Recipe: Easy Flourless Blueberry Cake

It’s freezing outside. Time to make summer-inspired cake!

PHOTO BY LEAH LIZARONDO

This post is unapologetically off-season. I won’t go into much detail about winter overload. Please proceed to this post, where I spent a few words of my annual and much-justified whining about winter.

Instead let me be proactive and give you a nice burst of summer with a flourless blueberry cake. How’s that, you say? Ah, young Padawan, let me introduce a new base for your baked goods — cashews. Am I nuts?! (Sorry, couldn’t help it.)
 

I already use cashews a lot in my cooking. It’s my go-to for making nut milks and creams (aside from coconut). It’s a softer nut, so even if you don’t have a Vitamix or Blendtec, soaking cashews for a few hours makes it easy to blend into a smooth cream. But this is the first time I have used cashew meal in baking, and I’m going to keep on doing so from now on!

It is also one of the most-buttery nuts — and that flavor truly is what makes this cake so good. Buy raw cashews — or if you’re hard-pressed to find those, use roasted, unsalted cashews — and pulse them in your food processor (be careful not to turn it into cashew butter!) until it becomes a coarse meal. It doesn’t have to be finely ground. Or Trader Joe’s sells cashew meal, although I haven’t yet tried it.

This recipe also uses arrowroot. It is a starch derived from a South American plant and historically has been used for medicinal purposes. I prefer it any day over cornstarch, which is highly processed and mostly derived from GMO plants. Arrowroot is available in the gluten-free section of most grocery stores, or you can purchase it online.

As with all my recipes (especially baked goods), this is extremely easy — one pan and you’re done. This recipe is vegan, gluten-free and (gasp!) Paleo. But don’t let that stop you from trying it — it truly is a revelation. I’m now officially hooked on cashew meal.

Flourless Blueberry Cake

Very slightly adapted from Fed and Fit

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ cups raw cashews, ground into a meal (about 1 1/3 cups or so ground)
• ¼ cup arrowroot
• Pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (thaw first and drain the liquid)
• ¼ cup extra-virgin coconut oil
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 egg or 1 tablespoon flax seed meal dissolved in 2.5 tablespoons water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line an 8-inch metal cast-iron pan with parchment paper.
2. If using flax meal instead of egg, dissolve in water and set aside to thicken.
3. Pulse the cashews in a food processor until it is a fine meal consistency. Do not overprocess, as it will turn to cashew butter.
4. Whisk together all the dry ingredients.
5. Whisk together the wet ingredients and then add to the dry ingredients.
6. Fold in the blueberries.
7. Pour into the baking pan and bake for 30 minutes.
8. Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Lift out of the pan and enjoy!