Lemony Luscious Almond Cake with Almond-Maple Sauce
I forgot just how good this cake was until I revisited to retest the oil-free version. So let me just say that this cake is really good. Now that I’ve rediscovered it, it’s a cake that I’m putting in my ‘top’ cake recipes. You must try this one, and either pair it with the original almond-maple sauce, or my new favorite - the Sweet Potato Caramel Sauce!
Servings 1 springform cake
Equipment
- 1 blender
Ingredients
Cake
- 2 small or 1 med-large organic lemons, whole, unpeeled see note
- 1 1/8 cup spelt flour this is 1 cup + 2 tbsp
- 1 cup almond meal
- ¾ cup unrefined sugar
- 1 ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp macadamia nut butter (see note)
- ½ cup plain non-dairy milk
- ¼ cup pure maple syrup
- 1 ½ tsp pure vanilla extract
Almond-Maple Sauce
- 1 cup almond milk (I like Elmhurst brand) can substitute cashew
- 1/3 - 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
- 1/2 tsp pure almond extact
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 2 1/2 tsp arrowroot powder
- 1/8 tsp grated nutmeg
Instructions
Cake
- First place the lemon(s) whole (do not cut, prick, or peel) in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer, partially covered, for about 15 minutes. Remove lemon(s) and let cool enough to handle.
- While preparing the lemons, preheat oven to 350 degrees, and prepare a 9” springform pan (works best for this cake).with strips of parchment. It is also helpful to wipe a smidgen of oil on the bottom and sides of the pan, but if you do not want to do this, line with strips of parchment.
- Add dry ingredients (flour, almond meal, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) to a mixing bowl.
- In a blender, add the nut butter, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Then, holding the lemons over a small bowl (to catch any juices), cut the lemons in half. Remove any seeds from the lemon and discard, and trim any stem off the lemon(s). Add the whole lemon (and any juices that came out when slicing) to your blender. Puree mixture until very smooth.
- Add this blended mixture to the dry, and stir through until just well combined.
- Transfer mixture to prepared springform pan and place in preheated oven. Bake for 30-33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let cool on a cooling rack.
- Prepare Almond-Maple Sauce (recipe follows) or the Sweet Potato Caramel Sauce (recipe in Let Them Eat Oil-Free Vegan ebook).
Almond-Maple Sauce (makes about 1 1/2 cups) (see note)
- In a small saucepan, add all ingredients except nutmeg and whisk through. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, let boil just briefly.
- Remove from heat, and let sauce cool to room temperature or you can fully chill. The sauce will thicken with cooling.
- Drizzle sauce over cake and serve.
- See note for Sweet Potato CARAMEL Sauce topping.
Notes
Lemon Note: Try to use organic lemons in this cake, since the whole lemon (peel included) will be worked into the batter. Most organic lemons are small, but if by chance you have a larger lemon, use just one. Also, I'd recommend not substituting limes, I have tried this recipe with limes and found too much of a bitter rind taste.
Nut Butter Note: Macadamia nut butter works best in this recipe. It isn't as dense/thick as other nut butters.
Sweet Potato Caramel Sauce: If you want to try the Sweet Potato Caramel, link through to pick up my LTEV sweets ebook. Use code DREENA20 for a full 20% discount!