Today, the topic isn’t tech but delicious delicious cake. Because of $reasons I need to watch my bloodsugar and keep it from spiking. I can’t inject insulin to counter spikes. This means that most bakery or store-bought sweets, pastries, ice cream etc. are off-limits for me. They’re not worth ending up in a coma. But I do like a sweet from time to time, so I’ve developed my own recipes. I’ve finally managed to nail a good cake, so I thought I’d share.
This cake recipe works for when you need a batter for something like a strawberry cream cake, an apple, lemon or orange cake etc. It doesn’t work as a pie crust, it’s not good for brownies, it won’t make cookies or bread. It’s a butter cake, not a sponge cake. Though it doesn’t contain any butter. If you want to make a multi-layered cake, this recipe will give you two nice layers that stack easily.
My recipe exclusively uses almond flour. But almond flour cakes tend to be really dense, so I cheat by adding chia seeds in the mix and using olive oil instead of butter. This results in a soft and much less dense cake. It slices nicely too. I use erythritol as the sweetner.
Ingredients
The dry stuff:
- 240g of almond flour
- 90g of erythritol
- 20g of chia seeds
- 15g of baking powder (or 5 grams of baking soda)
- 3g of salt
The moisty:
- 3 eggs
- 120g of greek yoghurt
- 120ml of olive oil
- 40ml of water
- 2ml of vanilla extract
The tools:
- A mixer with a paddle attachment (not a whisk, not a dough hook)
- A 22-25cm springform, cake form or other round pan
- A cooking thermometer with a (thin) temperature needle (optional)
- Two bowls
Units
- g: grams
- ml: milliliters
- degrees: Celsius
A note on erythritol
Erythritol for baking typically comes in two forms:
- Regular, granulated sugar
- Confectioners’ sugar (powder)
I always use the confectioners’ version. Erythritol in granulated sugar form can re-crystalise as the cake cools down, resulting in a crunching-on-sand like experience when eating a cake. It doesn’t always happen, but it never ever happens with the confectioners’ sugar version. My go to is Sukrin Melis.
You can raise the erythritol amount if the cake is not sweet enough for you, but you should not exceed 120-130g on this recipe. If you find yourself needing more sweetness still, use something like a blend of erythritol and stevia instead.
Prep
Time: 15 minutes.
In a bowl, add the water, greek yoghurt and chia seeds together and mix thoroughly, so that the seeds are distributed evenly. Set aside for 15 minutes for the chia seeds to soak. This will make them absorb moisture and create an almost gelatinous yoghurt mixture.
In a different bowl, combine the almond flour, the baking powder and the salt. Mix thoroughly so the baking powder and the salt are distributed through the almond flour.
Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees. It should be in the top-and-bottom heat mode, no fans, no grill. Put some baking paper at the bottom of your tin and grease the sides. Oil or butter is fine.
Now wait for the chia seeds to be done before continuing.
Making the cake batter
Time: 5-10 minutes.
Set your mixer to medium speed. Combine the olive oil and erythritol in the mixer. Once it’s turned into a paste, add one egg at a time and let it mix before you add the next one. Finally, add the vanilla extract and let it mix.
Add the dry ingredients and the yoghurt-chia mixture in batches. Let it mix after each batch before proceeding:
- 1/3rd of the almond flour mixture
- Half of the yoghurt-chia mixture
- 1/3rd of the almond flour mixture
- The remaining yoghurt-chia mixture
- The remaining 1/3rd almond flour mixture
Once all the batches have been mixed in, set the mixer to high speed and let it mix for another 40 seconds. Turn off the mixer.
Baking the cake
Time: 30 minutes.
Pour the batter into the cake pan. Pop the cake pan in the middle of the oven for 30 minutes.
At 30 minutes, prick the center of the cake with a tootpick or a needle. If it comes out clean then the cake is done. If not, bake for another 5 minutes and test again. At this point you may want to cover the cake pan with some foil to prevent the top of the cake from browning too much. Lightly drape the foil over the top of the cake pan, and make sure you don’t press on the cake.
If you have a cooking thermometer, use that one for the needle test instead. The center of the cake should read 95 degrees or more.
Let the cake cool down for 10 minutes in the form, then remove it from the form and let it cool at room temperature. Do not put it in the fridge until it’s cooled.
Variations
You can substitute the 40ml of water with an equivalent amont of lemon or orange juice. Also add the zest of a whole lemon, or about 2/3rds of an orange.
When using it with apples, the apples themselves will release moisture too. You can cut the water down to about 25ml in that case. Mix the pieces of apple in right before you add the batter into the cake form.