Strawberry Tallcake

Yeah, just to be different. No, it's not really tall. It's short. And fabulous. And quite a learning experience when going gggfree. For example, and this has nothing to do with it being gluten, grain or sugar free, never hold the batter bowl in one hand when pouring into the cake pan. Just saying, it could slip. And the batter could end up well, everywhere. Like I said, just putting it out there.

It's true however that this is a seriously delicate cake to make. The cake is flourless, in a way. My grandmother would grind up the hazelnuts until they were virtually a flour. Me, I get mine at nuts.com already ground into flour. Then I buy another bag of blanched nuts to chop for the top. Hey, it's Easter Sunday and I don't participate therefore I can be as punny as I want to. 

So. Start with a cake that is fabulously low carb and.. oh this is a biggie... it's Kosher for Passover too. How perfect. 

Cake:

1 cup Hazelnut flour

1/2 cup Swerve

6 Eggs, separated at room temperature

1 teaspoon Hazelnut Extract (or vanilla if you don't have)

Beat the egg yolks and swerve until pale yellow. Stir in the hazelnut flour and Extract. Put aside.

In a clean bowl with clean beaters, whip the egg whites until peaks form (just past the frothy stage.) For this particular recipe, eggs are better at room temp as egg whites will whip better. The beaten egg whites are key to getting a light cake texture.

Fold the egg whites into the batter mixture very, very, very gently. You don't want to stir or you'll collapse your beaten egg whites. Keep folding gently until no white appears and the batter is smooth. 

Pour the mixture into a 9" well greased springform pan. Bake at 350 for 22-25 minutes. The cake should be spongy to the touch, and spring back if you touch the center with your finger. 

Remove it from the oven and let cool until you can comfortably touch the pan. Unhinge the pan and continue to let it cool until room temperature and firm. 

Once cool, slice it into two horizontal layers. Carefully. Very very carefully. Place the bottom layer on a cake plate and the top layer on a side plate.

Meantime back in the kitchen you need to create your whipped cream and strawberry topping.

1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup fresh strawberries
3 tablespoons swerve confectioners
1 teaspoon strawberry extract

Take 2/3 of the strawberries, clean and chop into smaller pieces. Place in a bowl, and sprinkle with 1/2 tablespoon of Swerve. Toss lightly and let set about 15 to 20 minutes.


While the strawberries are setting up, whip 1 cup of heavy cream with 2 tablespoons Swerve and 1 teaspoon strawberry extract, until firm peaks form.

Spoon the now somewhat syrupy strawberries onto the bottom layer until it's well covered. Cover the strawberries with a thin layer of your whipped cream.

Place the top layer over the whipped cream and spread the remaining whipped cream over top.

Take the remaining strawberries, cut in to large pieces and spread nicely around the top of the cake. Sprinkle the remaining 1/2 tablespoon of swerve over the berries on top. Refrigerate for a few hours and serve. The only carbs in this cake are from the Strawberries. And really, do they actually count? :)

Now, want to freshen it up with a holiday look? Memorial Day? 4th of July? Just add a few blueberries to the mix and you have a festive treat everyone can enjoy!

Does this not look mouth watering good? Trust me it is.