I’ve seemingly started loving gluten free recipes as much as I adore the classic flour based cakes and bakes. And the lighter and fresher after feel is an added bonus. I have been avoiding the refined flour in my cooking from past few weeks. Whole grains and nut meals have  recently replaced the refined flour completely. Every now and then I come across a beautiful recipe, mind starts working on ways to substitute refined flour with some better alternatives. Here weather has started to change and few rain showers have started making way for summer fruits to say goodbye soon. Now peaches, plums and cherries will soon be invisible. And to tap the opportunity to cook/bake with them to as maximum as possible, I decided to bake something with plums. Few days back, I baked this olive oil wholegrain stone fruit cake, so I didn’t want to repeat the theme, and started thinking of ways to use  fruits as filling or toppings rather than easy way of bunging them into the cake batter. I had this lovely Italian gluten free almond cake  recipe from Nigellissima. It’s a very light wonderful meringue based olive oil and almond cake recipe which alone is a treat in itself. Nigella Lawson’s recipes have always worked as charm to me, without any single disappointment till date. And this one came out really beautiful. I adapted the recipe to my taste slightly and replaced the almond flakes topping with the almond meal. I topped the cake with more decadent white chocolate whipped ganache.  And how could I forget my obedient ingredient Plum! I picked this amazing idea of roasting them with fragrant rosemary from Ottolenghi’s. I really love the therapeutic aroma of rosemary in my sweet bakes. It feels so summery and fresh!  So, here two of my favorite cookbooks meet together to make this ever so wonderful and yummiest concoction, A gluten free almond cake topped with white chocolate ganache and rosemary roasted plums.  

Gluten Free Almond Cake

2014-07-09 00:57:46

Gluten free almond cake topped with whipped white chocolate ganache and rosemary roasted fresh seasonal plums.

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For the cake

1. 250 gm almonds {blanched, peeled and finely ground}
2. 125 ml light olive oil
3. 1 tsp vanilla extract/powder
4. 1 tsp baking powder
5. 125 gm castor sugar
6. 8 egg whites
7. zest of a lemon

For the plums

1. 8-10 plums, de-stoned and quartered
2. 1 tbsp kirsch {optional}
3. 2 tbsp sugar
4. 1 sprig rosemary

For the chocolate ganache

1. 100 gm white chocolate
2. 100 ml cream

Instructions

1. For the cake, preheat the oven to 180 degree C. Grease a 9 inch springform pan. Line it's base with parchment paper and keep aside.
2. In a clean washed bowl, beat the egg whites using an electric beater, until soft peak form. Start adding castor sugar in it gradually and keep beating, until soft and glossy peaks form.
3. In another bowl, beat the ground almonds, olive oil, vanilla extract, lemon zest and baking powder to mix well.
4. Add 1/4th of beaten egg whites to the almond mixture to lighten it. Now fold in the remaining 3/4th egg whites gradually, taking care not to release the air.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the center comes out with few almond crumbs.
6. Take out of oven and let cool completely in the pan over a wire rack. Once cooled completely, unmold the cake and keep aside on a parchment paper.
7. For the ganache, melt the chocolate over a double boiler or in microwave. In a cold bowl, whip the double cream to soft peaks and fold in the melted white chocolate.
8. For the plums, mix all the ingredients and scatter the plums on a baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes in a 180 degree preheated oven, until the plums are soft and their skin starts to peel off. Let cool completely.
9. To assemble, place the cake on the serving platter. Top with whipped chocolate ganache and cooled roasted plums.

By Himanshu Taneja

The White Ramekins http://thewhiteramekins.com/