Here’s a lovely cake recipe for you to make.  It would be ideal to serve this after a nice dinner. It doesn’t need to be dressed with anything to be elegant. The taste is rich and a small portion (good luck with this) is more than enough. If you really want, with the addition of softly whipped amaretto cream – you have a restaurant quality/style dessert. This is a flourless cake, so yes this is gluten free. Imagine one dessert that everyone can have – unless you have nut allergies – oh dear, back to the drawing board!

Similar to the French Apple Cake and Charlotka (both featured in earlier blogs) there is a textural difference in the cake as there are two distinct layers in the making. The batter is divided in two portions.  The first layer does not have the yogurt in it, so is thicker and yields a denser bottom – and this is one of those times a dense bottom is a good thing!  The other half has the yogurt mixture folded into it before being spread over the first layer.  This yields a delicious bite on top of a smooth, moist, rich base. The blueberries add taste and additional moisture to the cake – but really any berry can be used.

I used pre-ground almond flour – Costco sells it at a great price, as opposed to sliced, slivered or whole blanched almonds which I would have to toast and grind anyway. I still toasted the pre-ground in a non-stick pan just to bring out additional nuttiness and also to dry the almond flour a bit. Toasting any nut enhances the flavor. For the topping I used sliced almonds and coarse sprinkling sugar – oh my goodness what a delightful top for a wonderfully moist cake. The addition of orange blossom water is welcomed but don’t go crazy with it. I don’t usually measure flavorings – vanilla, liqueur etc., but orange blossom water, I measure to the drop. It can make or break a dish – just like rosewater.

You can make this cake for any occasion, but really, you don’t need a special one. It comes together super-fast and bakes really well. It took 70 minutes in my oven at 350f. I checked at 55 minutes, 65 (it was too moist at 55 minutes so knew it needed at least 10 more minutes) and then 70. The cake will continue to set as it cools but a toothpick inserted at this point should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs. When you remove it from the oven, give it about 10 minutes then run a sharp knife around the edges to loosen from the tin. Remove the mold and let the cake cool completely (okay I served it while still warm to my wife and she loves me soooooo much more now). As always – enjoy!

1 stick salted butter
350g almond flour
225g soft brown sugar
1 tsp Kosher salt
2 eggs
250g Greek-style yoghurt – plain or try using a flavored yogurt i.e. lemon, orange, berry etc
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp orange blossom water – taste and add up to an additional 1/4 tsp if you like
1 cup blueberries – or any other berry or diced fresh fruit – apples, plums etc
½ cup sliced almonds – these yield a better end product than slivered or pieces
2 – 3 tbsp. coarse sugar – do make the effort to try this with coarse sugar, delightful addition to texture and taste

Heat the oven to 350f
Butter a 9” round spring form pan and line the bottom with parchment paper that has been scrunched up and soaked in water – this will keep the bottom from browning too much – notice the sides of my cake are a little darker, not burned but darker
Toss the almond flour into a dry non-stick pan over medium high heat – toast until it starts to color
Remove immediately to a bowl – do not leave it in the pan as it will continue to brown
Beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy
On low speed or by hand – stir in the almond flour and salt
Lightly whisk the eggs and beat them into the cake batter
Spread half this mixture over the bottom of the tin – the batter will be thick and more like a dough
Combine the yoghurt, baking powder and orange water, and mix well
Stir/fold this into the remaining batter and pour over the base layer
Scatter the blueberries over the top and gently push them into the batter so just the tips are peaking out of the batter
Sprinkle the sliced almonds and coarse sugar, and bake for 60-70 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs attached
Serve at room temperature (or not) with softly whipped amaretto cream
As always – enjoy!