I’ve got a ferocious sweet tooth and I don’t really make an effort at managing it. To me, a meal really hasn’t ended until I’ve eaten dessert, even if it’s just a teeny tiny one. Unfortunately I am not the kind of person who can “trick myself” into believing that I am eating dessert when I am, in fact, eating a spoonful of unsweetened peanut butter and a square of bittersweet chocolate. With that said, I am an unlikely candidate to have loved this cake as much as I did.
I did not choose to make this cake because it seemed healthy at first glance. I picked it because the flavors looked like a bunch of my favorites baked all together in one pan. It was only after I had baked the cake and reflected on what I’d done that I realized that it was gluten free and made mostly of nuts and vegetables. I also realized that it was absolutely delicious.
I made this cake a second time a week after the first. It was Super Bowl Sunday and I was asked to bring a dessert to the home of two sophisticated and quite fit friends. While a healthy cake may not be your typical Super Bowl party offering, it just felt right for the occasion, and besides, I wanted another slice. The cake was a big hit and, despite their protests, I left the rest of it at my friends’ house when I left. Several days later I received a text letting me know they had polished off the entire cake in record speed.
If you bake this cake, you’re definitely going to want to make the rosewater whipped cream. It is not optional. It’s not too sweet. It’s not cloying. It adds just the right amount of moisture and lightness to an otherwise quite dense cake. Trust me.
I haven’t quite come to terms with the fact that I now have a “healthy dessert” in my arsenal of sweets. But I think there are times when we are all craving something sweet and can’t quite justify the indulgence. This is no flourless chocolate cake, but it sure is a good Option B, and one I intend to revisit again soon.
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup (7 oz./200g) superfine sugar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 7 oz. (200g) ground almonds or almond flour
- 3 1/2 oz. (100g) unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2 heaped teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 11 tablespoons (150g) unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large carrots, coarsely grated
- 3 1/2 oz. (100g) shelled pistachios, roughly chopped
- Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
- 1 1/4 cups (300ml) heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons rosewater
- 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
- A few chopped pistachios
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 320°F. Line a 9-inch springform pan with enough parchment paper to cover the base and sides. You won't need to grease the pan or the paper, since the oils from the nuts and butter in the batter prevent the cake from sticking to the paper.
- Beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla extract together in a mixing bowl. Add the ground almonds, coconut and cinnamon and stir, then add the melted butter and give the ingredients a thorough mix. Add the grated carrots and pistachios and mix again until the ingredients are evenly blended, then gently pour or spoon the batter into your prepared cake pan and bake for 1 hour, or until it feels firm to the touch and a crust forms on top. Check the cake at 40 minutes to ensure it is cooking evenly. Once cooked, allow to cool in the pan, overnight if you can wait; the cake is much moister once cooled and tastes better as a result.
- To make the rosewater cream, whip the cream along with the rosewater and confectioners' sugar, either by hand or using an electric hand mixer, until the cream is thick and unctuous. Dollop a generous spoonful on the side of a slice of the cake and dust the cake and cream lightly with confectioners' sugar. Top with some chopped pistachios.
Notes
From Persiana
