Gluten-Free Almond Cake

This easy gluten-free almond cake is fluffy, tender, and buttery. Optionally topped with strawberries and toasty sliced almonds, this almond oat cake makes the perfect snack, breakfast, or special occasion cake!

This post is sponsored by Andronico's Community Markets, a year-long partner of Snixy Kitchen, but the opinions are all my own.

When a cake is really really good, it doesn't need frosting. That's exactly what's going on with this gluten-free almond cake. While my favorite way to make this cake is with sweet strawberries and sliced almonds baked on top and a light dusting of powdered sugar (strictly for appearances), this cake is endlessly versatile.

Without that pile of sugary frosting, the cake easily enters snack territory, which means, you can eat it any time of day without a second thought. This cake transcends all bounds. Slice it up with morning tea, bring a pan to school for Teacher Appreciation Week, whip it up for Mother's Day Brunch, present it to a friend for their birthday, or celebrate with a glass of wine and a slice at the end of the night.

The Best Gluten-Free Almond Cake with Strawberries

Made with almond and oat flours, this gluten-free almond cake is both light and airy while also incredibly moist. The tender crumb is subtly sweet with almond flour's toasty nuttiness and a hint of lemon zest.

This gluten-free almond cake has a characteristically crispy golden brown exterior that cracks when sliced, giving way to a super moist and tender buttery almond cake.

When dotted with strawberries and sliced almonds, the buttery soft crumb pairs beautifully with the sweet roasted berries and crunchy toasted almonds.

Bay Area Andronico's

I developed this gluten-free almond cake as my first recipe in a year-long partnership with Andronico's Community Market. Once a month over the next year, I'll be creating recipes that feature some of the unique and specialty ingredients found at Andronico's.

With stores located in Monterey, Los Altos, San Francisco, San Anselmo, and Berkeley, Andronico's is a Bay Area neighborhood market that, in addition to everyday grocery staples, carries a range of eclectic specialty ingredients. All in one stop, you can find everything from exclusive brand staples to gluten-free flours to fresh local produce.

They've got some exciting changes coming soon, so follow along on their social channels to keep up to date!

While I typically shop at the Berkeley Andronico's closest to my house, for this first recipe, I popped into the SF 32nd St store that celebrated its 1 year anniversary last month. My local Solano Ave Andronico's first became one of my go-to stores for sourcing gluten-free flours many years ago, so it seemed fitting that my first recipe of the partnership featured these products.

Ingredients for Gluten-Free Almond Cake

All the ingredients for this gluten-free almond cake are available at Andronico's. Here's what you need:

• Superfine blanched almond flour: Almond flour adds a subtle sweet nuttiness and lots of moisture.
• Gluten-free oat flour: Oat flour adds the softness and structure to create a fluffy crumb that is super moist, but not dense. The flavor complements almond flour, adding warm, slightly nutty, wholesome notes.
• Baking staples: Baking powder, baking soda, salt, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, vanilla and almond extract, and whole milk
• Lemon zest: For a subtle bright lemon note
• Fresh strawberries: Optional, but this strawberry twist is my favorite!
• Sliced almonds: Optional, but gives each bite a crunch to contrast the fluffy crumb.

How to make Gluten-Free Almond Cake

To get the ultimate airy fluffy lift this cake uses a combination of leaveners and whipped egg whites. Even still, this cake comes together very quickly.

1. Sift together the dry ingredients. Set aside.
2. Whip egg whites to soft peaks. Set aside.
3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in egg yolks, lemon zest, vanilla extract, and almond extracts.
4. Add dry ingredients in two parts, alternating with milk.
5. Mix in ⅓ of the whipped egg whites to loosen the batter then fold in the remaining egg whites until just combined.
6. Scoop batter into prepared pan and top with strawberries and sliced almonds, if desired.
7. Bake, cool, dust with powdered sugar, and serve.

What type of pan for Almond Cake

This gluten-free almond cake works best when baked in a springform pan. With strawberries and sliced almonds on top, the cake cannot be turned out onto a wire rack as easily.  If you don't have a springform pan, don't let that stop you! You've still got options.

9-inch round cake pan

You can bake this cake in a 9-inch round cake pan lined with a round of parchment paper. Let the cake cool completely in the pan before slicing and serving it right out of the pan. Alternatively, run a knife around the edge of the cooled cake, place a wire rack over the top of the cake, and carefully and slowly turn the cake out of the pan, then place a serving plate over the top and turn the cake right side up. You might lose a few almonds in the process, but nothing a dusting of powdered sugar can't fix!

8-inch square baking pan

You can bake it in an 8-inch square baking pan lined with a sling of parchment paper. Once cool, use the parchment paper to help lift the cake out of the pan.

No toppings? No Problem

If you choose not to add the strawberries and sliced almonds, you can bake the cake in a 9-inch round cake pan or 8-inch square baking pan and turn the cake out onto a wire rack to cool and serve.

Gluten-Free Almond Cake Variations

This gluten-free almond cake is easily adaptable depending on the season or your personal taste. Here are a few of my favorite ways to bake it:

Strawberries and Almonds

That's what you see here!

Plain and Classic

Skip the strawberries and even the sliced almonds for a classic almond cake. This cake bakes up beautifully without any toppings or with just sliced almonds. Serve with fresh berries and whipped cream on the side.

Substitute with Seasonal Fruit

With a sturdy buttery cake batter, you can swap out the strawberries for other berries (raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries), or peeled and sliced stone fruit, apples, or pears.

Orange or Lemon Almond Cake

There's just enough lemon zest in this cake to give it a subtle bright pop of lemon. If you want a more pronounced lemon cake flavor, increase the lemon zest to 1 tablespoon. Or use orange zest for an orange almond cake!

Dairy-Free Gluten-Free Almond Cake

This cake can easily be made dairy-free! The base for this cake is generously adapted from my gluten-free olive oil cake. To make the cake dairy-free, sub the butter for olive oil and milk for non-dairy milk of your choice (I like oat milk!). Skip the creaming the butter step and just whisk the sugar with olive oil, lemon zest, egg yolks, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Continue from there as written.

More Almond Flour Recipes to Make for Mother's Day

• Gluten-Free Olive Oil Matcha Cake
• Gluten-Free Banana Bread
• Gluten-Free Lemon Drizzle Cake
• Gluten-Free Coffee Cake
• Gluten-Free Pistachio Rosewater Cake
• Gluten-Free Blueberry Muffins
• Gluten-Free Matcha Crepe Cake

Recipe

Gluten-Free Almond Cake

yields: 10 slices, one 9-inch cake

prep time: 20 minutes mins

cook time: 50 minutes mins

total time: 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

This easy gluten-free almond cake is fluffy, tender, and buttery. Optionally topped with strawberries and toasty sliced almonds, this almond oat cake makes the perfect snack, breakfast, or special occasion cake!

5 from 5 reviews

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Ingredients

• ▢ 2 cups (224 g) Bob's Red Mill super-fine blanched almond flour
• ▢ 1 cup (108 g) Bob's Red Mill gluten-free oat flour
• ▢ 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ▢ ¼ teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ½ cup unsalted butter
• ▢ 1 cup (206 g) granulated sugar
• ▢ 3 large eggs, room temperature, whites and yolks divided
• ▢ 1 large egg white, room temperature
• ▢ 1½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• ▢ ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ▢ Zest of ½ lemon
• ▢ ¼ cup whole milk
• ▢ 1 cup (5 ounces) fresh strawberries, quartered
• ▢ ⅓ cup sliced almonds
• ▢ Powdered sugar, for serving

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INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Brush the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with softened butter. If you don't have a springform pan, you can brush the bottom of a 9-inch round pan with butter and line it with a round of parchment paper. Without a springform pan, if you opt for the nuts and strawberries on top, you'll need to serve the cake out of the pan.
• In a medium bowl, sift together almond flour, oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• Using a hand mixer, whisk the egg whites in a medium bowl, starting on low speed and increasing to high speed until soft peak form. When the beater is pulled out a peak should rise and the very tip should fall. Set aside. Alternatively, use a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Once whipped, transfer the egg whites to a clean bowl while you prepare the rest of the cake. Wipe the bowl out quickly with a paper towel.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a large mixing bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.
• Add the lemon zest and beat until evenly distributed.
• Add the eggs yolks mixing until combined and scraping down the sides after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and almond extracts until just combined.
• With the mixer on low, add the dry ingredients in two additions, alternating with the milk, scraping down the sides after each addition and mixing until just combined.
• Mix in ⅓ of the whipped egg whites to loosen the batter. Using a silicone spatula, fold in the remaining egg whites until just combined.
• Scoop the batter into the prepared baking pan and smooth out the top with an offset spatula or spoon.
• Top with strawberries, if using, and sliced almonds.
• Bake on the middle rack for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few crumbs.
• Let cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes before releasing it from the springform. Let cool completely. Once cool, dust lightly with powdered sugar, slice, and serve.
• Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 382kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 4g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 74mg | Sodium: 227mg | Potassium: 126mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 22g | Vitamin A: 367IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 112mg | Iron: 2mg

This nutritional information has been automatically calculated, and as such, may be incomplete or inaccurate. Please reference the specific ingredients you use for the most accurate nutritional information.