Almond Cake with Cherry Compote (GF!)

welcome to recipe #1 of my mini Midsummer series!

While an almond and cherry cake isn’t necessarily a traditional Midsummer dessert in Sweden, the flavor reminds me a lot of other Swedish desserts. I also thought it could be fun to include it in a mini recipe series all about Midsummer recipes, since I’ve gotten so many messages asking what to make for the Swedish holiday.

Anyway, this almond-flour cake couldn’t be simpler to make–the most annoying part of this whole recipe is halving and removing the pits from the cherries. Besides that, it’s very low lift and hard to mess up. While you could sprinkle sliced almonds on top, I sprinkle sugar and almonds on the bottom of the cake pan, then invert the cake after baking for a crusty and somewhat caramelized top. (This tip was inspired by one of my favorite Food52 recipes, this Cardamom cake.)

(P.S. This cake just so happens to be gluten-free AND dairy-free in case that’s of any interest to you.)

How to make it your own

• As you can see below, this recipe uses no chemical leavening since it gets just the perfect amount of rise from the whipped sugar and eggs. Through my many tests, I found that adding baking powder (and a bit more sugar) made it sink drastically in the middle (see photo below). While it’s not ideal for looks, it still makes a very very tasty cake that’s more akin to the texture of a macaron (almost chewy). If you want to go that route, add 2 teaspoons baking powder and increase the sugar by 1/4 cup (50 grams).

• Swap the lemon zest for orange zest, or leave it out entirely.

• Egg prices are still high, but you can easily reduce to 4 eggs (or 2, if you want a mini cake). Just divide the remaining ingredients accordingly and bake in smaller cake pans.

• Sprinkle almonds on top instead of the bottom if you change up the measurements or choose to add baking powder. You won’t want to invert it after baking if it’s sunken in the center.

without baking powder (left) vs with baking powder and more sugar