using only almond flour instead of mostly almond flour + AP

Question

a cake calls for 2.5 cups of almond flour and .5 cup + 2 Tbl. AP.  what purpose does the AP serve?  i'm interested in subbing almond flour for the AP cuz i want to offer it to people for passover when flour is forbidden.  Tx

alan · Answer

i'm going to take a few cake recipes that use almond flour as well as AP.  julia's almond cake is one and her queen of sheba is another.  a few yrs ago when i tried to sub almond for some AP,  i added i think only one extra egg white which i beat quite long.  i'm in an israeli food group and when i raised the issue of de-flouring cakes, someone said she makes a great carrot cake w entirely almond flour.  i will ask her for the recipe.  i'm wondering why almond flour can't just sub for AP entirely in most cakes.

Lori T. · Answer

You asked what the function of the flour was, and I explained that.  I agree that there are ways to make cakes that do not use traditional wheat flour, but most baking recipes are designed to work best using the ingredients listed.  The other challenge is that you would also need to use kosher for Passover baking powder, and possibly baking soda.  It's not enough to just eliminate the grain products like the flours.

alan · Answer

thanks.  i'm aware that i have enough flourless cakes for passover.  but there are ways to get around cakes that only uses a little flour.  yesterday someone told me she has a great flourless carrot cake -- using entirely almond meal.  so there are ways to get around the conundrum.

Lori T. · Answer

Cakes require structure to hold up, otherwise they end up dense pucks.  Flour has gluten, which provides that, almond flour doesn't.   There are other things you can use to substitute for the flour, such as matzo cake meal.  There are also plenty of recipes for flourless cakes which use almond flour, polenta, and other acceptable substitutes.  Instead of messing with a recipe originally designed to utilize flour, I would suggest you opt to use an alternative.  Flour is not the only item you would need to consider- you'd also need to consider potential dairy items as well.  If desert is to follow a meat meal for instance, you'd need to use margarine, and no dairy liquids like milk or cream.

using only almond flour instead of mostly almond flour + AP

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