Lemon, lavender and almond cake – gluten free

Rich and moist, this sweetly fragrant gluten-free almond cake is flavoured with lavender flowers and lemon. A wonderfully more-ish afternoon tea treat!

During the Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover) observant Jews eschew any food containing leavened wheat flour – so bread, cake, pasta etc. is all off the menu. Most cooks have a list of alternatives that enable them to cook and bake delicious things for the duration of the festival. One such common substitute is potato flour.

What is potato flour?

Visually indistinguishable from wheat flour, potato flour – or potato starch as it is sometimes called – behaves completely differently. It contains no gluten, but is high in starch, and absorbs significantly more liquid than wheat flour. It also has a tendency to become gummy and sticky. Useful if you want to make glue, less good in pancakes, for instance.

Unfortunately it also goes a long way. Last Pesach I bought a bag of it, used a few tablespoons during Pesach, and put the rest away. It’s been sitting in the cupboard ever since. It looks at me accusingly every time I open the door and take something else out. So, I set myself the task of using some of it up. 

Special properties

Its chemical and physical properties make potato flour a poor substitute for wheat flour in most instances. However they do make it an excellent stabiliser, and it’s this job that I’ve used it for here. The bulk of this moist, gluten-free lemon and almond cake is made up of ground almonds and eggs, but the small amount of potato flour acts to prevent the butter and egg mixture from curdling during the preparation of the cake batter. It also helps to create a moist, even crumb that holds together beautifully.

The potato flour does its job remarkably well – I added the first egg to the fat/sugar and watched as the mixture began to split almost immediately. A teaspoon of the potato flour was all that was needed to bring it all together again. Adding the potato flour with the eggs ensured that the lemon and almond cake batter was smooth and well amalgamated, with no trace of curdling.

Garden fresh lavender

This lovely moist almond cake is flavoured with lemon and lavender flowers from our garden. You can use fresh lavender, or a smaller amount of dried. Or, you can leave it out for a still-delicious, lavender-free, lemon and almond cake.

Lemon almond cake ingredients

Although this scrumptious cake is gluten-free, it doesn’t contain any weird ingredients – except maybe the lavender! To make one yourself, you will need:

• Butter or margarine – depending on whether you want a milky or parve cake.
• Sugar for sweetness!
• Eggs – I usually use medium sized organic eggs.
• Potato flour – also sometimes called potato starch.
• Ground almonds for a delicious flavour and moist scrumptious texture.
• Fresh lemons – zest and juice
• Fresh or dried lavender flowers – or just leave them out for a simpler, but still delicious, lemon and almond cake.
• Icing sugar – also called powdered sugar or confectioners’ sugar – if you want to make the glaze for the top of the cake.

The recipe makes one 21cm diameter lemon almond cake, which can be cut into 8 delicious servings.

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📖 Recipe

Lemon and almond cake with lavender

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Rich and moist, this sweetly fragrant gluten-free almond cake is flavoured with lavender flowers and lemon.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Cake, Dessert

Cuisine European, Vegetarian

Servings 8

Calories 528 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 200 g soft butter or margarine
• 200 g golden caster sugar
• 4 eggs
• 25 g potato flour (potato starch)
• 250 g ground almonds
• 2 lemons – zest & juice
• 1½ tablespoon fresh lavender flowers – about 4 sprigs (optional) (use less if flowers are dried)

For the icing & decoration

• 50 g icing sugar
• ½ lemon – juice only
• Few sprigs of lavender to decorate (optional)

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease and line a 21cm (approx. 8 inch) loose bottomed round cake tin.
• 200 g (1 cup) soft butter or margarine, 200 g (1 cup) golden caster sugar, 4 eggs, 25 g (scant ⅕ cup) potato flour
  Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in the eggs one at a time, adding a spoonful of the potato flour with each egg.
• 250 g (2¼ cups) ground almonds, 2 lemons – zest & juice, 1½ tablespoon fresh lavender flowers – about 4 sprigs (optional)
  Mix in the almonds, any remaining potato flour, the lemon zest and juice, and the lavender flowers if using.
• Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 50 minutes – 1 hour, until risen and golden, and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and leave in the tin to cool.
• 50 g (½ cup) icing sugar, ½ lemon – juice only
  Once cold, remove from the tin and place on a serving plate. Mix the icing sugar and lemon juice to give a smooth, runny icing. Pour over the cake and allow to set slightly.
• Few sprigs of lavender to decorate (optional)
  Decorate with lavender flowers if desired.

Notes

Omit the lavender for a simpler lemon and almond cake.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Lemon and almond cake with lavender

Amount per Serving

Calories

528

% Daily Value*

Fat

 

38

g

58

%

Saturated Fat

 

6

g

38

%

Trans Fat

 

1

g

Cholesterol

 

82

mg

27

%

Sodium

 

270

mg

12

%

Potassium

 

112

mg

3

%

Carbohydrates

 

43

g

14

%

Fiber

 

4

g

17

%

Sugar

 

33

g

37

%

Protein

 

10

g

20

%

Vitamin A

 

1019

IU

20

%

Vitamin C

 

15

mg

18

%

Calcium

 

95

mg

10

%

Iron

 

2

mg

11

%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

Keyword almonds, lemon

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More delicious gluten-free recipes

If you’re after gluten-free treats that the whole family will enjoy, how about indulgent chocolate fudge brownie cookies (brookies), scrumptious coconut cupcakes with raspberries, or luscious Pesach tiramisu.

Even though the recipe doesn’t use up much potato flour, it has helped to clear the backlog a little. So I’m entering this lemon, lavender and almond cake recipe into the No Waste Food Challenge, hosted by Anne’s Kitchen and organised by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary. As we picked the lavender flowers from our garden, I think this most certainly qualifies for the Simple and In Season challenge, hosted by My Custard Pie. Vanesther (at Bangers & Mash) has kindly agreed with me that lavender is an honorary spice(!), and therefore this cake can be entered into  The Spice Trail – Summer Spice challenge. Finally, I’m entering it into the Cake Club link-up, hosted by Kerry at Kerry Cooks.