Almond-flour lemon-blueberry cake
A tender gluten-free lemon cake with blueberries, Greek yogurt, and just enough maple syrup for gentle sweetness.
Original recipe informed by King Arthur Baking and Celiac Disease Foundation guidance
Ingredients
Written for a 20 cm round tin
Cake
- 240 g fine blanched almond flour, not coarse almond meal rounded
- 30 g cornstarch rounded
- 10 g gluten-free baking powder rounded
- 2 g fine salt rounded
- 4 large eggs, separated rounded
- 120 g plain Greek yogurt rounded
- 60 ml pure maple syrup rounded
- 45 ml neutral oil rounded
- 6 g finely grated lemon zest rounded
- 30 ml fresh lemon juice rounded
- 5 ml vanilla extract rounded
- 150 g fresh blueberries rounded
Dietary labels are a guide, not a guarantee. If you have an allergy, read the ingredients yourself.
Method
- Heat the oven to 175°C. Grease a 20 cm round cake tin, line the base with parchment, and lightly grease the paper.
- Whisk the almond flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Toss the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of this dry mixture and set aside.
- Separate the eggs between two clean bowls. Whisk the yolks with the yogurt, maple syrup, oil, lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the remaining dry mixture.
- Beat the egg whites to firm, glossy peaks. Stir one-quarter of the whites into the thick batter to loosen it, then gently fold in the rest in two additions.
- Fold in the coated blueberries. Spread the batter in the tin and bake for 35 to 42 minutes, until golden, springy in the center, and a skewer comes out without wet batter. Cover loosely with foil near the end if the top darkens too quickly.
- Cool in the tin for 15 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edge, turn the cake onto a rack, remove the parchment, and cool completely before slicing.
Added Sugar Check
The 60 ml maple syrup contributes about 48 g added sugar to the whole cake, or about 4.8 g per slice when cut into 10. Exact values vary by brand, so check the label if a precise limit matters.
For a no-added-sugar version, replace the maple syrup with 60 g cup-for-cup granular monk-fruit/erythritol baking blend and add 30 ml milk. The cake will brown less and may taste slightly less moist; do not use a highly concentrated pure extract as a volume-for-volume substitute.
Notes
- Gluten-free when the almond flour, cornstarch, baking powder, yogurt, maple syrup, and vanilla are all verified gluten-free.
- For someone with celiac disease, use clean bowls, beaters, utensils, tin, work surfaces, and ingredients that have not been exposed to wheat flour. Avoid shared bulk bins.
- Fresh blueberries work best. Add frozen berries straight from the freezer and expect a few extra minutes of baking.
- Refrigerate covered for up to 4 days. Bring slices toward room temperature before serving, or freeze individual slices for up to 2 months.
Sources Consulted
Technique sources informed almond-flour structure and gluten cross-contact notes; wording and formula are original.
From Christoph Mayer