Gluten Free Almond Apricot Mini Cakes Recipe
So, I wake up this Sunday morning thinking I have a luxurious day of goofing off ahead of me. I lazily make a cup of coffee, sit by the window to sip and gaze out at the view and as soon as the caffeine kicks in, it hits me – I have a function to attend with the ladies today AND I promised to bring some gluten free baked goodness. Yikes! As a gluten free recipe developer this should not be such a problem except I sort of had a lazy Saturday (and Friday and Thursday and… ahem, never mind) and no planning or grocery shopping has taken place any time recently. Time to go shopping in my favorite place – the pantry!
Having a well stocked gluten-free pantry is a life saver especially when you make a promise and fail to remember you made such a promise. Oh, and did I mention I have about an hour to bake, shower, look pretty and arrive at the function? That does not leave much time for thinking, let alone doing!
So I grab a can of Solo Almond Paste and a can of Solo Apricot Cake and Pastry Filling from the pantry and decide to make some sort of gluten-free treat. Honestly, I was just hoping for something passable that would not embarrass me in front of the ladies but what I got was really kind of fabulous – somewhere between a muffin and a cupcake with the flavor of an almond croissant smeared with apricot jam wrapped up in a delicate and very lady-like looking delicate mini cake. The entire process took me about 23 minutes to prepare and bake leaving me almost 40 minutes to make myself look fabulous and get there. Fortunately when you arrive somewhere bearing delicious gluten-free baked goods no one really looks at you (and if they do it helps to wear red lipstick, amazing sunglasses and really high heels – it makes you look like you put some thought into your appearance and had it all planned out ahead of time!).
As I sit here now, I am finally getting to enjoy a lazy cup of coffee (afternoon instead of morning) and reflect on my good fortune – I have a great group of gal pals (aka “the ladies”), a well stocked gluten-free pantry and some really killer shoes. Life is good!
Gluten Free Almond Apricot Mini Cakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 (8-ounce) can Solo Almond Paste
- ½ cup unsalted butter or dairy free butter substitute such as Earth Balance - at room temperature
- ½ teaspoon kosher or fine sea salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1½ cups gluten free flour blend*
- ¼ cup milk or almond milk
- 2 large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard muffin pan with paper liners or grease it well with gluten-free non-stick cooking spray.
- Crumble the almond paste in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Process until the paste is well crumbled. Add the butter, salt and sugar and process until well combined. Add the flour, milk and eggs and process until the mixture turns into a thick batter. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin cups. Rap the pan on the counter 3-4 times to settle the batter.
- Using a spoon, take a heaping tablespoon of the Cake and Pastry Filling and spoon into the center of each mini cake, pressing the spoon into the batter so a little filling goes into the center of each of the cakes.
- Bake for 18 – 22 minutes or until the cakes are firm and just starting to brown but are still pale. Let cool.
Notes
Nutrition
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I haven’t heard of canned almond paste before, is it the same as the stuff in foil rolls?
Yes, I believe so just make sure you are using pure almond paste not pie or cake filling or marzapan.
Oh, Carol, life in your house is never dull, although I admit I do the same kind of shenanigans! LOL Remember I have the well-stocked pantry, too … and am very good at improvising. You EXCEL at it though, girlfriend! Looks at those beauties–yum! I know your ladies love you for many, many reasons. ;-)
xo,
Shirley
Oh thank you my friend! I know you have a well stocked pantry – such a joy!
These look amazing! I cannot wait to try them. One question – do I add the flour with the butter, sugar and salt or after? Thanks so much for the terrific and delicious recipes!!!
Hi Tammie, you add it in with the milk and eggs – I corrected the recipe. Thank you for pointing this out!
I cannot wait to try this! YUM!
Thank Julia!
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I avoid potatoes and sugar. What would the substitution be for the potato starch and the sugar if I wanted to use honey. Can this be made with almond flour? Does almond paste have sugar in it?Thanks, love your recipes.
You can substitute the potato starch with tapioca starch and you can use coconut sugar for the sugar but the almond paste does have sugar in it. It could be made with almond flour, I have made cakes with alomnd paste and almond flour that are fantastic.
Finally, made these and we are all so impressed! They were fantastic, I think there are 2 left!LOL! Thanks so much, you make so lovely desserts!
Thanki you Shannon, so happy you enjoyed them!
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