A gluten free almond cake with coconut and lime – using almond meal, desiccated coconut, lime zest, and good quality butter and eggs for a perfectly delightful tea cake.
Over the past week, I have been looking for various recipes to cook and bake with my 3 year old. I remember “helping” out in the kitchen when I was as young as her and this whole staying home and social distancing seemed like the perfect chance to cook or bake with a toddler.
I chose this super simple, can’t-go-wrong cake recipe with almond flour, desiccated coconut, and some lime zest. The advantage of baking with almond flour is that the batter runs no risk of over mixing and the cake turning out hard. Toddler loves to keep mixing cake batter, as I’ve discovered.
This cake is an adaption of my flourless almond flour coconut cake but with a few simple changes. Adding lime zest to the batter gives it a nice tanginess that complements the coconut so well. The original recipe I had, from a colleague in Sydney, uses a lot less lime zest and a lot more butter. I had adapted it to what I think would result in a more springy, lighter cake.
Also check out this eggless butter pudding recipe that kids will love too!
Gluten Free Almond Coconut Cake
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups almond flour
- 2/3 cup desiccated coconut
- 180 grams unsalted butter melted and cooled
- zest of 2-3 limes
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- A pinch of salt
- 3/4 cup brown sugar loosely packed
- 3 eggs
- 4 tablespoons almond flakes
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180 C / 350 F
- Grease a 9″ cake pan with some butter
- In a bowl, mix together the almond flour, coconut, and brown sugar
- Add lime zest to this mixture and stir well to combine. Lime adds a beautiful flavour to the cake so please don’t skimp on it
- Add melted and cooled butter to the above
- Mix gently to combine
- Add vanilla and salt and mix again
- Add the eggs and beat again until you get a smooth mixture. You can also beat the eggs separately in a small bowl and add to the batter at this stage which is probably what I’d do if I made this almond cake again
- Transfer to the greased cake tray.
- Smoothen the top and gently tap the cake pan on the kitchen counter to let out any air bubbles.
- Add almond flakes on top evenly.
- Bake in pre-heated oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out with moist crumbs
- Cool completely, cut, and serve
Notes
- You can also use orange or lemon zest if you don’t have limes handy
- The almond flakes on top can be replaced with chocolate chips, remember to use gluten free ones if you want the cake to be gluten-free
- Increase or decrease the lime to your preference
- You can also make a mixture of 3 tablespoons lime juice mixed with 6 tablespoons icing sugar and pour over the cake after poking holes, gives a lovely tangy finish to the cake
- This cake packs well so it’s perfect for picnics. Just make sure to cook completely before cutting
Step by Step Gluten Free Almond Cake
Pre-heat oven to 180 C / 350 F and prepare all your ingredients.
Grease a 9″ cake pan with butter and set aside
In a bowl, mix together the almond flour, coconut, and brown sugar
Add lime zest to this mixture and stir well to combine
Lime zest makes the cake so fragrant so don’t skimp on it. I found I needed the zest of 3 limes since mine were quite small
Add the melted and cooled butter to this
Mix gently to combine. Add vanilla and salt and mix again
Add the eggs and beat again until you get a smooth mixture. You can also beat the eggs separately in a small bowl and add to the batter at this stage
Transfer to the greased tray. Smoothen the top and gently tap the cake pan on the kitchen counter to let out any air bubbles.
Add almond flakes on top evenly.
Bake in the pre-heated oven until golden brown or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out with moist crumbs – around 40 minutes.
Cool the gluten free almond coconut lime cake before cutting and serving. Kids and adults alike would totally enjoy this delicious cake so if you do try it, leave me a comment and rating below!
Hi
This looks amazing – I was wondering the net carbs for this recipe.
Also could I substitute the brown sugar for brown monk fruit?
Thank you
you can certainly try replacing the sweetener, although i haven’t tried any others personally. I do find this recipe quite flexible.
Love this recipe. So tempted to try this ❤️. For eggless version, what will work best flax seed egg/ yoghurt/ tofu/ apple puree? Really confused ????????
i would try flax seed egg first 🙂 May make it more fudgy but in a good way
Hi. I Couldn’t find almond flour in Singapore’s stores. Just wanted to know if we can use regular flour? If so do we need to change any other ingredients?
This recipe won’t work with regular flour. You can find almond flour in Phoon Huat and most Cold Storage