Here is the incredibly delicate and gluten-free almond cake. This is the “Amandier” recipe by renowned French Pastry chef Christophe Michalak with minor modifications. The main ingredients are almond flour and mascarpone.
If you enjoy this recipe, check out my other gluten-free desserts, such as the delicious banana muffins!
Gluten-free almond cake
Amandier
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 180 g sugar
- 40 g honey
- 300 g almond flour
- 140 g softened salted or unsalted butter
- 100 g mascarpone cheese
- Some orange zest
- 1 Tbsp liquid vanilla (or 1 packet of vanilla sugar) (optional)
- 2 Tbsp sliced almonds
- Some powdered sugar (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 330°F (150°С). Grease baking pan with butter or line with parchment paper.
- In a mixer bowl, put eggs, sugar, and honey.
- Mix together.
- Add almond flour and mix again.
- In another bowl, mush the butter and mascarpone cheese together using a fork.
- Add the mascarpone and butter to the egg-sugar mixture and mix again.
- Add orange zest and vanilla to the batter. Mix well for the last time.
- Pour the batter into baking pan.
- Sprinkle with sliced almonds.
- Bake in the preheated oven until golden, about 45 minutes. Allow the almond cake to cool before removing it from the pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
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Mini Pavlova
Pavlova is a dessert, named after the Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, who toured Australia and New Zealand in 1926. It is a meringue dessert with crisp crust and soft light inside, topped with cream and fresh berries.
You can make meringue shells ahead of time and freeze them. I usually make the cream the same day I want to serve my Mini Pavlova. And as always this dessert is a perfect mini dessert for my Cafe Gourmand.
Mini Pavlova dessert
I rarely use food coloring when baking. I like my desserts to have their original color. But if you are cooking for Valentine's Day or for a Princess party, you may add some food coloring to your dessert. This time, I used one tiny drop of red coloring to make the cream pink.
Ingredients
Meringue
- 4 egg whites (room temperature)
- 1 pinch of salt
- 220 g confectioner’s sugar
Cream
- 200 ml heavy whipping cream ( 35%) very cold
- 100 g mascarpone cheese
- 1,5 Tbsp sugar
- 1 drop red food coloring (optional)
- Fresh berries raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, blueberries…
Instructions
Meringue
- Using mixer, begin beating your egg whites and salt on a low speed, steadily increasing up to medium high.
- While beating on a medium speed, slowly add the confectioner’s sugar, about 1-2 Tbsp at a time. Once all the sugar is added, keep beating until the egg whites hold stiff peaks.
- Preheat oven to 230 degrees F. Draw circles of approximately 4-8 cm diameter (you can use a pint glass as a guide) on each of the parchment lined sheets.
- Spoon meringue into piping bag, fitted with 3/4 inch tip. Pipe meringue to cover circles on prepared baking sheet. Pipe two more rings of meringues on top of outer edge to form walls of Pavlovas.
- Bake in center of oven until dry and crisp, about 1 1/2 hours.
- Turn off the oven and let the meringues completely cool in the oven. Once cooled, you can top them with whipped cream and berries.
Filling
- With mixer, beat together very cold heavy cream and mascarpone cheese, until whipped gradually adding sugar. Add food coloring. Don’t overbeat the cream, or you will end up with butter.
- Spoon cream into piping bag.
- Right before serving, pipe frosting on the pavlovas and top with fresh berries.
- If you have some leftovers cream, you can pipe it into a small glass and garnish with some fresh berries.
Notes
Pease don’t waste your egg yolks, you can always make Creme brûlée.
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Tuna pate with smoked salmon
Delicious Tuna and Smoked Salmon Pate is an amazing appetizer served with fresh or toasted bread.
Tuna pate with smoked salmon
Ingredients
- 160 g tuna in water drained
- 5-6 slices smoked salmon
- 160 g mascarpone cheese
- 1/2 onion chopped
- salt and pepper to taste
- fresh dill to taste
Instructions
- In a bowl, combine together mascarpone cheese and tuna, mash it with fork.
- Add chopped dill and minced onion, salt and pepper.
- Add finely chopped smoked salmon and stir together.
- Transfer to a small dish and garnish with chopped fresh dill or with thin slices of salmon. Cover with food plastic wrap.
- Chill in the fridge for at least 6 hours.
Notes
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
This post was posted in Appetizers