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Recipes from my Lincolnshire kitchen

olive oil lemon and ground almond traybake – gluten free and dairy free

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… like all keen bakers and food bloggers, most of our friends seem to think we’re chained to the kitchen baking all day with the one desire to serve their needs and supply them with cake… and even though my friends and work colleagues will deny this, I tend to keep my chatter about the blog to the minimum because the moment I open my mouth I get ‘why don’t you bring cake into work?’ or ‘will you bake me something without nuts’ or ‘oooh, Sunday’s at your house must be amazing, please can I come’… to which I usually grin and say something acerbic to shut them up.  Plus I always have The Viking by my side to puncture my ego should it get too out of hand.  Anyway, it’s been a very stressful few Months at The Persuaders recently as we have a mammoth project to deliver in April and tensions have been running high, so when lovely Lorna asked me to bake some goodies I could hardly refuse… that was until she insisted it had to be both gluten free and dairy free.  Well I didn’t exactly refuse but I was probably hysterically rude in some clever way… So i’ve made the cake.  It is delicious.  The only issue now is trying to not eat it all before I get to the office, which won’t be till tomorrow.  So apologies now Lorna if there’s only one slice left…

olive oil lemon and ground almond traybake with crunchy sugar top – gluten free and dairy free
this is a super-easy, divine little recipe which is an adaptation of a classic lemon polenta cake found in Nigella’s How to be a Domestic Goddess… I had issues purchasing polenta this weekend.  It’s amazing how I know that the local supermarkets, however advances and trendy they think they are, simply won’t stick that one item they really should but I foolishly travel there anyway when I should really just go to the one healthful shop where I know I will find it… but i’m stubborn like that. However, I knew I had some Dove’s Farm gluten-free flour mix in the baking cupboard – which has lovely things in it like potato and rice flours and so that was substituted instead and it’s actually come out beautifully… and of course the combo of anything with ground almonds is heaven-on-earth.  Plus for some reason lemons remind me of the summer and we could do with some cheering up this gloomy February…

for the cake
160ml good quality extra virgin olive oil
200g caster sugar
200g ground almonds
100g gluten free flour mix by Dove’s Farm (or you could use polenta)
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
3 large free-range eggs
zest of 2 lemons (save juice for syrup)

for the syrup
juice of 1 lemon
50 grams icing sugar

for the crunchy topping
juice of 1 lemon
50 grams regular sugar

grease and line the base and sides of a brownie tin – I used my 23cm x 15cm roasting tin – with baking parchment and pre-heat the oven to 180°C

in a large bowl beat the oil and sugar with an electric whisk until pale and frothy – roughly 5 mins
mix together the almonds, flour and baking powder, and beat some of this into the butter-sugar mixture, followed by 1 egg, then alternate dry ingredients and eggs, beating all the while.
finally, beat in the lemon zest and scrape the mixture into your prepared tin and bake in the oven for about 30 – 40 minutes
the cake is cooked if a skewer comes out cleanish and the edges of the cake begin to shrink away from the sides of the tin. 
remove from the oven to a wire cooling rack, but leave in its tin and prick all over with a skewer

make the syrup by boiling together the lemon juice and icing sugar in a smallish saucepan or microwave and then pour the warm syrup over the cake.

next, coming the final juice of the lemon with regular sugar and whilst the cake is still warm pour this over the top and brush over the surface

leave to cool before taking it out of its tin

because I love this tart and sweet cake so much i’m linking it to Treat Petite created by CakeyBoi and The Baking Explorer and hosted this month by United Cakedom which has the theme this month of ‘Like it, Love it, Gotta have it!’


eat and of course, enjoy!

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Comments

  3. Jean says

    This February has been exceptionally gloomy. I think I can count on one hand the number of days we had any sunshine at all.
    But your cake would cheer anyone up, it looks wonderful.
    I have often used the Doves Farm flours for gluten free baking with great success, even in pastry.

  7. Suelle says

    The cake looks really light – well done! I have a friend who is both gluten and dairy free; it's quite an enjoyable challenge to cook for her – but only occasionally!

  8. Tricia Buice says

    People always tell me I should cater – but I have no desire to serve great amounts of people. Sounds horrible to me! But I do love this cake – will you make one for me? hehehe

  9. Kate Glutenfreealchemist says

    Nice cake Dom! I love the freshness of lemon…… even in cake form, I can persuade myself I am 'cleaning the palate'. It looks deliciously moist…… a good balance of almonds is always a great thing!

  11. Choclette Blogger says

    Haha, I do love that Viking of yours. And oh that cake looks so light, refreshing and summery Dom and I love the simplicity of it too. I hope you managed to leave at least one piece for Lorna.

  12. Lisa Niblock says

    I am glad I am not the only one who gets requests for cakes and then is slammed with … “oh but it can't have ….. nuts, flour, eggs, dairy, or anything” and I think geez that's a big ask, but it's quickly followed by pity. Sucks to be them! and I try my best to provide an edible cake!

    Next time I get asked for dairy and/or gluten free I will know where to turn! Thank you for linking up to this month's Treat Petite!