ALMONDS FOR GLUTEN-FREE COOKING

I’m having a gluten-free month. No wheat bread, no pasta, no flour or crumbs to bread the cutlets or fish fillets. (No other grains and cereals either.) However will I survive?

Turns out, I’ve got a magic ingredient that fills the wheaten gap nicely (except for leavened bread). It’s ground almonds, almond meal, unsweetened almond flour. Crushed almonds are used in many Spanish dishes—think, ajo blanco, white gazpacho, and pepitoria, a saffron sauce thickened with ground almonds for chicken or meatballs.

Extrapolating, I’ve used almond flour for “breading” chicken breasts, sliced eggplant and fish fillets, dipping them first in beaten egg, then almonds before pan-frying, and for thickening “gravy.”

A cake made with almond flour, unsweetened cocoa and prunes for sweetness.

Now I’m making myself a really elegant dessert, a gluten-free, no-sugar chocolate cake. It’s delicious with strawberries or other fruit. Or, maybe, a dollop of whipped cream? Oh, wait, I’m having a dairy-free month too.

Ground almonds keep the cake moist; beaten egg whites make it light.

Because it's not too sweet, the cake goes well with fresh fruit.

Chocolate-Almond Cake
Tarta de Chocolate con Almendras

Prunes give sweetness to the cake but are not really discernible. Add additional sweetener, artificial or sugar, as you like. The ground almonds provide enough natural oil to keep the cake moist. Beaten egg whites make it light. Double the recipe to make two layers.

Bring eggs to room temperature before separating them—they will yield a larger volume of whites for whipping.

Ground almonds--a magic ingredient for gluten-free cooking and baking.

6-8 servings

5-6 pitted prunes
½ cup boiling water
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
3 eggs, separated
Pinch of salt
½ teaspoon Sherry vinegar
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon liquid stevia or 2 tablespoons sugar (optional)
1 ½ cups ground almonds (4 ½ ounces)

Put the prunes in a heat-proof bowl and pour over the boiling water. Let the prunes soak 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line an 8-inch cake pan with baking parchment and oil the sides of the pan.

Place the prunes and water in a blender container with the cocoa and blend until smooth. Add the egg yolks, salt, vinegar, baking powder and stevia, if using. Blend.

Stir in almond flour.

Fold in egg whites.

Place the prune-chocolate mixture in a mixing bowl and add the ground almonds. Mix well.

Beat the egg whites until they hold stiff peaks. 

Stir 3 spoonfuls of the whites into the cake batter, mixing well. Fold remaining whites into the batter. Scrape the batter into prepared cake pan.

Bake the cake until a tester comes out clean, 20-25 minutes. Allow cake to cool on a rack before removing from the pan.

More gluten-free recipes with almonds:

Meatballs with Almond-Saffron Sauce.

Carrot-Cream Soup.

Pumpkin-Almond Pudding.

Almond Torte.

More recipes with ground almonds (not gluten-free):

White Gazpacho with Almonds (Ajo Blanco).

Seafood Bisque with Almonds.

Seafood Stew with Almond Picada.

THE DESSERT DILEMMA

What to serve for dessert for a dinner party or holiday occasion is, for me, always a dilemma. That’s because I don’t eat sugar. None whatsoever. (I am borderline diabetic and determined not to cross over.) So the usual cakes, pastries and puddings are out-of-bounds. I usually resolve the issue by going ahead and making a sweet dessert, then sitting back and watching my guests enjoy it. 

Slivered almonds top a sugar-free almond torte.

This week I decided to try a cake with artificial sweetening in place of the sugar, so that I could eat it too. I started with my basic recipe for a gorgeous almond torte known as torta de Santiago (that recipe is here ). I used all ground almonds, eliminating the flour, so the cake is also gluten-free. I used olive oil instead of butter. And I substituted white stevia powder for the sugar.

A tiny bit of (optional) honey with lemon juice gave the cake a slight glaze and helped slivered almonds adhere to the surface. I served the cake accompanied by unsweetened whipped cream and unsweetened berries. My guests thought it was terrific and I enjoyed a nice serving too. I never fessed up to leaving out the sugar.

Serve the torte with berries and cream, a lovely spring dessert.

Almond meal and olive oil make a moist cake.

So good with a dollop of cream and strawberries.

Almond Torte
Torta de Almendras

Serves 8.

7 eggs
2 teaspoons lemon juice
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup stevia (white powder sweetener)
Grated zest of 1 lemon
4 cups ground almonds (unsweetened almond meal)

Glaze (optional)
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons toasted slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Oil a 9-inch springform pan.

Carefully separate the eggs. Place the whites in a medium bowl, the yolks in a large mixing bowl.

Beat the whites at high speed until stiff. Beat in 2 teaspoons of lemon juice. Beat the yolks until they are slightly thickened and increased in volume, 4 minutes. Beat in the oil, then the stevia. Add the grated zest.

Fold the whites gently into the yolk mixture. Fold in the ground almonds in 4 additions.  Pour the batter into the springform pan. Bake until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

Cool the torte in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

For the glaze, combine the honey and lemon juice in a small bowl. Microwave on medium power for 30 seconds, or until the honey is fluid. Prick the surface of the cake with a toothpick. Brush the honey lemon glaze over the cake. Sprinkle with almonds.

Dense, moist and just sweet enough with sugar substitute.

Green almonds from the tree--promise of next year's crop.