Description

This is a gluten-free version of the Italian apple cake "torta di mele" made with cassava flour, almond meal, and buckwheat flour instead of regular wheat flour.

Ingredients

• ¼ cup raisins
• ¼ cup Marsala wine
• 1 cup cassava flour
• ¾ cup superfine white sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ¾ cup almond meal
• ¼ cup buckwheat flour
• 3 large eggs
• ½ cup butter, softened
• ¼ cup whole milk
• ¼ cup light vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¼ cup grated Granny Smith apple
• 1 Granny Smith apple - peeled, cored, and sliced
• ⅛ cup raw cane sugar
• ¼ cup raw pine nuts

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch square, deep baking dish.
2. Combine raisins and Marsala wine in a bowl; set aside to soak.
3. Sift cassava flour twice into a large mixing bowl. Mix in superfine sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add almond meal and buckwheat flour and sift all the dry ingredients together.
4. Combine eggs, butter, milk, oil, and vanilla extract in a bowl. Beat on low for with a hand mixer for 1 minute until well combined. Beat on high until fluffy, for a full 2 minutes. (This is a crucial step to ensure a fluffy cake.) Mix in grated apple. Stir in raisins and wine until combined.
5. Carefully fold egg mixture into flour mixture with a rubber scraper, folding with light, yet deep strokes from the bottom to the top, until batter is just combined and still a bit lumpy, with no visible pockets of flour, being careful not to overmix. Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.
6. Arrange apple slices to completely cover the batter, making sure they do not overlap too much; you may not need all of the slices. Sprinkle with raw cane sugar and pine nuts.
7. Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Switch to the broiler function and cook until the top is slightly browned, about 2 minutes.
8. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before cutting and serving.