Cassava Flour-Apple Cake
Description
This is a gluten-free version of the Italian apple cake "torta di mele" made with cassava flour, almond meal, and buckwheat flour instead of regular wheat flour.
Ingredients
•
1/4 cup raisins
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1/4 cup Marsala wine
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1 cup cassava flour
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3/4 cup superfine white sugar
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1 teaspoon baking powder
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1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
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1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
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3/4 cup almond meal
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1/4 cup buckwheat flour
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3 large eggs
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1/2 cup butter, softened
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1/4 cup whole milk
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1/4 cup light vegetable oil
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1 teaspoon vanilla extract
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1/4 cup grated Granny Smith apple
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1 Granny Smith apple - peeled, cored, and sliced
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1/8 cup raw cane sugar
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1/4 cup raw pine nuts
Directions
1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch square, deep baking dish.
2
Combine raisins and Marsala wine in a bowl; set aside to soak.
3
Sift cassava flour twice into a large mixing bowl. Mix in superfine sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add almond meal and buckwheat flour and sift all the dry ingredients together.
4
Combine eggs, butter, milk, oil, and vanilla extract in a bowl. Beat on low for with a hand mixer for 1 minute until well combined. Beat on high until fluffy, for a full 2 minutes. (This is a crucial step to ensure a fluffy cake.) Mix in grated apple. Stir in raisins and wine until combined.
5
Carefully fold egg mixture into flour mixture with a rubber scraper, folding with light, yet deep strokes from the bottom to the top, until batter is just combined and still a bit lumpy, with no visible pockets of flour, being careful not to overmix. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
6
Arrange apple slices to completely cover the batter, making sure they do not overlap too much; you may not need all of the slices. Sprinkle with raw cane sugar and pine nuts.
7
Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Switch to the broiler function and cook until the top is slightly browned, about 2 minutes.
8
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving.