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Healthy Chicago Cooking Classes

cake

Simple 4-ingredient Lemon Almond Cake {gf, df}

This Simple Lemon Almond Cake is a snap to make with only 4 ingredients and cooks in 20 minutes.

It’s a dense little cake that makes me think it would be served with high tea in London. The kind of cake that your great-grandmother served when you were a kid that you didn’t care for. It’s basic, simple and nutty without the distracting splash.

Berries and cream bring a light sweetness to this Lemon Almond Cake. A drizzle of a lemon & powder sugar icing could do the trick too. I found this simple gluten-free cake to be unexpectedly addicting … but I’m also not a fan of basic white sugar/ white flour cakes anymore. Reach out and let me know your thoughts when you make it.

Happy eating,
~Monique

Simple 4-ingredient Lemon Almond Cake

1.5 cups almond flour
4 eggs
1/2 cup coconut sugar
zest of three lemons
Optional: sprinkle with sliced almonds, berries, coconut whipped cream, honey

Preheat the oven to 350 °. Grease a pan (mine was a glass pyrex roughly 7×11″).

Separate the yolks and whites. Whip the whites until stiff. Whip together the yolks and coconut sugar until fluffy and pale. Mix in the almond flour and lemon zest. The batter will be pretty stiff at this point.

Fold in half of the egg whites, then fold in the second half. top with almonds if using. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool. Top with whipped cream, fresh berries, and a drizzle of honey.

Note, I used a hand mixer to whip the whites and yolks; by hand with a whisk works fine and builds more muscle!

Lemon Berry Cake – Gluten & Dairy Free!

This cake is dense, moist and all kinds of fun. It could be used as a delicious coffee cake, a simple high tea cake with coconut whipped cream or a decadent birthday cake with a date frosting.

Swirling in jam or jelly adds a great dimension. I made this with a store-bought fig jam and I also created a homemade berry syrup-like jam using blueberries and raspberries. Both were super delicious. I think strawberries would be really lovely in the spring.

Lemon Berry Cake

1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 tbls applesauce
1 egg
6 tbls sugar
1 tbl coconut or brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup coconut milk (full fat-canned version)
2 tbls lemon juice
2 tsp lemon zest
1 1/4 cup flour (1 to 1 gluten free flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup berry jam puree (use a jarred jam/jelly or make my Easy Homemade Berry Sauce version)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Use a little coconut oil to grease the inside of the cake pan (see notes below); line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Cream together the melted coconut oil, applesauce, egg, sugar, vanilla, coconut milk, lemon and lemon juice until well combined and creamy. The mixture may feel a little runny at this stage.

Add the flour and mix together. Spoon the jam into the dough and stir a time or two to create swirls. Spoon into the prepared pan and bake for 30 -35 minutes. The cake will feel ‘set’ to the touch and a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow the cake to cool for at least 5 minutes.