Gluten-free tropical fruit and almond cake

Tamara West

It can be hard to find a sweet treat that isn’t loaded with copious amounts of refined sugar. Nadia Lim to the rescue with this delicious cake!

Ingredients

2	Bananas, ripe (Main)
5	Eggs, separated
2 tsp	Vanilla essence/extract
½ cup	Dates, chopped
½ cup	Dried mangos, chopped
1 can	Canned crushed pineapple, approx 430g, drained
250 g	Ground almonds (Main)
½ cup	Desiccated coconut
50 g	Coconut oil, or butter, melted
¼ cup	Liquid honey
¼ cup	Almond flakes
1 pot	Yoghurt, or creme fraiche, or for a dairy-free alternative use coconut yoghurt

Directions

1. Heat oven to 165C. Lightly grease and line a round (about 22cm diameter) spring-form cake tin with baking paper on the bottom and sides.
2. Mash bananas with egg yolks and vanilla. Mix in dates, mango, pineapple, ground almonds, coconut, honey and coconut oil/butter.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites to soft peaks. Gently fold into the almond batter.
4. Pour batter into the prepared cake tin and top with the flaked almonds. Bake for 1 hour or until golden and cooked through. To test if the cake is done, insert a wooden skewer into the middle of the cake. It should come out clean.
5. Remove cake from oven and, after 5 minutes, remove from cake tin and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
6. Serve with a dollop of creme fraiche or yoghurt on the side.

Note

Keep this cake in the fridge - it will last 3-4 days.