I just finished reading Patricia Wells' wonderful book, "We'll Always Have Paris . . . and Provence". This famous cooking teacher has written a fun and interesting book about her life which includes some of her favorite recipes, too. She raves about this cake in her book saying she could eat the whole thing! She and I are alike when it comes to dessert. She says she can usually pass on dessert and I can, too. I do like a dessert that is not too sweet and involves almond flour. This cake contains no egg yolks, no white flour and no butter. It's light, like an angel food cake, but has that wonderful earthy taste of almonds. And this cake is so easy to make - everything gets whipped up in one bowl and put right in the pan to bake. Easy!
What to do with all the egg yolks you will have left? Make fresh pasta or delicious Zabaglione.
Almond Raspberry Cake
Make sure you measure the egg whites in a measuring cup, do not go by just the number of egg whites.
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil for preparing the pan (I just used Pam)
- 1 cup egg whites (6 to 8 large)
- 1 cup sugar
- a scant 2 cups almond powder or flour*
- grated zest of 2 lemons
- 3 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 2 cups fresh raspberries (or other small berries)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brush a 9 1/2 inch springform pan with the oil or spray with Pam. Set aside.
Place the egg whites in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a whisk. Beat at low speed until frothy. Gradually increase the speed to high, slowly adding the sugar, and whisking until the egg whites are stiff but not dry. At low speed, carefully add the almond flour, lemon zest, cornstarch and salt and mix until blended.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the berries on top. Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake until the cake is firm and golden and begins to pull away from the side of the pan, 35 to 40 minutes.
Remove from the oven and transfer to a rack to cool. After 10 minutes, run a knife along the side of the pan. Release and remove the side of the pan, leaving the cake on the base. Serve warm or at room temperature.
I thought this cake was even better the next day!
*Not as hard to find as you may think - sometimes almond flour is located in the health foods section at the grocery store. I buy Bob's Red Mill Almond Flour in my local grocery.
