolina flour and blueberries. The cake was delicious, though I preferred it without the berries and then I realized I could swap the semolina flour with fine cornmeal and make it gluten free.
The resulting cake is golden and nutty with a faint crunch from the almond flour and cornmeal. Because there is no gluten, it rises slightly in the oven and then promptly sinks in the middle when you take it out. You can either cover it with berries, cream or just slice it up and devour it, as we do.
Mom’s Almond Cake
Makes 1 loaf
- 1 1/2 cups almond flour or almond meal
- 1/2 cup fine cornmeal
- 1 t baking powder
- 1/2 t kosher salt
- 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup plus 2 T granulated sugar
- 1 t lemon zest
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten to blend
- 2 T fresh lemon juice
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Grease a loaf pan and line with baking parchment.
In a medium bowl whisk together almond flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Beat together butter, sugar and lemon zest until light and fluffy. With mixer on low, gradually add eggs and beat until glossy, about a minute. Stir in lemon juice. Add dry ingredients, stirring just to combine.
Spread batter in prepared pan and bake until golden brown and feels springy when lightly pressed, about 50 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes in pan and then transfer to a cooling rack to cook completely.