A sweet, light Strawberry Almond Cake that celebrates spring. Made with egg whites and almond flour, this is an ideal cake to serve at Passover.
Gluten-Free Strawberry Almond Cake Recipe
Strawberry season is possibly my favorite time of the year. Actually, I've realized that spring and fall are my absolute favorites of the four; spring in Northern California is gloriously green and as the planet continues to heat up, we know this is not to be taken for granted. Once summer descends, the green is gone til October or later. So, let's celebrate the growing time. This deceptively simple cake -- just eggs, separated and whipped separately, sugar, almond flour, vanilla, and strawberries -- would make a lovely dessert for Passover, or for your spring table.
When I wrote my cookbook, I focused on homemade gluten-free ingredients, like grinding up almonds to make a coarse meal or processing oats to make flour. While doing this is still a worthy endeavor, gluten-free ingredients have come a long way from when I was first writing about them! Now I prefer to buy finely ground almond flour for baking. I find it makes cakes light and fluffy, with a texture that almost resembles that of wheat flour. For a delicate spring cake like this one, I recommend going with purchased almond flour. A bonus is that this saves on prep time.
I riffed off of a recipe on Food and Wine to create this cake. I added strawberries mixed with a bit of sugar to make it a sort of strawberry upside-down cake in a nod to the beautiful early spring days we're currently experiencing. There's no dairy, which makes the cake kosher, and it adheres to other Passover necessities. Of course, this is a wonderful cake any day of the year -- in winter you could sub cranberries or clementines or add lemon zest to make it a lemony almond cake.
Why You'll Love Strawberry Almond Cake
- Perfect for Passover. No dairy or leavening is used in this cake, making it a perfect Passover dessert.
- Naturally gluten-free. I love a dessert that's naturally gluten-free! All of the ingredients needed for this cake don't contain any gluten.
- Simple ingredients. A quick scan of the ingredient lists reveals that you need just 5 ingredients to make this cake.
What You'll Need
Here's what you'll need to make this beautiful spring cake. The full ingredient amounts and instructions are in the recipe card below.
- Strawberries - Choose ripe, in-season strawberries
- Granulated sugar - Sugar sweetens the cake and enhances the natural sweetness of the strawberries
- Salt - I always use fine sea salt in my baking
- Vanilla extract - Pure vanilla extract gives the best flavor
- Almond flour - Choose fine-ground almond flour rather than almond meal
How to Make Strawberry Almond Cake:
- Prepare a pan and add the strawberries: Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan and line with a circle of parchment paper. Toss the strawberry slices with the ¼ cup of the sugar, then spread slices evenly across the bottom. Preheat oven to 325°F.
- Whip the egg whites: In a large bowl, beat the egg white with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.
- Beat the egg yolks and sugar: In a separate large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 1 ½ minutes. Add vanilla and salt, beating until well combined, about 30 seconds.
- Fold in the whites and almond flour into the yolk mixture: Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites and one-third of the almond flour into the egg yolk mixture until just combined (do not overfold); repeat 2 more times. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Bake the cake: Place in the oven and bake until the cake is golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Remove sides from pan, and let cool it completely, about 40 minutes.
Tips and Variation Ideas
Need subs? I've got you covered! Read on for substitution suggestions plus some variation options:
- For the almond flour - Try another finely ground nut flour or tiger nut flour
- To make refined sugar-free - Use coconut sugar instead of granulated sugar
- Try different fruit - You could try a mix of blueberries and raspberries
Serving Suggestions
Serve this cake with fresh, sliced strawberries and, if not keeping kosher, whipped cream.
Storage Options
Store the cake in an airtight container, or tightly wrapped in the fridge, for up to 5 days.
More Strawberry Recipes
- Gluten-Free Strawberry Rhubarb Bars
- Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
- Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake
- Gluten-Free Strawberry Buttermilk Cake
Recipe
Strawberry Almond Cake
Ingredients
- 1 carton strawberries, tops removed and thinly sliced
- 1 ¼ cups granulated sugar , divided
- 6 large eggs , separated
- ¼ teaspon fine sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups/225 g almond flour
Instructions
- Lightly grease a 9-inch springform pan and line with a circle of parchment paper. Toss the strawberry slices with the ¼ cup of the sugar, then spread slices evenly across the bottom. Preheat oven to 325°F.
- In a large bowl, beat the egg white with an electric mixer on high speed until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.
- In a separate large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar with an electric mixer on high speed until thick and pale, about 1 ½ minutes. Add vanilla and salt, beating until well combined, about 30 seconds.
- Fold one-third of the beaten egg whites and one-third of the almond flour into egg yolk mixture until just combined (do not over fold); repeat 2 more times. Pour batter into prepared pan.
- Place in the oven and bake until cake is golden brown and a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 55 to 65 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cake cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove sides from pan, and let cool completely, about 40 minutes.
- Cake will keep, in an airtight container, or wrapped in the fridge, for 5 days.
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