Coconut Flour Cake

Coconut Flour Cake

Over the winter, as I discuss in more depth here, I spent a lot of time considering the increasing dilemma of dietary restrictions.  In particular I was interested in learning more about gluten and lactose intolerances since we saw an alarming rise in guests with these afflictions in 2012.   For the past four months I have gone gluten and dairy free myself in an effort to come up with some interesting and delicious things for us to serve to all of our guests in 2013, not just those with dietary restrictions.

 

I was mostly disappointed by the recipes I tried this winter.  But a few did stand out and this one is a keeper because it is PQ, or Petraia Quality.  That means good enough to serve our guests.   With just 5 ingredients this coconut flour cake is simple, nutritious and delicious.   I love it for breakfast, or anytime I am craving a bit of a sweet.  The batter can be baked in a loaf pan for pound cake, muffin tins for cupcakes or round or square cake pans for layer cakes.   I intend to use it as an element in our plated desserts.

Plated dessert with frozen zabaione, orange sorbet and meruinge

Plated dessert with frozen zabaione, coconut cake, orange sorbet and meruinge

For instance, I’ll stamp out small circles of the cake to serve with orange sorbet, fresh berry coulis, honey lemon curd.

Or we’ll top it with a semisphere of frozen honey zabaione to resemble the funghi porcini we find in our forest.

Coconut Cake with Honey Zabaione

Coconut Cake with Honey Zabaione

 

There are a lot of coconut flour cake recipes out there.  Most call for chemical leaveners and are very sweet.   This one uses egg whites to leaven the batter and contains less than 2 ounces of honey.

 

Ingredients

 

60 grams of coconut, extra virgin olive or orange oil

60 grams each of coconut milk and coconut flour

6 eggs, separated

100 gr citrus paste

 

Preheat the oven to 165º C. Butter and flour a loaf pan.  If using coconut oil heat it just until it melts.  Combine your chosen oil, coconut milk, coconut flour, egg yolks and citrus paste in a large bowl.  Mix briefly with a spatula just until all the ingredients are combined.  Beat the egg whites to soft peaks and fold them, in 3 additions, into the bowl. Transfer to the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the cake comes out clean.

 

Note:  This cake contains just 50 grams of honey .  Taste the batter and if you want a sweeter cake add honey to taste.     I like to drizzle melted dark chocolate over the cake once it has cooled, or serve it with our honey zabaione.

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