Melora Johnson's Muse

I’ve been playing with an almond flour sponge cake recipe I love, mostly because our hens have been inundating us with fresh eggs and this uses quite a few eggs, but also because it’s simple, has less sugar, and is gluten free.

I tried to turn it into a chocolate cake by replacing some of the almond flour with Dutch process cocoa powder. It was an utter failure, almost no chocolate flavor at all.

Then I had the idea to make it a gingerbread cake with the simple exchange of some molasses for part of the maple syrup and the addition of ginger and cinnamon.

OMG! This was so good that I couldn’t wait to share it! It is moist, tender, springy without being chewy, rich, and full of flavor. I like it with applesauce but my daughter likes it with whipped cream, so we had both. I actually like the texture better than traditional gingerbread cake.

I highly recommend you try it at the next opportunity. You can use nearly any type of pan, from a pie plate to a cake tin or a springform pan. I would line the bottom of the tin with parchment paper to make it easier to get out though.

Almond Flour Gingerbread Sponge Cake

Ingredients

• 5 large eggs, separated
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• ¾ teaspoon ginger
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup molasses
• 5 tablespoons maple syrup
• 6 ounces almond flour (About a cup and a half.)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prepare a 9-inch cake pan, a 10-inch springform, or a similar size tin by buttering or greasing and lining with parchment paper.
3. Separate the egg whites from the egg yolks, making sure no egg yolks break. I do this over a small bowl one at a time then put the egg yolks into a large bowl and the egg whites into my mixer bowl.
4. Sprinkle the salt over the egg whites and whip them on medium high speed into stiff peaks. I use a stand mixer for this. I have heard you can do this by hand but I would never try it, my arm would be useless for too long afterward, if I ever even got there. A hand held mixer should also work fine.
5. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in the bowl with the egg yolks.
6. Now, gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture, always lifting from the bottom and in one direction. I’m right handed so I lift toward myself with a rubber spatula as I turn the bowl with my left hand.
7. Pour the light and fluffy batter into the prepared pan.
8. Bake for 40 minutes or until it pulls away from the sides and the top is springy to the touch.
9. Allow to cool.
10. Serve with applesauce and/or whipped cream.