how to make a walnut cake w flour flourless

marcella hazan's walnut cake grinds 8 oz. walnuts fine so that the cake even w 1 cup flour is closer to biscotti than a cake. it uses 1 egg and 1.5 tea baking powder. i want to remove the 1 cup of AP. any idea if adding 2 egg whites will b enough to lift the cake? Tx

alan
  • Posted by: alan
  • June 28, 2022
  • 1681 views
  • 5 Comments

5 Comments

alan
alan June 30, 2022
just looked at martha's. i have flourless choc nut cakes. no need for similar and a friend who buys from me regularly in fact doesn't like choc. the cake i mentioned is totally different and on my list of cakes but i just want to offer it flourless -- there's a niche for GF desserts.
 
Nancy
Nancy June 30, 2022
Ok, Alan, I understand you like the flavor profile of the recipe you want to adapt.
Suggest two ways to do that.
Either use one of the existing flourless walnut cake recipes and add the rum and lemon.
Or use the Marcella Hazan recipe you want to make as your base and then use eggs(whites or whole)-to-walnuts ratio from one of the existing recipes.
Hope you get good results - please report back :)
 
alan
alan June 30, 2022
i've already had success making a floured recipe flourless by using more egg white. i'll take a look at the suggested walnut cakes, but the one i mentioned should work. in addition, the simple taste of ground walnuts, rum, lemon zest is very appealing and i'd like to retain that. curious to see what martha came up w. Tx
 
Nancy
Nancy June 29, 2022
My response is similar to AJ’s….why not use an existing (tried and true) recipe, especially for so delicate a structure as cake without flour?
There are many recipes out there, but I especially like the flourless walnut cakes at Martha Stewart site, Epicurious and here at food52.
Some versions are plain, some with chocolate, some with coffee.
 
AntoniaJames
AntoniaJames June 29, 2022
I wouldn't try to adapt it. If you need your walnut cake to be gluten-free, you can get a mix like King Arthur Baking's Measure for Measure, to use instead as a straight substitution. If you'd just prefer a lighter walnut cake, look for a recipe developed and tested without the flour and with more egg whites. I'd start here: https://food52.com/recipes/31722-calabrian-walnut-cake-torta-di-noci Good luck! ;o)
 
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