Almond Lemon Gluten Free Cake

I get so inspired by all the great photo's and blog post and especially about making things gluten-free. I tolerate gluten, but feel better when I don't partake of it. I saw this recipe and knew I had to give it a try. I still haven't been brave enough to try the vegan route...i just can't give up butter. This cake is really moist and very yummy. Give it a try.

Almond Lemon Gluten Free Cake
(Adapted from Cakelets and Dollies Recipe which was adapted from Donna Hay's Recipe)

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1 tsp of vanilla extract

(NOTE: if you have a vanilla bean, use that, split and scrap out the seeds to put in the mix For my recipe I didn't have a vanilla bean on hand, so vanilla extract worked great.) 1/4 tsp almond extract (because why wouldn't you want more almonds)
Zest of 4 lemons, if you want in more lemony taste you can squeeze a little lemon juice, but this is already a very moist cake so be warned.  Original recipe called for 1/4 cup lemon zest which can be about 6 lemons.
4 eggs, separated, make sure you let them get to room temperature
2 1/2 cups almond meal (Surprisingly I found this at Trader Joes, but you should be able to find in a local health food store or Whole Foods)
10 1/2 oz ricotta
Flaked almonds, to decorated and add more crunchiness
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat oven to 325. Butter 8-9 inch cake round, I use parchment paper on the bottom and also butter that, it makes it easier to get the cake out of the pan.

I used my KitchenAid stand mixer, but you can also use a regular beater. Mix softened butter, 1 cup of sugar, lemon zest, vanilla (either extract or vanilla seeds from the bean), until its pale yellow and creamy. I did this for about 6 minutes (thus why i like to use my KitchenAid stand mixer). Add in the separated egg yolks one at a time, that is if you didn't already blend them all together, in that case just drizzle egg yolks in a little bit at a time.  You'll need to scrape down the sides of the bowl through out the process.

Mix in the Almond Meal. Scrape down sides and take bowl from under mixer and fold in the Ricotta.

In a separate bowl mix the egg whites until white and fluffy, slowly pour in the 1/3 cup of remaining sugar until it makes glossy soft white peaks. Gently fold in 1/2 the egg whites, you want to make this a lite and airy cake, finally fold in the rest of the egg whites.

Pour mixture into cake pan. Sprinkle almond slices over the top, I covered mine as much as possible.  Put in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes. May need more time, I think I added about 8-10 more minutes to this, but test center with toothpick to make sure it comes out clean and the cake is fully baked. 

When you pull it out it look like a fluffy cake, once it cools down it deflates a bit. After it cools down dust with powdered sugar and serve. With coffee is great.

Stuffed Squash Blossom

I love going to the Farmers Market, more in the summer than any other time.  It seems like the produce changes out every two weeks.  This day I ran down at the very end and saw these amazing squash blossoms and had to try them out.  The farmer gave me two full baskets for the price of one. Tip: go at the very end for good deals. Go at the beginning if you need the best and lots of it.

So I texted SB to look up a recipe for stuffed squash blossoms, I was bound and determined and knew I'd need more ingredients when I got home.  So I gathered the filling ingredients, cheeses, Ricotta and Parmesan were top on my list.  To be honest I had to look up a YouTube video to figure out how to put this together, especially taking out the innards.  YouTube it away or Bing it and you'll find the perfect tutorial.

Here's what the inside looks like of a squash blossom.

Gently pull out the stamen inside, you'll see it when you try to open the blossom.

Here's what the empty squash blossoms looked like with out the stamen.

Here's what the innard stamen's look like. No use for them, accept I thought they were pretty.

Filling had ricotta and Parmesan cheese, pinch of salt and chopped parsley.

Fully dip or immerse them in the tempura batter.

Quick fry em up. I would use grapeseed oil in the future, only thing I didn't like was the canola oil taste.

These were delicious.  Rich and cheesy and I loved the green zuchini, I would definitely leave them on when you make this.

Here's the recipe: 

Stuffing:

1 cup Ricotta Cheese

1/2 cup parmessan

pinch of salt

chopped parsley

Tempura Batter: 

Canola Oil (I would use Grapeseed oil next time)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1  teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup Chilled Pilsner, lager-style beer, or club soda (I used Hanger 24 Orange Wheat Beer) - You may need more to get the right consistency.

Zucchini blossoms (stamens removed; about 16)                                            

Preparation:
Mix all the ingredients together for the tempura batter. Chill for a few minutes.

Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing and set aside. I like the flavors to meld.

Gently pull the stamens from the blossoms and you can either cut the green zuchini off or leave it on. I prefer the green it was delicious. 

Gently put in about 1 tablespoon of cheese per blossom. More if it fits and delicately twist the blossom so the ingredients stay in.

Heat oil in a deep pan about 1 inch deep, needs to be really hot about 350. Test with a bread crumb. If it fries quickly then your good to go.  

Take batter out of refrigerator and mix well, may need to add more beer or club soda to get a good consistency for coating. Dip each stuffed squash blossom and fully coat in the tempura batter and start frying them up. It's a quick fry.

Make sure you turn them over to get it all fried up.  Do this in batches to make sure the oil stays hot.

Drain on a paper towel, salt and serve. Enjoy!