Grain-Free Fresh Berry Cake
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I’m super excited about this latest recipe for gluten-free Fresh Berry Cake.
No one in our family has a huge sweet tooth, so I make very few desserts. When I do, I look for low-sugar, fruit based desserts, like this Eton Mess, Mango Sherbet, or Poires Belle Helene, all of which are not only low in sugar, but naturally gluten and grain-free. This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience.
I stumbled across this recipe fresh berry cake on the King Arthur Flour website and immediately thought it would adapt perfectly with almond flour. With just 3/4 a cup of sugar for the entire cake, presto!…Grain and Gluten-Free Fresh Berry Cake!
This Gluten-free Fresh Berry Cake is a party hit! I brought my adapted version to a BBQ last weekend, and it was gone in a flash.
A couple of the men who were there were shocked that it was “gluten free”, one of whom had recently given up all gluten in an attempt to help with his arthritis. Because almond flour is naturally moister than wheat flour, this cake/torte is not light and fluffy, but rather similar to a Clafoutis. Cool this cake thoroughly before attempting to slice it, or serve it warm, but it will be a bit softer.
A thick batter is poured into a pan (I like to use my springform for easy release),
topped with fresh berries…
…sliced almonds and a little more sugar.
Serve with lightly sweetened fresh whipped cream and extra berries if desired.
Grain-free Fresh Berry Cake
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup butter softened
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar (swerve may be substituted for the sugar)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cup (3 1/4 ounces almond flour) sift before measuring to remove any clumps.
- 2 cups fresh berries
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8" or 9" square or springform pan.
- Beat together softened butter, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt until smooth.
- Add eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined. Add vanilla and almond extracts.
- Add flour and mix just until combined.
- Spread batter in the pan.
- Top with berries and sliced almonds. Sprinkle with 2 Tablespoons sugar.
- Bake at 350 degrees F. for 40-45 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. (The center will be somewhat moist).
- Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream and fresh berries.
Nutrition
Although I use fresh fruit, this is also a great way to use up fruit that’s a little past its prime. I use whole raspberries and blueberries, and slice the strawberries. Blackberries would also work well. Not an almond fan? Substitute the almonds for chopped walnuts or pecans and omit the almond extract.
I hope you enjoy this Grain-Free Fresh Berry Cake as much as we do!
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Springform Pan Almond Flour Almond Extract
I love berry cakes! Especially with the almond infused flavor too!
Wow. I love everything about this cake. The berries baked on the top are so pretty!
Thank you Linda!
That looks absolutely delicious. What a great summer treat! And I love that it’s grain-free. 🙂
Thank you Raia! Me too! Almond flour is such a great swap in most baked goods!
This berry cake is beautiful! LOVE all of that fruit, my kiddos would love this. Such a fun and festive cake for this time of the year too.
Thank you Emily! It’s a nice, fairly healthy dessert!
Great summer cake for so many occasions! Perfect for picnics, too!
Love any kind of cake if berries are involved. It would make an awesome addition to casual brunch or even afternoon tea.
yes, it would. It would be nice for a brunch!
I made this for Easter and it was FABULOUS!!!
Thanks for the recipe!!!
Isn’t it good? Even my non-gf friends request this!
I’m confused by the amounts listed for the almond flour. Is it 1 1/3 cup or do you recommend weighing it? According to charts 1 1/3 Cups would be 4.52 oz. so I’m not sure how much to use?
Weighing it is always best. This is a good example. I sifted my almond flour before measuring it, then weighed it to give both measurements. But since almond flour sometimes clumps up (more than regular flour), it can be denser and weigh more. I amend to add the words “sifted” as unsifted almond flour is bound to weigh more. Hope that helps.
I’d like to substitute coconut flour for the almond flour do you know the conversion and how many more eggs would I need to add?
Coconut flour is not really the same as almond flour. It absorbs much more liquid, so you’d have to use less coconut flour than almond flour and probably add more liquid. I’ve never tried it with just coconut flour.
Hi. This sounds delicious …going to try this today – can I use olive oil instead of butter and how much?
I wouldn’t use olive oil because it’s too strong. You could use coconut oil or very light olive oil.
I made this recipe without any substitutions and weighed all the ingredients. I used a 9″ square pan, since I did not have a springform pan.
The cake looked great when I put it into the oven, but all the berries sank to the bottom (they were neither wet nor frozen) and the cake was very shallow.
After cooling a bit, I flipped it over so the berries were back on top and hoped for a better *taste *than *look*.
It tasted too buttery, like I should have used half as much butter as stated in the recipe.
Sadly, this will not be shared as I had planned.
Any thoughts?
Hi Barabara, I am sorry it was not successful for you. I am trying to think about what it could be? There really isn’t that much butter in it. Did the batter look as thick as mine? It’s a fairly stiff batter and should be able to hold the berries.
As it’s shown in my photo, the top of the cake is on top. (You can see the bottom of my springform peeking out underneath) I’ve uploaded an additional photo so you can see that the berries are on top.
Did you use unsalted butter? That’s the only thing I can think of that would maybe affect the taste? Cynthia
Thanks for replying. I did not use unsalted butter.
It’s hard to know how thick the batter was; it certainly held up the fruit without any problem.
I did weigh everything and 1/2 cup butter=4 ounces.
I followed all the directions, but ended up with a bar cookie with a layer of mixed fruit on the bottom..which I then flipped over
I did leave out the sliced almonds (not a fan) on top, but that would have only made the top layer heavier.
You are correct about the almonds…I am sorry, and am stumped. That’s why I do take a lot of photos of the process, because I want to know what the batter should look like when I’m making a recipe for the first time.Especially when using tricky flours like almond flour, which is considerably denser than wheat flour.
Made this for the last dinner for my vegan girl before she returned to Nashville. We all loved it! Only tweek was to use 2/3 of the sugar it called for and it was perfect for our tastes! So glad I found this recipe. She was thrilled!
I’m always up for reducing sugar whenever I can! It does have eggs and butter though, did you substitute something for those to make it vegan?
Can you use 1/2 almond flour and 1/2 white flour to maybe have it rise a bit more? I don’t need it to be gluten free.
i haven’t tried it 1/2 and 1/2, but if you don’t need it to be gluten free, why don’t you try the cranberry pie and just sub out fresh berries for the cranberries? That would be delicious!