Flourless Almond Coconut Cake Recipe, Gluten-free, Step by Step

Flourless almond cake with coconut, butter, eggs, and sugar. This is probably the most simple cake recipe you can make that's flourless and completely gluten-free. A few of you have emailed me asking about gluten free cake recipes, especially for kids so I decided to try a flourless cake at home. This recipe is a spin off of the frangipane cake recipe I shared a few weeks back except that I made it without any fruit and also replaced the plain flour with desiccated coconut. Total win!

TH and I both like almond-y things like marzipan, almond fudge (the almond version of the popular kaju katli) and frangipane cakes and tarts. So this flourless almond cake was devoured guilt-free over just a couple days. I also shared a few slices with friends and got a ton of requests for the recipe. Sorry guys, it's been over 5 months now. My bad!

The slices in the picture are a bit uneven and crumbly but that's because I cut the cake right out of the oven. It's the classic food blogger story. This cake was made in the evening, natural light was fast disappearing and pictures had to be taken before it became too dark. So some compromise was made. Don't be like me. Cool the cake completely to get nice and even pieces.

Now, one thing about this cake. Actually, two things. The desiccated coconut gives some additional texture and flavour to the cake. Using freshly scraped coconut in its place will increase moisture and decrease shelf life so use your own discretion if that's the route you want to take. If you are not fan of coconut (and if that's the case, we need to talk), then you can omit that and substitute with more almond meal. The second thing is about the eggs in this recipe. Since we are working with a batter which has no flour, the eggs provide pretty much all the binding that's required. I haven't tried an eggless almond cake recipe yet and I am not sure if traditional egg substitutes will work in this recipe. So if you can't take eggs as part of your diet, maybe you can look at my large list of eggless cake recipes to find one that suits. Ok? Great! Let's go make some almond cake.

Oh, I need to leave you a good list of cakes that I have baked and loved. This banana cake recipe remains an all-time favourite and so does this sticky date cake. Another cake recipe that I almost always default to is this moist eggless sponge cake.

FLOURLESS ALMOND COCONUT CAKE RECIPE

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 35 minutes
Makes one small 8" cake

INGREDIENTS:
100 gm of unsalted butter, softened
1.5 cups of almond meal (almond flour)
3 tbsp of desiccated coconut
1/2 cup of sugar (or a bit less)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 tsp of baking powder
2 eggs
One pinch of salt
1/2 cup of raw almonds, chopped

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Pre-heat oven to 160C / 320F. Grease one 8" cake tray with non-stick spray or butter.
2. Cream the butter and sugar with a spatula.
3. Then add the eggs and vanilla. Mix again until everything is fully combined.
4. Finally, add the almond flour, coconut, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. The batter will be quite thick.
5. Transfer to the greased cake tray and use the top of the spatula to smoothen the top. Add the chopped almonds on top press into the cake gently.
6. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes. The cake won't rise much but the top will turn a golden brown. A skewer inserted into the centre of the cake should come out with moist crumbs or clean.
7. Cool for 15 minutes in the cake pan and then invert onto a plate. Cool completely before cutting and storing in an airtight container.

Step by step pictures to prepare flourless almond coconut cake:

Pre-heat oven to 160C / 320F. Grease one 8" cake tray with non-stick spray or butter.

Mix the butter and sugar until fully mixed. You can do this with a spatula, there's no need to use an electric beater.

Now add the eggs and vanilla. Mix again until everything is fully combined.

Finally, add the almond flour, coconut, baking powder, and salt. Mix well until no streaks of flour is left.

The batter will be fairly thick, that's perfect.

Transfer to the greased cake tray and press gently to get uniform thickness. Add the chopped almonds on top and press into the batter.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for about 30-40 minutes.

The cake won't rise much but the top will turn a golden brown. The almonds on top will get nicely toasted too.

That's it! Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then gently turn onto a plate to cool completely. Cut and store in an airtight container. Best served within 2 days. Refrigerate if you want to keep for longer.

Frangipane cake recipe - How to make frangipane cake, step by step

Learn how to make frangipane cake, the cake version of the popular frangipane tart, which is made with almond flour, eggs, butter, sugar, and pretty much any other ingredients you want to add on to customise it. I used fresh strawberries to make this strawberry frangipane cake adaptation.

On my last day in Google, a good friend at work, Kate, made this delicious almond cake with fresh raspberries as a good-bye gift (Incidentally, this same friend baked the best banana cake recipe for me a couple years ago too, one of my favourites!). I loved it so much that I got the recipe from her immediately and made it the next day. Ah, the joys of a jobless Thursday. I was literally jobless and while there were the nagging chores of relocating back to Singapore to get done, I still managed to watch a lot of mindless TV, bake, nap, and read. A 'holiday' with no agenda, that's what it felt like.

I generally like sweets and desserts with almonds - like badam milk, badam halwa, and pretty much anything with marzipan in it - so it was no surprise that this frangipane cake grabbed my fancy. I baked a few different variations, with and without adding flour, with and without fruits, adding yogurt in one variation, etc. A few of my friends in Sydney got a lot of cake my last week there :)

I'd say this is a relatively fail-proof cake recipe since there's isn't much you can do wrong. Customise as you wish and you have a fabulous snack or coffee cake in under an hour.

For more easy cake recipes, check out my steamed chocolate cake recipe, this orange cake with toffee sauce, sticky date cake which has been a hit at many tea parties, and this tiramisu cake from Dorie Greenspan.

FRANGIPANE CAKE WITH STRAWBERRIES

Preparation time: 20 mins
Baking time: 40 mins
Makes 2 small loaves or one 6" cake
Adapted from Lemony Loves Baking

INGREDIENTS:
100 gm of butter
100 gm of sugar
110 gm of almond flour (almond meal)
1/4 cup of plain flour
1 tsp of baking powder
2 eggs
1 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of lemon zest (optional)
1/4 tsp of salt
1/2 cup of sliced strawberries

INSTRUCTIONS:

Pre-heat oven to 160C / 320F. Grease one 6" cake tray or 2 small loaf trays with non-stick spray or butter.

Beat the butter and sugar together until creamy.

Add the eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest (if using). Beat again until smooth. Add the almond flour and mix again.

Now add the flour, salt, and baking powder and gently fold to combine well. Make sure no streaks of flour remain in the batter.

You will have a fairly thick batter, this is perfect.

Transfer to the greased pans and press down gently. Arrange the sliced strawberries on top.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 mins. I only needed about 40 mins. The edges will start to brown and the strawberries will shrivel quite a bit. If a skewer inserted in the centre comes out moist but without any batter sticking to it, you are done. The cake will rise very slightly so that's a good sign to look out for as well.

Let the frangipane cake cool in the pan for about 20 minutes and then gently invert onto a cooling rack. Cool completely before slicing. Best served within two days of baking.

NOTES:
- you can add either vanilla or lemon zest. I just tried combining the two flavours
- try the same recipe with raspberries or blueberries
- you can add 2 tbsp desiccated coconut to the batter for some texture
- you can sprinkle the top of the cake with some sliced almonds
- try adding chocolate chips, they usually make everything better
- I haven't tried to make this cake eggless so if you'd like to try, just searching for egg substitutes in almond cake or eggless almond cakes

Microwave Chocolate Cake Recipe in 7 Minutes (Eggless Options Included)

Learn how to make a chocolate cake in 7 minutes or less in your microwave. This cake is self-saucing so once you are done, there's a layer of gooey chocolate sauce on top to keep it moist and it needs no oven, no beating the batter until your elbows ache, and no fancy ingredients. Dangerous, I know!

When I made the 5-min Chocolate Mug Cake for the first time, my life changed a little. Before I knew it, I was whipping up 'cake' in a mug in less than 5 minutes whenever my tastebuds demanded, which was very often. After 2 weeks of too much mug cakes, I told myself to stop it already. While the microwave is not really meant for baking, these quick cakes are definitely an exception.

I had bookmarked this self-saucing microwave chocolate cake ages ago and finally got to making it a couple weekends ago. The thing with the mug cake is that if you let it sit for a while after it's cool, it turns rubbery and possibly inedible. This cake, however, has a lovely gooey chocolate sauce on top that keeps it moist and nice for up to a day. Fresh out of the microwave, you can't even tell it was whipped up in the microwave in a few minutes and not really baked.

I made a couple of minor errors when making this cake in the microwave which I don't want you guys to repeat. Learn from my mistakes, you know?

- I overcooked the cake a tad. I halved the recipe but didn't reduce the cooking time. I know this seems obvious but, ah well, I'm not perfect you guys. I have adjusted this in the recipe instructions below
- I halved the sugar in the sauce and this was a big mistake. The cake wasn't very sweet at all and no one likes a not-sweet cake, definitely not me, so we rectified it by eating the cake with vanilla ice-cream
- I scooped the cake out with a spoon and didn't cut it with a knife like a civilised person would do, which explains the wonky pieces in the pictures. This is not really a 'mistake' but hot cake and vanilla ice cream is a killer combo and I admittedly got a bit impatient.

Ok that's it, on to making cake in the microwave. Let's go!

MICROWAVE CHOCOLATE CAKE IN 7 MINS

Preparation time: 4 minutes
Cooking time: 3 minutes
Makes One small 5" Cake
Serves 4
Adapted from: allrecipes

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/4 tsp of salt
2 tbsp of cocoa powder
2 tbsp of melted butter
1 of egg
2 tbsp of milk
1 tsp of vanilla extract
For the sauce:
1/2 cup of brown sugar (or just use white sugar)
2 tbsp of cocoa powder
75 ml of warm water

INSTRUCTIONS:

0. Mix the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl with a whisk.

1. Add the egg, melted butter (I didn't melt it though), milk, and vanilla to this.

2.  Whisk again gently until well combined.

3. Grease a microwave-safe glass or ceramic bowl with some butter and pour the batter in. If the batter is too thick, add a couple of teaspoons of milk. It should be thick, yet pourable. Use a spatula to flatten the top of the batter as much as possible so it cooks up evenly. Also, use a bowl that is large enough for the sauce to bubble up in the microwave.

4. In a small bowl, whisk the brown sugar and cocoa for the sauce.

5. Lay this mixture evenly on the cake batter.

6. Pour the warm water gently over this so as not to disturb the batter too much.

7. Use a fork to prick the batter below so that the sauce seeps through the batter.

8. Microwave on high for about 3 mins. The total time required will depend a lot on the size of your bowl, power of your microwave (mine is 1100 W), etc. So start with 3 mins and if the cake still looks too watery, give it another 30 seconds. Remember that the cake will get really hot in the MW and will continue to cook a bit further after done so it's better to stop when you feel l like it needs one more 30-second round. The sauce will also bubble up quite a bit as it cooks.

9. Done! A bit overdone in this picture, actually. Stop when there's still some sauce swimming around the cake. I know this is not the prettiest looking cake but it tastes pretty great for a chocolate cake that gets done in the microwave in 7 minutes!

Let it cool down a bit before you cut. I tried to unmould it but the shape was all wonky. Doesn't matter if it's odd shaped, place a piece on a plate, pour some sauce from the bowl on top, and enjoy with some vanilla ice-cream.

Notes:

1. If you want to make an eggless chocolate cake in the microwave, try the usual egg replacements like flax seed powder or yogurt. You will have to experiment a bit with the quantities. I haven't tried this myself
2. You can try replacing the butter for vegetable oil, worth experimenting if you so feel inclined
3. The cake keeps well for a day or two in the refrigerator but it's best eaten warm as it does tend to dry out a bit when left for long. Re-heat for 20 seconds in the MW if you are serving later
4. Obviously, you can customize this the way you want by adding chocolate chips, dried fruits, nuts, etc
5. Disclaimer: a cake made in the microwave is never going to taste the same as a baked one so set expectations accordingly. The total time taken to prepare/cook will depend on your speed of cooking, your microwave and power, etc and may go over 7 mins

For microwave chocolate cake recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Urdu, etc, please use the translate button in the sidebar.

Tutti Frutti Buttermilk Cake - One-Bowl Buttermilk Christmas Cake Recipe

Learn how to make this easy one-bowl buttermilk cake with dry fruits or tutti frutti for Christmas. The cake is easy to customize and you can add your own additions like fruits, nuts, etc to make it your own this holiday season.

Tutti Frutti is one of those things that's so very Indian and I relate a lot to Christmas. My mom would make ice cream sundaes with lots of fresh fruits and tutti frutti sprinkled on top which was such a delicious treat. This tutti frutti cake is a total winner too for many reasons.

- You only need one bowl to whip it up
- You can make this cake easily with ingredients that are most likely lurking in your pantry
- You can customize it in many different ways
- It is not an eggless buttermilk cake, however, you can adapt it to make it eggless
- From start to finish, it takes about 40 mins so it's perfect to bake when you are expecting guests

In fact, I baked this tutti frutti cake with ingredients in my pantry during the last few days in Singapore. We were trying to meet all our friends to say good bye and I was mostly hosting people for tea since an entire meal was hard to cook up while you are decluttering and packing up 5 years worth of your stuff. I was slightly apprehensive to try a new recipe because if the cake went bust, I didn't have any back up. But it baked up beautifully with a lovely crumb and a soft and spongy interior. The book I adapted this from, Camilla Saulsbury's Piece of Cake, is a definite winner and highly recommended for easy, one-bowl cake recipes (thanks SJ!).

If you want to bake an eggless tutti frutti cake, use this eggless sponge cake as a base and throw in some tutti frutti. Or, you may want to try this chocolate truffle cake that's one-bowl too. Of course, you may be looking for a Christmas fruit cake or maybe an eggless fruit cake?

TUTTI FRUTTI BUTTERMILK CAKE RECIPE

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves 8-10

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of plain flour (maida)
2/3 cup of sugar
1/2 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup of buttermilk (see notes)
1/4 cup of butter, softened
1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
1/3 cup of tutti frutti
A pinch of salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

0. Set oven to 400F/200C for pre-heating. Grease an 8" pan with butter. I used a loaf pan and got thin long slices.

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.

2. To this, add the egg, vanilla, buttermilk, and butter.

3. Using an electric beater, beat this mixture on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and beat again on medium speed for 1 more minute.

If your mixer only has one speed, that's ok. Just use that. Using an electric mixer will give you best results in this recipe than using a whisk and doing it by hand. The mixture needs good aeration so getting some machine into the process helps.

4. Pour batter into your prepared pan.

5. Sprinkle the tutti frutti or whatever fruits/nuts you are using, on top evenly.

6. Bake for 25-30 mins until the top turns golden brown and a skewer inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs.

Let the cake cool completely before slicing and serving. This tutti frutti came keeps in the refrigerator for 4 days, wrapped tightly in foil or cling wrap.

NOTES:
1. If you don't have buttermilk in hand, just use 1/4 cup thick curd mixed with 1/4 cup water. I have tried this and not seen significant difference in the texture of the cake
2. As mentioned, play around with the add-ons to this cake. I'd try chocolate chips, mixed fruit peels, frozen blueberries (as in the original recipe) etc
3. Use a electric beater to mix the batter for best results

For Tutti Frutti Christmas Cake recipe in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Marathi, etc, please use the Google Translate button in the sidebar. 

Apple Streusel Cake Recipe - Apple Cake Recipe with Streusel Topping

This Apple Streusel Cake is a popular recipe from the Hummingbird baking book that my friend Darsh baked a few times for us. I love the streusel topping and had really enjoyed the blueberry streusel muffin the first time I baked it. Through the time we had to pack up our place in Singapore and move to Australia, I was barely cooking and not baking at all and one day, I was bit so bad my the baking bug that I went to the nearest supermarket, bought the ingredients, and baked this cake. It was so soft and delicious that I had to share the recipe here, even though the pictures are what you can describe, as best, as homely.

The sponge cake that forms the base of this Apple Cake is delicious, although it dried out a bit on cooling. While microwaving it for 10 seconds before serving can solve this issue temporarily, I think adding a bit more liquid to the batter should help. I have adjusted the ingredients accordingly so hope this cake turns out perfect for you, if you decide to bake it one fine day as a result of a baking bug like mine. 

This quantity of streusel topping was also too much so I've adjusted that as well. However, having too much streusel topping on hand is not necessarily a bad thing. You can refrigerate it for up to 2 weeks and use it for another batch of cake or muffins. Check out more cake recipes here including one of my favourites - sticky date cake with caramel sauce. 

APPLE STREUSEL CAKE RECIPE


The popular apple streusel cake recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 40 mins
Yield: 1 8" Cake

Ingredients:
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, soft and at room temperature
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 cup minus 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp baking powder
- A pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup of full fat milk
- 2-3 Granny smith apples, peeled and sliced thin
For the Streusel Topping
- 1/4 cup of flour
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp cold unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup brown sugar

Instructions:

0. Pre-heat oven to 170C / 340F. Grease a cake pan with butter and set aside. I used a deep Pyrex glass dish since that's all I had in hand. Worked perfect.

1. To make the streusel topping - sift the flour and cinnamon together. I just whisked them together well since I didn't have a sieve.

2. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and rub into the flour+cinnamon mixture with fingertips until the streusel comes together like bread crumbs.

3. Add the brown sugar to this.

4. Mix well and set aside until needed.

5. For the cake sponge - take the softened butter in a large enough bowl. My butter was still cold so I cut it into small pieces to speed up the softening process.

6. Add the sugar to this and cream together until well combined and soft.

7. Add the egg and vanilla.

8. Beat well with a whisk until combined. You can also use an electric beater or stand mixer but it's not really needed.

9. In a bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Add this to the egg mixture in 3 additions and whisk the batter gently. Pour into the greased pan.

10. Layer the sliced apples on top. You can make this layer as thick or thin as you like.

11. Sprinkle the streusel on top.

12. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 35-40 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out with moist crumbs. Cool and cut into slices.

This cake tastes great with a dollop of vanilla ice cream or vanilla flavoured sweetened yogurt.

Ricotta Pancakes Recipe - Nigella Lawson Ricotta Hotcakes

Pancakes or hotcakes, whatever you call them, are one of my favourite breakfast dishes. They are quick to put together, and you can go sweet or savory with minimum effort. These ricotta pancakes was our breakfast the first day we landed in Melbourne in April for a vacation. We were staying with a good friend, Lavanya and her family, and she whipped up these pancakes for us a couple of hours after we landed from an overnight flight. They were so so good! Paired with a homemade strawberry sauce, it was the perfect start to a perfect day in Melbourne.

I love NIgella Lawson's recipes and since I had had these ricotta hotcakes before, I knew they were delicious and worth repeating as soon as I got back to Singapore. The ricotta cheese makes the pancakes super light and there's less amount of flour in these compared to regular pancakes.

{Also check out my no-fail basic pancakes recipe}

Before I got into how to make Nigella Lawson's awesome ricotta hotcakes, a word about ricotta cheese. A few words, actually. Ricotta cheese is soft and crumbly, a cheese made with fresh whole milk and whey leftover from making cheese. A good substitute would be fresh paneer that hasn't been pressed into a block. You can make paneer, hang the cheese in a cheesecloth for a while and then use the resulting fresh, crumbly paneer the same way I have used ricotta in this recipe.

While maple syrup is the most common (and my favourite) pairing for pancakes, you can serve these with a pat of melted butter, jam, or any fruit coulis like this blueberry coulis. Honey works really great too.

The striking thing about these ricotta hotcakes is how incredibly light they are. You do add flour and cheese and what not, but the texture is amazing and all it takes is about 10 minutes to put the batter together. I urge you to try this delicious and easy weekend breakfast recipe as soon as you can get your hands on some ricotta cheese (or a good substitute as mentioned above)

RICOTTA HOTCAKES OR RICOTTA PANCAKES

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Makes ~ 6 pancakes
Serves 2
Recipe source: Nigella Lawson's Ricotta Hotcakes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese (full fat works better)
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 egg, separated
• 1/3 cup of plain flour or maida
• 1/2 tsp of baking powder
• A pinch of salt
• 1 tsp of melted butter (or any neutral-flavoured oil)
• Maple syrup / honey / berries / butter, to serve

How to Make Ricotta Hotcakes:

1. Put the ricotta, milk, and egg yolk in a bowl and whisk until smooth.

2. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to this and whisk until no traces of flour is left.

3. In another bowl, whisk the egg white until frothy. You don't need to break your arm doing this, just lightly whisk until bubbly and we are good. Add to the above mixture.

4. Whisk again lightly to combine and we have our pancake batter. Heat a non-stick or cast iron griddle and add some melted butter to grease it. i actually avoided this since I was using a non-stick pan. Add 1-2 tbsp of batter and let it spread naturally.

5. Flip when first side is golden brown and cook the other side until done.

Stack 'em up and dig in! Since we don't add any sugar to the pancakes, you can serve them with savory accompaniments too, like grilled mushrooms, scrambled eggs, etc.

Note - Generally, hotcakes are slightly smaller than pancakes and bite-sized. I made these in mini-pancake sizes though. It's entirely up to you, it's the batter and the ricotta deliciousness that matters anyway.