Gluten-Free Almond Layer Cake made with egg whites and almond flour, filled with creamy, luscious layers of Whipped Vanilla and Chocolate Frosting.
Long titles scare me. I hope I didn’t lose your attention. Then again, we’re talking about cake and chocolate frosting. Pretty sure you’re still here.
You know how you have those nightmares about your computer crashing? Always, right?! Me, too!
Damn nightmare just HAD to happen in real life. I sat down at my laptop, gearing up for the day, when boom! It just decided to die. I blurted out some seriously offensive words at the moment – I could not contain myself. Then I realized that, oh! this means I can go and buy a new latop! OK! All is well!!
So now I’ve been working on this new laptop for about 2 weeks and I really miss my old laptop! I want to cry!! I knew that girl like the back of my hand. This new one is so diva-ish. And it’s Windows 8 – ew!
Ok. I’m sure that’s enough computer talk for a year. Now we can talk about a layer cake!!
Sometimes, when I’m totally out of ideas, I go to my mom’s recipes for inspiration. Except… mom’s recipes are in grams and milliliters. Ugh! It takes me like 11.45 days to figure out the correct US measurements. What’s worse is that every measurement comes out to, say, 1-8/15 of a cup. Or 3.22 tablespoons. So weird. And hard. I’m no math whiz, m’kay?
Most of my mom’s cakes are made with nut flours. She has had these recipes for years, and every cake has a name; Katerina Cake, Jovana Cake, Melania Cake…
I chose a nameless one. It felt lonely so I wanted to befriend it. I also changed it up a bit. The original recipe called for walnut flour, or finely ground walnuts, but because I have a huge bag of Almond Flour just sitting around here, I used that instead.
Also? Mom’s frosting-recipes are amazing, but they require like from-scratch chocolate making. Umm… maybe next time. Don’t be alarmed – we are going to fill this beauty with not one, but TWO types of frosting! Vanilla AND Chocolate. WIN!
But, the cake is SO easy to make. However, because of the thin layers, it takes a bit of patience to work with while stacking up the layers. And removing them from the jelly roll pan. The cake is really, really thin, thus making it very easy to break. BUT, with a bit of patience and a good knife, you can make it happen! I believe in you!!
ENJOY!
Almond Layer Cake with Whipped Vanilla and Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
- 6 egg whites , room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- 1-1/2 cups almond flour
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Mini Chocolate Chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Grease a 10 1/2 x 15 1/2 x 1 jelly roll pan with baking spray and dust with almond flour; set aside.
- Place egg whites in your mixer's bowl and beat on medium-high speed until they just hold stiff.
- Add sugar and continue to beat to combine.
- Gradually whisk in the almond flour; whisk until thoroughly incorporated.
- Spread out the almond flour mixture in the previously prepared pan.
- Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
- Remove from oven and cool completely.
- In the meantime, prepare your frosting.
- In a large bowl, combine heavy whipping cream, vanilla, and sugar.
- Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
- Remove from fridge and beat the mixture on medium-high until soft peaks form.
- Pour the whipping cream in a saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until it simmers.
- Place the chocolate chips in a bowl.
- Pour the hot whipping cream over the chocolate chips and set aside for 5 minutes.
- Whisk until thoroughly combined and smooth.
- Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge for 3 hours, or until cold.
- Using your electric mixer, whip the chocolate mixture until soft peaks form.
- Cut the cake into 4 to 6 layers.
- Carefully remove one layer and place on a cake stand or plate.
- Spread vanilla frosting then top with chocolate frosting.
- Add another cake layer and again, cover with vanilla frosting and chocolate frosting.
- Continue to make alternating layers of cake and frosting until all is used up, ending with a layer of chocolate to cover the entire cake.
- Cover the sides and top of the cake with mini chocolate chips.
- Chill cake for several hours, or overnight, before serving.
- The longer it stands, the better it tastes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
Categories:
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Looks yummy. How can you cut a 1 inch cake into 4 – 6 layers? Do you mean cut the cake into 4 – 6 pieces and layer theses? Thanks.
Yep! That’s exactly what that means.. maybe I should reword my directions? 🤷♀️ 😁 Thank you!
Hi, can you make these as cupcakes???
Hi, I’m italian so I just do the inverse job: try to convert cup to grams and it’s a hard work 🙂
This cake is perfect for my mom that’s celiac and I don’t need to convert the recipe in a gluten free version.
I have a question, the amount of whipping cream is liquid or already whipped?
If I don’t make a huge mess baking this cake I will share the recipe in my blog (with citation obviously)
Hi Chiara!!
I hope you have a chance to give this cake a try. Just have patience with it. 😀
The amount of whipping cream is in liquid. Hope your Mom loves it!! Let me know how it goes!
thanks for the reply!
Before make a huge mess, the measuring of the baking pan is in inch right?
saturday I try to bake the cake for the sunday lunch 🙂
Hi! 🙂 Yes, it’s in inches. Have fun with it. 😉
The cake was amazing! Few weeks ago I published the recipe on my food blog. I change a little bit the frosting for convenience.
I’d like if you come on my blog and see the recipe. It’s only in italian but there is a photo of the cake on the main page, you can’t go wrong.
This looks amazing! My mom loves almond and I love chocolate so it is a perfect dessert for both of us! If you dont mind me asking, why did your mom use nut flour so much? I love learning how other cultures cook, thanks!
Hi Allison!
The reason for the nut flours is one, for extra flavor, and two, nut flours produce lighter cakes. In Macedonia a dense cake means that you just can’t bake. 😉 All-purpose flour is mostly used for bread or savory pastries. Also, their cakes are more about the filling, thus the actual cake part is just a vessel for the delicious-insides. 😀
Thank you so much for the reply it was enlightening!
This looks amazing! Pinned! P.S. It’s so great to have you be a part of my board on Pinterest. I was so excited to see that you joined! 🙂
Thank you for the invite!! I want to make your Vatrushki, asap! 😀
Hi. I was wondering if it is possible to use Almond Meal instead of Almond Flour. I seem to live in the middle of no where and cannot find Almond Flour.
Suggestions?
HI! Yes, you can absolutely use almond meal. In fact, it’s the same thing, but some brands call it almond-flour and others call it almond-meal.
Hi Katerina, I’am Chantal from Travelling Papilles, it’s my first time here. I’amm happy to discover your nice blog.
I really like your cake, it is so gorgeous. Amazing because there is no egg yolk.
Chantal
This cake looks dreamy!
Wow, this looks amazing! Pinning, I really want to make this.
I’m going to nerd out and say I like the forks as much as the cake. 😉
hahaha :))) THANK YOU! I got them at TJ Maxx! 🙂
The cake looks stunning loaded with all the chocolate chips!
Yeah, as bloggers was really blow through the laptops! I got sooo sick of replacing them that when the last one died, I decided to go for a MacBook. So far so good and my husband promises me it will last longer than my other ones.
You had me at 2 frostings, love!
This is one sexy cake. For reals! Pinned.
It doesn’t get any better than almonds and chocolate, but then you made it gluten free and I think it is fabulous!
What a lovely cake though I think I’d decorate the top with shaved chocolate curls rather than crunchy chocolate chips.
I’m totally curious about your mom’s from-scratch chocolate methods! This cake is stunning!
O, la la, this cake is a beauty! The name is not too long…some of my post titles could be book chapters. 😉
Wow, no words…seriously…just deep longing for this cake! Gorgeous!
Beautiful! Thanks –
Stunning. Love the cake, the photos, the props. Pinned.
I just bought some almond flour… I am definitely loving this cake. 🙂
Oh yeahhhhh!! Chocolate and frosting. I am still here. Till the end!! This is my kind of cake. As usual, your photos are beautiful 🙂
Now this is my type of layered cake.
This cake is beautiful! Love the simplicity in ingredients and flavor. My laptop is hanging on by a thread. All the letters have even worn off – and it’s only two years old!
Yup, I’m still here too. How could anyone walk away from something so gorgeous! I’m sorry about your laptop though. Mine quit on me not too long ago but we were able to revive it. I knew I’d miss it’s quirks and ins and outs too much if I got a new one.
Oh, I’m definitely still here… and still drooling over this cake.