I’m always trying to find ways to eat healthier and desserts are always a good place to start, particularly after the holidays when we may have overindulged (wink, wink). This is an old recipe from my friend Charles who isn’t blogging as much these days, it’s a lovely Swedish almond cake that is packed with almond flavour and texture. It’s almost like eating a marzipan cake!
Sugar-Free, Gluten-Free Almond Cake
Ingredients:
- 225 g Erythritol, ground finely
- 150g Almond Flour (ground finer than meal)
- 50 g Coconut Flour
- 60 g Butter
- 2 Eggs
- 125 mL water
- 1 tsp almond flavouring
- zest of one lemon
- 30g Flaked Almonds
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375° F. Prepare your spring-form tart pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add the Erythrital, almond flour and coconut flour to the large bowl of your food processor and process to combine well.
- Melt the butter and allow to cool to room temperature.
- Combine the eggs, cooled butter, water, almond flavouring and lemon zest and mix well.
- While processing the flours, slowly drizzle in the wet ingredients until well combined (it will be more like marzipan than batter). Press into the prepared cooking pan and sprinkle the flaked almonds evenly all over the top of the mixture.
- Place carefully into the oven and bake for about 30-35 minutes. Take it out of the oven and set aside to cool before removing from the pan to slice up.
Notes:
- Erythritol (or monkfruit) is not new, it’s been around since the 1800’s. Sadly it has an unfortunate name because it sounds like a horrible chemical. In fact, it is a sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in fermented fruit and is 60-70% as sweet as sugar, but will not cause tooth decay or spike blood sugar levels and is only partly absorbed by the body but mostly discarded in the obvious ways. A Scottish chemist named John Stenhouse discovered it in 1848. The down-side is that it’s ridiculously expensive! It’s nearly $10 per kilo! (About $5 a pound!) Here in Toronto (traditionally more expensive than the burbs and smaller cities) sugar is $1.25 per kilo, $0.63 per pound so I can see why this might not catch on.
- Erythritol is sold in crystal format, I prefer to grind it super finely in my coffee/spice grinder to avoid a crunchy texture. The strange thing about it is that although it does melt, it eventually goes back to the crystal structure. Your baked goods will be a little grainier than with normal sugar.
- Some people don’t find erythritol sweet enough, so often it is paired with stevia but stevia has been known to have an aftertaste.
- You can use Erythritol 1:1 for sugar.
What a creative twist to this Charles’s cake! Luckily I don’t have a sweet tooth and like very few sweets, but if there is a sweet treat I can “slim down”, I’m really happy! There is one where I managed to replace butter with cream and was so proud!
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I do try and cut out dessert but I love having a taste of something sweet! This looks lovely Eva! 😀
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I love the texture of these types of almond cakes. it’s an awfully pretty little cake too. GREG
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Eva, is this a modified version of your Tuppkaka recipe? I made that about five or so years ago and it was good.
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Indeed it is, thank you so much for your feedback Karen.
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I do love almond flavored sweets and this healthier alternative sounds terrific!
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I really like it because it is 1:1 for sugar in baking and it doesn’t have a weird aftertaste that other sugar alternatives have. Thanks Liz.
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Always looking for gluten free goodies — a good friend just can’t tolerate it. I’m OK with sugar, though — some of the sugar substitutes can really do a number on your digestive system. Well, on mine, at least. 🙂 Good recipe — thanks.
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Thanks for the comment John. I don’t think this one has any side effects but I can’t be sure it won’t adversely affect your digestive system, we haven’t noticed anything off.
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OooooO! Nice recipe Charles! And beautiful presentation Eva, miss ya girlie!
xoxo
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Hey! Welcome back to the blog world! I’ve been a little awol while we were in Arizona last month. Thanks for your kind words.
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Thank ya thank ya! Is Arizona you 2nd home? It seems like a common getaway for ya.
Happy New year!
xo
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Not yet, waiting for the adversarial political climate to change. We just rent for now.
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I’m always curious about sugar alternatives. I think I financed my dentist’s Christmas vacation this year.
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That is funny. I really like this one because it is 1:1 in baking and doesn’t have a weird aftertaste.
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Sounds amazing, Áva. Putting the flaked almonds on top seems like it would add a crunchy contrast to the marzipan texture of the cake. Plus, I love almonds. What size spring form pan did you use and where do you normally buy erythritol?
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Hi Michela, Happy New Year! I get it in the spice section of my bulk barn, but not every outlet sells it. When we were in the states, I bought Lakanto brand which I believe is available on Amazon. Try to find very finely ground powder so you don’t have to grind it yourself. It is 1:1 for sugar but remember that it’s not as sweet as sugar. The pan I used was 7″ or 18″ diametre.
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Here we also just have grey sky, rainy weather…just terrible. Well, at least you have a delicious and healthy cake :-))
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These dull and dreary days can really get to me. Thanks for your advice on the monkfruit.
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