Gluten-Free Recipes for Paleo

Layered Almond, Custard, Chocolate and Toffee Cake

From Chef Oonagh Williams of Royal Temptations Catering

We took a drive to IKEA to get some more storage containers. Their restaurant and food market have few gluten-free items except for two almond cakes imported from Sweden and made with almond flour. Of course, I bought them as an indulgence and then made my own with whole ingredients.

The base of this cake is my master almond cake recipe, then custard, toffee pieces and a chocolate glaze.

Gluten-Free Almond Cake Base
Naturally gluten-free, easily dairy-free, and paleo. All the buzz words but still delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3/4 stick (3oz) very soft butter (to make dairy-free, substitute coconut oil or Earth Balance butter)
• 3/4 cup ordinary sugar
• 3 large eggs
• Pinch of salt
• 1 and 3/4 cup of almond meal/flour slightly rounded
• 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
• no xantham gum needed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/ 170°C.
2. Place all ingredients in a 4 cup (1 liter) mixing bowl and beat until well blended and fluffy, around 2 minutes. The mix will go lighter in color as you beat it.
3. Grease and flour two round 9 inch cake pans.
4. Spread in cake mix.
5. Bake in the oven for about 15–20 minutes until well-risen, golden-brown, and set but still soft in the middle. The texture should be similar to rolls of almond paste when cut, but cooked throughout.
6. Remove from oven, immediately run a thin spatula around the inside of the pans, wait 5 minutes, and then turn out to cool. If you leave cake longer, then sugar in cake will stick to the sides of the pan.

Custard Filling

• 1 packet of 4 portion Jello instant vanilla pudding
• 1 and 3/4 cup whole milk or your favorite substitute (to make dairy-free, try coconut milk)

Follow instructions on the Jello packet. Let chill for a few hours, or until it is set.

Glaze

• ½ cup cream (or a dairy-free sub)
• ½ cup chocolate

Melt chocolate in cream until totally smooth. Refrigerate for several hours.

Assembly

1. Put one 9 inch cake on a serving plate and spread with half of the chilled custard.
2. Place the second cake on top and spread with remaining half of the custard.
3. If serving soon, sprinkle with toffee. After one day, the toffee starts dissolving. The original recipe had toffee pieces covered in chocolate so they would stay hard. I used Heath bar milk chocolate toffee bits, which are labeled gluten free. Make your own toffee if you need it to be dairy-free.
4. Remove chocolate glaze from fridge, stir and slowly persuade it to cover the top of the custard and toffee and drip down the sides. Don’t dump it in one blob or custard and toffee will heavily roll over sides.
5. Finish by sprinkling with more toffee. I used Trader Joe’s English toffee bits, which are labeled gluten-free. They are little logs of toffee covered in chocolate and nut sprinkles that stay hard.

About Chef Oonagh Williams

I have written a monthly recipe column for Beyond Celiac since January 2011. I have a Culinary Arts degree as well as celiac disease and other food allergies, so I know food and live this way daily. Remember that most real food is naturally gluten-free until manufacturers mess around with it, and only baking really needs changing. Real food is now being called clean eating.

Obviously talks and appearances are currently canceled, but you can connect with me on Facebook at Gluten-Free Cooking with Oonagh or on LinkedIn. I’ve just filmed recipes at home for New Hampshire’s ABC WMUR’s Cooks Corner and they are being aired. I am also being included in the nationwide library database of online presenters.

For new recipes and lots of advice, my e-cookbook Delicious Gluten-Free Cooking is only $20 and available to download at www.glutenfreecookingwithoonagh.com. It has tips, full-color photos, and recipes like grandma’s comfort soup, shrimp and crab bisque, English trifle, buffalo chicken, tiramisu, dinner party fare, and more. Follow the link to see the table of contents and thumbnail photos of the full-size photos in the e-book.

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