Lemon and Almond Cake Easter 2022 – Uplifting and Delicious

Lemon and Almond cake is my favourite Easter treat.  It is light, refreshing, gluten-free, and grain-free – and is very springy!  Since it is grain-free, it is also good for Passover provided you use your kosher products. I find that although it is quite a simple recipe, it is still very fulfilling and delicious, and additionally, it is very easy to make for yourself.

On the run-up to spring celebrations, we tend to get overloaded with chocolatey items such as giant chocolate eggs, not that I am complaining by the way! However, on Easter Sunday after a big roast lamb meal, it is quite refreshing to have something sweet and aromatic with a cup of tea. This lemony, nutty cake is simply your cup of tea if that is what you are after. Having said that, this cake can be enjoyed any time of the year, it really should not be limited to spring time only.

This delicious cake will crumble and melt in your mouth with explosive zinginess from the lemon. It is incredibly easy to make and is gluten-free. Although, as an optional ingredient,  I like using tapioca flour in my gluten-free baking as tapioca flour adds some springiness – no pun intended  – to counteract the lack of gluten. In case you were wondering, tapioca is a kind of starch that originates from the root of the cassava plant. It is very commonly used in continents such as Africa, South America, and Asia. I believe that everyone who is avoiding gluten as well as paleo diet followers should have this staple ingredient stocked up in their pantry. One of tapioca’s upsides is the fact that it has no taste, so it can be flexibly utilised in both sweet and savory foods. Although gluten is used to bind items together in baking, tapioca does this without containing any gluten. Tapioca enhances the texture of baked goods by adding a fluffy, light and springy texture. It can also be used in stews, puddings, and soups as a thickening agent. I have also other recipes free of gluten here.

My preferred tapioca flour is Bob’s Redmill Tapioca flour and I order it from Amazon, however, any other tapioca flour should also do the trick. 

As for the eggs, you should take them out of the fridge 30 minutes before preparation starts and let them reach the room temperature – as this should always be the case with baking.

The recipe below is simple and straightforward and is absolutely fool-proof, you can not go wrong with this one.

I hope that you enjoy making this cake, and don’t forget to enter your thoughts on this recipe and your experiences with it below!

RECIPE:

• 200 g Almond Flour
• 3 eggs, whites and yolks separated
• 120 g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1tbsp tapioca flour, gluten-free
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Rind of ½ lemon
• 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
• Icing sugar, for dusting

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 160ºC/320ºF, conventional mode
2. Butter a 20 cm round spring-form tin and line the base with grease-proof paper.
3. Cream the butter and sugar in an electric mixer, until pale and light.
4. Mix in the egg yolks one by one, then the almond flour, tapioca flour, bicarbonate of soda, lemon juice, and lemon rind. Mix well in low speed for 1-2 minutes.
5. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks and fold this into the almond flour mix with a spatula, mix well.
6. Pour the mixture into the cake tin and bake for 40 minutes until set. Test by inserting a skewer; the skewer should come out clean.
7. Leave the oven door ajar, and let the cake cool down slowly for 15-20 minutes before taking it out and transferring it into a cooling rack. Dust some icing sugar and serve.