Upside Down Almond Sponge Fruit Cake
I’ve been using Laura B. Russell’s wonderful almond cake recipe for a couple years now. (If you want the original recipe, check it out here https://laurabrussell.com/almond-cake/) For this cake, I’ve combined her almond cake with a classic recipe for baked apple pancakes, and made a few changes. Rhubarb is wonderful in this, but I’ve also used frozen blueberries, halved sweet cherries, and drained canned peaches. It’s all good, simple, and gluten free.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter (unsalted preferred)
- 1 ½ to 2 cups fruit (rhubarb, blueberries, cherries, or peaches, etc.)
- 2 tablespoons maple syrup
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
- 6 ounces almond flour (about 1 1/3 cups)
- 2/3 cup maple syrup
- 5 large eggs (separated)
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Melt the butter in a deep-dish pie plate, either in the microwave or in the warming oven.
- Spread the butter around the plate and arrange the fruit on top in a single layer.
- Drizzle the maple syrup over the fruit.
- Sprinkle with cinnamon, if using.
- Separate the 5 eggs into 2 mixing bowls. (I highly recommend you do the actual separating over a small bowl and then dump the egg yolk into the one bowl and transfer the egg white into the mixing bowl.) If you don’t know how to separate eggs, here’s a simple 1-minute video on it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAGX-54iR30
- Mix the maple syrup into the egg yolks then stir in the vanilla and almond flour.
- Using a mixer, beat your egg whites and salt until stiff peaks form. (Tip: for best results make sure your bowl and beaters are clean and dry, free of any oil.)
- Fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, about one third at a time. (Basically, folding means to use a large rubber spatula to stir up gently from the bottom.)
- Pour the mixture over the fruit and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a knife or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Serve warm or cold, with or without whipped cream.