Sometimes you just need a slice of cake to get yourself through the day. During these groundhog days that we’re all living through, indulging in whatever makes you feel good is more important than ever. Whether you choose to have an extra glass of vino at dinner (we won’t tell!) or you’re sneaking another piece of chocolate, we all need to be gentle with ourselves because these days can be tough. If cake is what you’re craving, then we can’t recommend this recipe for Gluten-Free Tahini Cake with Berries that’s courtesy of Sonia Wong of @saltnpepperhere. If you’re unfamiliar, Sonia is a celebrated recipe developer, food photographer and superstar blogger. Tahini is having a real moment right now and it’s incredibly easy to see why. It’s nutty, creamy, and nutritious. Plus it adds amazing flavour to anything it’s added to from dessert recipes, dips, salad dressings, and so much more.
Here’s how to make Sonia’s Tahini Cake recipe!
Yield: one 8.5” x 4.5” loaf or one 8” round cake.
Ingredients:
- 6 tbsp (86g) unsalted butter, preferably grass-fed, softened at room temperature
- 1/2 cup (115g) raw granulated cane sugar or 1/2 cup (92g) regular granulated sugar or sub 1/2 cup (92g) of packed coconut sugar for refined sugar-free
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 2/3 C (65g) finely ground blanched almond flour
- 1/3 C (45g) gluten-free flour, such as Bob’s Red Mill 1-to-1 Baking Flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 large eggs, separated
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 C fresh blackberries and/or raspberries
Optional to add after baking:
- drizzle of tahini
- dusting of organic powdered sugar
METHOD:
- Preheat oven to 325°F and lightly grease and/or line with parchment paper, an 8.5” x 4.5” loaf pan or 8” round cake pan.
- Whisk the flours, baking powder, cardamom and salt together and set aside.
- Separate the eggs, placing the whites in the bowl of a stand mixer and the yolks in a separate small bowl. Whisk the whites on high (8 on a stand mixer) until soft peaks form, about 3 minutes. Scoop them out and set aside.
- Replace the whisk attachment with the paddle attachment. Place the softened butter, sugar and tahini into the stand mixer bowl and cream them on medium speed (3 or 4) until light and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.
- Add the yolks and beat one minute more. Pour the dry flour mixture into the bowl and beat until just barely combined. Gently fold in the egg whites, stopping just short of a few visible white streaks.
- Next, gently fold in berries (you can leave a small handful to arrange more decoratively on top of the cake just before baking if you want).
- Scoop batter into your greased/lined baking pan. If you reserved some of the berries for decorating, arrange them now on top.
- Bake 50-60 minutes, or until a skewer pierced into the middle emerges with just a few crumbs. Cool and serve with a drizzle of tahini and dusting of powdered sugar if you like.
Photo and recipe: Sonia Wong of @saltnpepperhere
