Brown Butter Apple-Almond Cake (gluten-free)

So many people avoid gluten these days that a gluten-free apple cake recipe is a must-have for every cook. This one from the Cup of Jo website is good enough to make for people who can eat EVERYTHING. Try the cake with a mix of different apples to create a combo of flavors, colors and textures. Contrary to my expectations the almond flour makes the cake surprisingly light. With all those apples packed in, the slices don’t hold together too well, but slathered in whip cream it hardly matters.

Ingredients:

  • 12 TBS unsalted butter

  • 2 1/4 cups almond flour

  • 2 tsp baking powder

  • 1 tsp kosher salt

  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, loosely packed

  • 1/2 tsp Calvados or almond extract

  • 3 eggs

  • 3 large or 4 medium apples - peeled and cut into small chunks. No need to make them uniform in shape.

  • whipped cream, creme fraiche or plain yogurt

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the sides and bottom of a 9” round cake pan with butter. Set aside.

  2. Add the butter to a small saucepan, and place it over medium heat. The butter will melt, foam up, calm down and begin to brown. Stir the butter every minute or so as this happens. This should take 4-8 minutes so don’t wander too far away from the stove. As soon as the butter starts to smell nutty and brown speckles begin to form on the bottom of the pan, remove it from the heat so it doesn’t burn. Pour it into a metal or ceramic bowl to cool.

  3. In a medium bowl whisk together the almond flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar. In a separate bowl beat the eggs together with the Calvados or almond extract. Stir these into the dry ingredients.

  4. Using a rubber spatula, fold the cooled butter into the flour mix. It will be very wet. Then fold in the apples. The batter will seem overloaded with apples, and that is the intention.

  5. Spread the batter evenly in the prepared pan. Push it down a bit with the spatula to fill in the air spaces.

  6. Bake for 45-50 minutes (my cake took closer to 60 minutes to set in the middle) until the top looks golden and toasty and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool before serving.

  7. Serve with whipped cream for dessert or yogurt for breakfast. (Okay, whipped cream is good for breakfast too.)