Today I blanched almonds and made almond flour. Removing the skins was a bit tedious: one by one, sliding the nuts out of their skins. (It was two cups worth.) Sometimes it was more like popping: held between the thumb and index, the skin peeled away so quickly that the almond shot out from my fingers’ grasp in whatever direction. And yet I still appreciated the almond skins’ beauty; reminding me softly of autumn leaves upon the ground.
Once they were all skinned, the almonds were ground in the food chopper. This almond flour was a bit moister than what we usually buy from the store, but I don’t think that makes much of a difference in baking – or at least that’s what I think. I could be wrong. So, two cups of whole almonds makes about two cups worth of almond flour – or about five ounces or about one hundred and fifty-seven grams, according to the scale. I say about because the numbers on the screen kept fluctuating.
Ever since that almond olive oil cake, I’ve been thinking how to make it SCD, too – I was thinking how to make it SCD even before I set about making it, actually but now even more so once I clicked that publish button back then and there it was for all of you to see. My only hesitation was that I thought using almond flour alone would make the cake too dense but I needn’t have worried since the recipe is mostly composed of liquids, which results in a moist and flavourful, citrus-tinged cake.
It’s also a kind of oily cake, due to the olive oil and almond flour, but that doesn’t detract from it by any means. Because of the increased amount of almond flour, it has a more pronounced almond flavour. Better yet, this cake - kind of unlike the first version – is a one-bowl recipe. For a comparison, I’d say that the most worthy contender would be this pound cake for moistness and texture.
One year ago: Almond Flour Crepes SCD & GFCF
Grain-Free Almond Olive Oil Cake
Ingredients:
3 large eggs
3 fluid ounces honey
1/2 cup + 1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
Zest of 1 lemon or 3/4 tsp. lemon extract
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce or orange juice (not from concentrate, pulp is okay)
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Method:
Preheat oven to 350ºF and line a 9-inch round or square cake pan or springform pan with parchment paper. Whisk the eggs to break up the yolks and mix in the honey. Add the olive oil, whisking until the batter’s thickened and oil is emulsified. Add almond extract and lemon extract or zest and applesauce or orange juice. One at a time, stir in the almond flour, baking soda, and salt; mixing well after each addition. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and bake for 30 to 45 minutes, rotating halfway through to ensure even browning. Remove from the oven and cool briefly in the pan before transferring cake to a wire rack, letting cool completely. Serve and drizzle slices or squares with cinnamon honey glaze (recipe below) if you choose. Enjoy!
Cinnamon Honey Glaze
Ingredients:
About 1/4 cup honey
1 tsp. oil
About 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tbsp. coconut milk
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Method:
Cream the honey and oil together until starting to thicken and becoming slightly opaque. Add the ground cinnamon, coconut milk, and extracts, mixing after each addition. Make more accordingly or if necessary.
Hi Zoe,
If you ever need a faster alternative, I keep a bag of the sliced almonds which have already been deskinned in the freezer and pull out what I need to process for a recipe. Also, I’ve used almonds with the skins and it didn’t seem to make any difference to the taste or texture, just a slightly darker colour to the cake. I like the idea of the applesauce!
Hi Tracey – Whole almonds, with their skin on, was all I had on hand at the time but I will keep your tip in mind. I probably could have just left the skins on, though I seemed transfixed on blanching then. Thank you for the tips!
Zoe you are awesome! I’ve never made my own almond flour – sounds like it’s kind of fun if you have the time
Your cake looks deliciously moist!
Hi Maggie, thank you.
Making your own almond flour is fun, when you do have time – otherwise, if you did go ahead to blanch the almonds like I did, it can feel painstaking to be skinning all of them and feels like you’re not going fast enough. I’m sure someone’s going to mention rubbing off the skins with the dishtowel. I tried that and it didn’t work too well.
Zoe, your description of the skins of the almonds is so true. I think that they look like autumn leaves as well! This cake looks so delicious – I really love olive oil cakes and my husband especially is a huge fan of them. And then to top it off with that glaze?? Holy cow. I look forward to trying this one for sure!
xo
Thanks, Kim! After this one, I think I’m starting to have a thing for olive oil cakes as well. It’s near to being on par with my love for chocolate chip cookies.
That cake must be out of this world, Zoe! I hadn’t yet made your almond pound cake (my cold intervened), and now I have this one to add to my list.
I love cakes made with olive oil. My pound cake and Mediterranean chocolate cake both use olive oil and they are fabulous cakes. It just does such good things to the final results, and, of course, it’s so good for you, too.
I think to myself that I’d never skin those almonds, but I’ve done similar things in the past for baking (although I haven’t made my own almond flour yet), and I always enjoyed the process. Kitchen therapy of sorts.
Happy Saturday! xo,
Shirley
Hi Shirley, thank you! It’s nice to see you here again.
I checked out that Mediterranean chocolate cake and the pound cake, my oh my! I especially liked the look of the Mediterranean one. I forgot to mention that I made my own almond flour since we need to get more and we just happen to have a bag of almonds with the skin on. Agree with you about kitchen therapy! 