{gluten free} zucchini almond cake

Happy Father's Day! As you may have anticipated, I definitely am not making this today for Father's Day... my dad is the biggest chocoholic on the planet, and I think if I made him a cake that not only had NO chocolate, but that contained VEGETABLES on his day... well, he would disown me. Just kidding! But he would probably be very disappointed! Nonetheless, this cake is amazing. I had never made a cake without using any regular flour, but this recipe has opened my eyes. This treat right here was seriously delicious! The cake was very light and fluffy and moist, and it was like eating a cloud. I'm not even kidding! The cake base is almond meal and potato starch, which makes for the loveliest melt-in-your-mouth dessert. 

Okay, yeah, I know it doesn't look that impressive, but hiding in there is some serious flavor. The cake does not taste like zucchini at all (which is nice, you don't really want your dessert to ever taste like veggies), but rather, it tastes like sweet vanilla with a bit of nutty almond. SO.GOOD. Even my dad, who is usually reluctant to eat anything non-chocolate and/or healthy(ish) actually loved it. My younger brother got some of his friends to try it without telling them there was zucchini inside, and they also loved it. They still loved it after he told them the secret ingredient! This cake is very easy to make, and it tastes so good. Perfectly summery, and a great way to use up some yummy produce! It is seriously so un-heavy, you will want to eat multiple slices. Uhh. Your bikini body might not approve if you eat half the cake, but surely a slice can't hurt. Enjoy! 🙂

Gluten-Free Zucchini Almond Cake
Adapted from the July/August 2012 issue of Everyday Food
Yields: one 8-inch round cake

½ stick unsalted butter, melted
1 ½ cups almond meal/flour, spooned and leveled
¼ cup + 2 tablespoon potato starch, spooned and leveled
1 ¼ teaspoon baking powder (GF if you have it)
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs
½ cup light brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini, squeezed of excess liquid

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line the bottom of an 8-inch round cake pan with parchment or wax paper, then spray the whole inside with non-stick spray. 
In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond meal, potato start, baking powder, and salt.
In a large heatproof (mixer) bowl set over simmering water (or a double-boiler), whisk the eggs until foamy. Then, add the brown sugar, and continue to whisk until mixture is fluffy and sugar is dissolved (about 3 minutes). Remove the bowl from the water, attach it to your stand mixer, and whisk on high until the mixture is thick and pale, 7-10 minutes. With a spatula, gently fold in the dry ingredients, melted butter, vanilla, and grated zucchini. Pour batter into pan, and bake until golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out with just moist crumbs, 25-30 minutes. Let cake cool completely, then invert onto cake platter. Serve as-is with some vanilla ice cream, or dust with powdered sugar. 

This recipe was featured on Gluten-Free Friday 48 over at Vegetarian Mamma!