Buckwheat Cake (Torta Di Grano Saraceno)

Name: Buckwheat Cake (Torta Di Grano Saraceno)
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 16 serving(s)
Ingredients: 1 cup whole almond, blanched or natural (6oz/175g); 1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour (200g); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon; 1 large lemon, zest of, finely grated (or two medium); 2 teaspoons baking powder; 3/4 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (6oz/175g); 1 1/2 cups sugar, divided (300g); 3/4 cup milk (180ml); 4 eggs, at room temperature, separated

Submitted by blucoat

"A simple, moist, and delicious cake with a light crumb and a deep, nutty flavour. This would probably work well as a bundt cake too. This modified Northern Italian recipe is from Melissa Kronenthal's great blog, "The Traveler's Lunchbox". You can enjoy it plain or split and filled with jam (as is traditional). Or, you can serve with stewed or poached apples, vanilla ice cream, or a dollop of whipped cream."

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Ready In:: 1hr 25mins
Ingredients:: 10
Serves:: 16

ingredients

1 cup whole almond, blanched or natural (6oz/175g)
1 ¹⁄₂ cups buckwheat flour (200g)
¹⁄₂ teaspoon salt
¹⁄₂ teaspoon cinnamon
1 large lemon, zest of, finely grated (or two medium)
2 teaspoons baking powder
³⁄₄ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature (6oz/175g)
1 ¹⁄₂ cups sugar, divided (300g)
³⁄₄ cup milk (180ml)
4 eggs, at room temperature, separated

directions

Preheat the oven to 350F/175°C Spread the almonds on a baking sheet and toast until golden and fragrant, about 10-12 minutes. Cool completely.
Grease a 9-inch/23cm springform pan and set aside. In a food processor or clean coffee grinder, grind the almonds as finely as possible with 1/4 cup (50g) of the sugar. In a medium bowl, stir together the ground almonds, buckwheat flour, salt, cinnamon, lemon zest and baking powder.
In another bowl, beat the butter and 1 cup (200g) of the sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the dry mixture alternately with the milk until everything is well combined.
In a clean mixing bowl and using spotlessly clean beaters, whip the egg whites with the remaining 1/4 cup (50g) sugar until they form stiff, glossy peaks. Stir one-quarter of the whites into the cake batter to lighten it, then gently fold in the rest. Scrape the batter into the greased pan, smoothing the top.
Bake the cake in the preheated oven for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, covering the top loosely with foil if it begins to darken too much. Cool the cake for ten minutes on a rack, then carefully remote the outer ring and cool completely. Store, covered, at room temperature for up to 3-4 days. Dust with a little powdered sugar before serving, if you like.

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Reviews

Absolutely delicious! I've made it twice, the first time using weights, the second time using volumes. Don't omit the lemon zest, it's the non-icing in the cake.<br/>I can't do dairy, so I used almond milk and lard instead of butter. I tried using largely coconut oil the first time, but it wasn't as good.<br/>It will become one of my goto cake recipes, as it is gluten free. (Well, provided you can find safe nuts and buckwheat.) I also used a fairly coarse buckwheat flour, but it still comes out nice and fluffy.

Cavernio

Tweaks

Absolutely delicious! I've made it twice, the first time using weights, the second time using volumes. Don't omit the lemon zest, it's the non-icing in the cake.<br/>I can't do dairy, so I used almond milk and lard instead of butter. I tried using largely coconut oil the first time, but it wasn't as good.<br/>It will become one of my goto cake recipes, as it is gluten free. (Well, provided you can find safe nuts and buckwheat.) I also used a fairly coarse buckwheat flour, but it still comes out nice and fluffy.

Cavernio