Gluten-Free Strawberry Almond Streusel Cake
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!! Strawberry Almond Streusel Cake
I love ya so much I made this cake.
Yes, this cake is gloriously jammy, fluffy, luscious, perfect. But perhaps most importantly, it’s 100% GLUTEN-FREE. Which means you can eat it with no shame, no regrets, no limits!!
Just remember to save a slice for your loved ones.
You start by preparing the strawberry filling, which takes barely 10 minutes to make. Bring diced strawberries and water to a simmer, then stir in lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch. Let this mixture boil, mash with a potato masher until vaguely smooth, then simmer until completely thickened. If you’re thinking this sounds really simple, then good news — It is! The only trick is to make sure this is 100% cool before incorporating into your cake. So wait at least an hour to ensure best practices.
When you’re ready, make the streusel topping by combining melted salted butter, almond flour, sugar, and shaved almonds in a small mixing bowl. Toss until evenly incorporated, and you’re set. Lastly tackle the cake, which luckily is just as simple as the rest of this recipe. Whisk eggs, sugar, almond extract, vanilla extract, and lemon zest until smooth, then combine with dry ingredients (almond flour, baking powder, salt!) until the batter takes shape. Pour 3/4’s of the batter into an amply greased loaf pan, then spoon the cooled strawberry filling on top. Cover with the remaining batter, sprinkle with streusel, then finally bake!
1 more hour of patience is all you need.
The smells that waft from your oven while cooking will be tempting enough. But seeing is believing, hunni. And this cake? It’s THE TRUTH!! Luscious yet fluffy, jammy and sweet, and crowned in crunch too. It’s the perfect cake for brunch, V-Day dessert, or any damn excuse you can find!
When cake tastes this good, any reasons a good reason to bake. Xo
Gluten-Free Strawberry Almond Streusel Cake
Ingredients:
- FILLING:
- 1 1/2 cups diced strawberries (about 12 oz)
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 1/2 – 3 tbsps cornstarch, sifted
- CAKE:
- 1 1/2 cups finely ground almond flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- a pinch of salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tsps almond extract
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- lemon zest for 1 lemon
- 1 – 1 1/2 tbsps milk (almond, skim, or whole!)
- shortening to grease
- sifted powdered sugar for decorating
- STREUSEL:
- 2 1/2 tbsps salted butter, melted
- 1/3 cup finely ground almond flour
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup shaved almonds
Directions:
- Begin by preparing the filling. In a saucepan bring the strawberries and water to a simmer over a medium flame. Stir in the lemon juice, sugar, and cornstarch, then raise the flame to high and bring ingredients to a boil. Once a boil is reached reduce flame to low, then use a potato masher to mash the strawberries thoroughly. Cover saucepan and simmer until completely thickened, 5 – 8 minutes. Cool completely, at least 1 hour.
- While the filling cools, prepare the streusel. In a small mixing bowl combine all streusel ingredients, incorporating in the order written and tossing until evenly mixed.
- Pre-heat oven to 350F. Generously grease a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan with shortening.
- Prepare the cake. In a medium-sized mixing bowl combine the almond flour, baking powder, and salt, whisking well. In another, large mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk the eggs, sugar, almond extract, vanilla extract, and lemon zest until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, combining thoroughly until the batter has formed. Add a splash of milk at this time if the batter needs to be thinned.
- Pour 3/4’s of the cake batter into the loaf pan, then gently spoon the cooled strawberry filling on top. Cover with the remaining batter, sprinkle with streusel, then bake on oven middle rack for 55 – 60 minutes until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Cool completely (at least one hour), then remove from loaf pan. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, slice, serve, EAT!
