While browsing tumblr the other night, I came across a recipe that peaked my interest, not only because it looked and sounded great, but because it was gluten-free! Within the last year and half, my family has found out that my mother has a gluten intolerance. This intolerance basically put her in serious pains whenever she ate the stuff and restricted her diet. Luckily over the time of us finding out, we've adapted our pantry and our eating style to where most of what we eat, she can have also. It does come with its downsides, she's craving flour tortillas at the moment, but we make due and find alternatives that are just as tasty. So finding this recipe gave me a good chance to try and create something that was both delicious and pain-free for my mother!

Blueberry Almond Cake

Ingredients:

• 4 cups (400g) ground almond meal/flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup canola oil (didn't have this on hand, so used grapeseed oil instead. Most light flavored oil should work)
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 lemons
• 3 large eggs
• 2 cups blueberries, split in 1 cup each

Glazing

• 1 cup honey-flavored greek yogurt, drained
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F and spray an 8-10 inch spring-form pan. Combine the almond meal, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl and set to the side.
2. In a small sauce pan, heat the oil and maple syrup over very low heat until combined (I couldn't get the two to completely combine, but they did heat up fine. Going by how the cake turned out, I didn't do anything wrong). Grate the zest from the two lemons and add it to the oil/honey mixture. Halve the zested lemons and using 3 of the halves, add the juice (Not the seeds, make sure they don't get in there!) to the same mixture. Save the last half for the glazing later.
3. Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients. Crack and beat the eggs, then fold them into the batter together with 1 cup of blueberries. Fold and stir the ingredients together until completely combined.
4. Pour batter into the prepared spring-form pan and spread evenly across with a metal spoon or spatula. Place in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes, until golden on the outside and you can pull a toothpick out clean. When it is finished, remove from oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes before removing the sides from the base.
5. While cake is cooling, place the yogurt in a coffee filter, paper towel (what we did, surprisingly it worked really well!), or milk cloth for about 10-15 minutes to remove excess moisture. Discard the filter/paper/cloth and place the yogurt in a bowl, adding in the maple syrup, vanilla extract, and the juice of the saved lemon half. Stir until combined and store in the fridge to chill until cake is done cooling off.
6. When cake has cooled completely, carefully remove the siding. Pour the glaze over the top of the cake and spread with a metal spoon or spatula. Top with remaining 1 cup of blueberries.
OR
Serve cake with the glaze and berries on side for simple portioning.

This was absolutely delicious! The cake is light, tender, and moist enough with the glaze on it that you don't even need something to drink to eat it. And while the cake itself isn't overly sweet, the maple syrup and yogurt in the glaze works perfectly to balance it out to be enjoyable by all. While it may not be the cheapest dessert out there (almond meal is expensive for quantity, holy cow), it's sure to be a pleasure for any get together!