Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! I snatched some rhubarb at my local grocery store this weekend (I know, rhubarb season is almost over, lucky me!) so I made this Rhubarb Almond Cake for dessert today. I love rhubarb, it is so tart and almost sour, yet sweet once it’s cooked. It goes best with vanilla and almond (see these Vanilla Bean Polenta Cakes with Rhubarb) so I combined it with a very old almond cake recipe that I’ve had for decades. It is a super simple cake recipe using very few ingredients, and it happens to be gluten-free! It is actually a kind of chiffon cake, you beat the egg yolks and sugar and then fold in beaten egg whites and almond flour to achieve a super airy, fluffy and moist cake.
This is just a super easy and delicious summer cake – perfect as dessert, for picnics, or a summer garden party. Technically this recipe works with all kinds of fruits. As I mentioned, rhubarb season is basically over (it typically lasts from April to June) but you can substitute with strawberry, apricot, peach, cherries, apples, raspberries, pears… Yum!
- 6 eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ cups corn flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1.5 cups almond flour
- vanilla extract or vanilla bean
- pinch of salt
- 4 stalks of rhubarb
- 1 cup of sliced almonds
- Preheat oven to 325F and grease a 9 inch round cake pan, or a 8x12 rectangle cake pan.
- Wash, peel and cut rhubarb, set aside.
- Beat the egg yolks, vanilla and sugar for about 5 minutes until light and creamy.
- Add corn flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- Beat the egg whites until stiff.
- Carefully fold the almond flour and egg yolk batter into the egg whites, do not stir or beat.
- Pour batter in cake pan and sprinkle the rhubarb pieces on top evenly.
- Bake for 20 mins.
- Sprinkle the almond slices over the cake and bake for another 30 mins.
- Let cool or enjoy warm.
I am gluten intolerant and always love to find new delicious cake recipes, Made this this past weekend and my whole family loved it! They are always skeptical about gluten-free recipes but no one could tell at all 😉 SO yummy!
Such a great recipe! So easy.. Thank you so much. So many ways to vary it too..
I should add – by variation I just mean the fruit! Also it worked really well with when substituting with coconut sugar – looks a little darker 🙂
This looks delicious! Just to clarify, there is no oil or butter at all in the recipe? And what is the quantity of vanilla? About 1 tsp vanilla extract or scrapings from half of a vanilla bean? Thank you for the info; I look forward to trying this soon!
Hi there. I would’ve love to make this cake this weekend, but I’m a little confused by the corn flower… Is this the same as cornstarch? I’m having a hard time getting a definite yes or no. Please advise!
I have soooo much rhubarb right now. I am making this this afternoon
Hi, I really want to make this cake but I’m in the UK and I’m not sure if corn flour means corn starch (super fine powder like icing sugar), polenta (quite chunky gritty bits), or masa harina (flour-like powder for tortillas)? The internet is not answering this for me! I have all three, can anyone let me know which I should use? Thank you 🙂