Holiday greetings from San Antonio! I’m here with Bobby (my fiancé) and his family, enjoying the 70 degree weather and filling up on Indian food – one of your best options if you happen to be vegetarian in Texas. (For a complete list of the best San Antonio vegetarian spots, email me – I’ve had a couple years to figure it out :p)
Despite the warm weather, we are gearing up for Christmas, which is quite an affair down here. Bobby’s family is insanely large, and in just two days, we all get to be crammed in one home (luckily the homes are much bigger here than in New York) and fight for survival – er – celebrate. And this year my family of Yankee Jews are going to join in on the festivities for the first time! It should be a Christmas to remember.
I’m getting in the holiday spirit by baking, of course. And there is nothing that screams “holiday” quite like the smell of freshly baked gingerbread.
This recipe is actually adapted from this honey cake recipe on the blog Elana’s Pantry, which is one of the first blogs that made me realize going gluten-free wasn’t the end of all things yummy. I used to make a variation of her honey cake for breakfast quite frequently, and one day I was midway through the recipe when I realized I didn’t have enough agave, and was also completely out of honey and maple syrup. I ended up using half agave and half molasses, and surprisingly, I liked the final product even better. That was a couple years ago, and I’ve since tinkered with the recipe even more – increasing the amount of oil for a moister cake, adding some more spices, ditching the raisins…you get the picture. It is now a grain-free, coffee-scented gingerbread, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
A couple notes about the recipe:
-I used King Arthur brand almond flour for this recipe, as its grind is most similar to Honeyville’s, which is what I normally use. In general, a more finely ground almond flour will work better than a coarser one. (I’m sure you’ve seen my notes about different brands of almond flour yielding very different baking results!)
-This recipe is dairy-free without the amaretto cream. Dairy-free people are encouraged to make an amaretto coconut or cashew cream instead!
Coffee-Scented Gingerbread with Amaretto Cream
Gingerbread:
- 2½ cups + 2 tablespoons blanched almond flour
- 1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoons ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspooon ground cloves
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
- ⅓ cup agave nectar
- ⅓ cup unsulphured blackstrap molasses
- ½ cup brewed coffee, cooled
- ½ cup grapeseed oil
Directions:
Grease a 9 inch round cake pan with grapeseed oil and preheat the oven to 350.°
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, spices, baking soda, and salt.
In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, agave, molasses, coffee, and oil.
Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until well combined. Turn into the prepared pan and bake for about 25 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean and the edges have started to pull away from the sides of the pan. (The middle of the cake will still feel a bit soft but it will firm up as it cools.) Cool the cake completely before serving.
Amaretto Cream
- 1 pint heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons amaretto
- 1 tablespoon agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions:
Combine all ingredients and whip, using your preferred whipping method, until fluffy.
Leave a Reply