Cassava Flour-Apple Cake

This is my personal version the Italian "torta di mele" or simply, apple cake. It uses cassava flour, almond meal, and buckwheat flour instead of wheat flour for a rustic, wholesome cake that just happens to be gluten free. The result is a fluffy cake with apples, cinnamon, raisins, and toasted pine nuts.

• Preparation Time: 30 mins
• Cooking Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 60 mins
• Calories: 433 Calories

Ingredients

• ½ cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup raisins
• 3 large eggs
• ¼ cup Marsala wine
• ¼ cup whole milk
• ¾ cup almond meal
• ¼ cup buckwheat flour
• 1 cup cassava flour
• ¼ cup light vegetable oil
• ¾ cup superfine white sugar
• ¼ cup grated Granny Smith apple
• 1 Granny Smith apple - peeled, cored, and sliced
• ⅛ cup raw cane sugar
• ¼ cup raw pine nuts

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch square, deep baking dish.

Step 2

Combine raisins and Marsala wine in a bowl; set aside to soak.

Step 3

Sift cassava flour twice into a large mixing bowl. Mix in superfine sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add almond meal and buckwheat flour and sift all the dry ingredients together.

Step 4

Combine eggs, butter, milk, oil, and vanilla extract in a bowl. Beat on low for with a hand mixer for 1 minute until well combined. Beat on high until fluffy, for a full 2 minutes. (This is a crucial step to ensure a fluffy cake.) Mix in grated apple. Stir in raisins and wine until combined.

Step 5

Carefully fold egg mixture into flour mixture with a rubber scraper, folding with light, yet deep strokes from the bottom to the top, until batter is just combined and still a bit lumpy, with no visible pockets of flour, being careful not to overmix. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.

Step 6

Arrange apple slices to completely cover the batter, making sure they do not overlap too much; you may not need all of the slices. Sprinkle with raw cane sugar and pine nuts.

Step 7

Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Switch to the broiler function and cook until the top is slightly browned, about 2 minutes.

Step 8

Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving.