Hangrrr Soothing Buckwheat Cake

Once upon a time there was a girl who spent more than 700 euros at the dentist (and, almost worse, was for hours afterwards unable to eat due to the anaesthetic as she did not, no sirree, want to end up chewing her own cheek to shreds). Though this might not seem such a hardship to some, to a person with a predisposition to hangrrr, it can be hazardous indeed.

Fast forward only a month and one of the fancy new fillings seemed to be awfully sensitive to biting, cold stuff and pretty much anything, which would not do for such an enthusiastic ingester of, well, pretty much anything. Since the sooner she could point out the mistake to the dentist, the more likely it was that she would not have to pay again, she went back. Long story short and 213 euros later, she had a shiny new filling and again, a numb mouth.

To make the hungry hours she waited easier to endure, she dreamed of a cake. An only slightly sweet, endlessly soothing cake which would go well with a milky cup of tea. An almost wholesome cake. A cake which sounds much more toothsome if called by its Italian name (well hell, what does not, really? – A drive through the bilingually sign-aged South Tyrol proves that without a shadow of a doubt), I give you: Torta di Grano Saraceno.

It is gluten free but you’d never think so. Its combined almond and buckwheat flours give it a sweet but restrained nuttiness and the whipped egg whites give it rise – it’s one of the tallest cakes I’ve made recently.

Flashy – no, worth it – yes.

Do excuse the rather nasty photos – it was night time but I couldn’t very well post without pictures.

What’s your favourite everyday cake?

Torta di Grano Saraceno

This cake is from a pretty but not-oft updated website called The Traveler’s Lunchbox (yes, I’d use two “l”s too but that’s how she has it) who adapted it from Anna del Conte. I wouldn’t serve it with anything louder than a bit of whipped cream as that would probably detract from its subtle flavour.

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit). Grease a 23 cm (9 inch) springform cake pan.

Toast the almonds on a baking sheet until golden, about 10 minutes and cool. With the first amount of sugar, grind as finely as possible in a food processor or a clean coffee grinder.

In a medium bowl, mix the almonds, buckwheat flour, salt, cinnamon, zest and baking powder.

In a separate bowl, beat the butter and the next amount of sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.

Beat the dry mixture and the milk into the butter mixture alternately.

In a spanking clean bowl (this is important or the whites will not fluff, nor will they if any of the yolk has got into them), whip the last of the sugar with the egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

Stir a quarter of the whites into the batter to loosen it, then fold in the rest gently.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for fifteen minutes then remove the ring and cool completely.

NB: I skipped the almond rigmarole and bought almond flour because I’m lazy but I’m sure it would taste even better the proper way. If the top looks like it’s getting too dark during baking, you can cover the top loosely with foil. It freezes well, like most cakes.

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Tagged as: anna del conte, buckwheat, cake, recipe, traveler's lunchbox