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    "Home" » Baking

    Almond Flour Black Cake

    Published: Dec 13, 2021 · Modified: Dec 24, 2021 by Althea Brown · This post may contain affiliate links · 3 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Black cake is a Caribbean holiday staple. I've spent a lot of trial and error trying to perfect a gluten free / grain free version of black cake that I can enjoy without any tummy aches. This almond flour black cake is a winner. It tastes exactly like real deal black cake, it's gluten free, grain free, refined sugar free, dairy free and can be adjusted to be alcohol free.

    A black cake with a single slice on a wooden plate with a gold and black spoon

    Last year I made a gluten free version of black cake using all purpose gluten free flour. You can find that recipe here. It is a great recipe but gluten free all purpose flour, while gluten free is not grain free. So this Almond flour black cake is my grain free recipe and it is absolutely delicious.

    Jump to:
    • Step by Step Recipe
    • Wet Ingredients
    • Substitutions
    • Making This Recipe Alcohol Free
    • Printable Recipe Card

    Step by Step Recipe

    Before we get to the printable recipe let's walk through the recipe and the ingredients.

    Wet Ingredients

    For this cake I decided to go with coconut oil to make it dairy free, and coconut sugar to make it refined sugar free. You can use any other sugar alternative you like, even maple syrup. I list the substitutions below. Using coconut oil and coconut sugar also made it easy to pull the cake together as no creaming of butter and sugar was needed. Just simply whisk everything together and the cake was ready for the oven in 15 minutes or less.

    Black cake ingredients mixed together in a bowl

    Combined in the bowl above

    • Coconut Sugar
    • Melted Coconut oil
    • Eggs
    • Browning /Burnt Sugar (this is made from cane sugar so to make this completely refined sugar free just skip the browning. The flavor will be the same but the cake will be brown in color instead of black)
    • Vanilla Essence/extract
    • Almond Essence/extract
    • Port Wine (see below for how to make this alcohol free)
    • Orange Zest
    • Rum Soaked Fruits

    See recipe card below for exact measurements

    Dry Ingredients: Spiced Super Fine Almond Flour

    I added all of the warm spices, traditionally used in black cake, to the almond flour to create a spiced almond flour. Ground cinnamon, ground cloves, freshly grated nutmeg and ground ginger just say holiday baking to me.

    Almond flour and spices in a bowl

    Combine the spiced almond flour with the wet ingredients to create a rich black cake batter.

    almond flour Black cake batter in a

    Add the batter to a greased 8 inch by 3 inch baking pan, lined with parchment paper and bake at 350 °F for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

    Almond Flour Black Cake before baking

    TIP: After an hour of baking the toothpick may still have tiny amount of sticky batter. This is ok, the cake will continue to cook as it cools down. You can stop here if you like, or you can continue to bake for another 5-10 minutes.

    Black cake on a wooden plate
    Almond Flour Black Cake

    Substitutions

    • Almond Flour: Can't have almond flour and looking for anther alternative? I tried this recipe with cassava flour and it was a total gummy disaster. I tried it with coconut flour and while it was tasty it was a bit dense and crumbly.
    • Coconut Sugar: You can use any sugar substitute in this recipe.
    • Rum soaked fruits: If you want to make this cake rum free, you can simply cook your fruits in some spiced infused grape juice and used that instead of wine. See below for how to.
    • Eggs: The only recommendation for making this egg free is to use an egg replacer such as this one by Bob's Red Mill.
    • Port: You can substitute the port for other red wines (such as a Cabernet Sauvignon), although port gives the best flavor.

    Making This Recipe Alcohol Free

    To make this recipe alcohol free swap the rum soaked fruits for spiced infused fruits:

    1. Add 2 cups of prunes, 1 cup of raisins and 1 cup of currants to a sauce pan. Followed by two cinnamon sticks and 1 tablespoon of cloves. You may choose to wrap your spices in a muslin spice bag or pouch for easy removal.
    2. Cover the dried fruits and spices with concord grape juice. This should be about 5-6 cups of juice.
    3. Bring to a boil on medium heat, then reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Then allow to cool completely before removing the spices and blending into a paste. You can also leave the dried fruits and spices to soak in the grape juice over night (after simmering) for a full flavor payout.
    4. Reserve some of the liquid to use in place of the ¼ cup of red wine added to the batter
    5. When the cake is done baking, skip the addition of rum and just allow the cake to cool completely.

    Printable Recipe Card

    A black cake with a single slice on a wooden plate with a gold and black spoon

    Almond Flour Black Cake

    A grain free / gluten free version of the popular Caribbean Christmas rum cake
    5 from 1 vote
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 1 hr
    Course Dessert
    Cuisine Caribbean
    Servings 1 8 inch pan

    Ingredients
      

    • ½ Cup melted coconut oil
    • ½ Cup Coconut Sugar
    • 3 Large Eggs
    • 2-3 tablespoons Burnt Sugar / Browning See notes for how to make burnt sugar
    • 1 lb soaked mixed fruits About 2 cups (see notes for recipe)
    • 1 ⅓ cup Super Fine Almond Flour
    • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
    • ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
    • ½ teaspoon Almond essence
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
    • 1 teaspoon orange zest
    • ¼ cup port wine
    • 1-2 tablespoons Dark Spiced Rum

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat the oven to 350°F

    Prepare the dry Ingredients

    • In a small mixing bowl combine the almond flour, ground cinnamon, ground clove, ground ginger, ground nutmeg and salt and set aside

    Prepare the dry Ingredients

    • Then in a large mixing bowl, combine the coconut sugar, melted coconut oil, eggs, browning, vanilla essence, almond essence, orange zest, wine and fruits and mix together well

    Make the Cake

    • Whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix into a smooth batter
    • Pour the batter into an 8 inch X 3 inch baking time greased and lined with parchment paper
    • Bake at 350°F for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
    • Remove from the oven and immediately pour the rum over the top of the cake. Allow to cool completely before cutting into the cake.

    Notes

    1. I used 3 tablespoons of browning/burnt sugar in this recipe and it was really dark. If you don't want your cake to be this dark, I recommend using 2 tablespoons of browning instead.
    2. Find the recipe for the fruits here. 
    3. Find the burnt sugar recipe here.
    4. This cake is better eaten stale. Allow the cake to sit for a day or two before eating.
    5. See above for instructions on making this recipe alcohol free
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « Caribbean Burnt Sugar (Browning)
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Shanay says

      March 12, 2023 at 11:08 am

      5 stars
      Great recipe! Cake came out great.

      Reply
      • Althea Brown says

        March 27, 2023 at 8:58 pm

        So glad you like it. Thanks for giving it a try.

        Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. 2unbearable says:
      January 12, 2022 at 5:31 pm

      2inoculation

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Althea! I have a real passion for cooking, especially traditional Caribbean recipes with deep roots! I was born and raised in Georgetown, Guyana and now live in Denver, Colorado with my husband and 3 kids. I am a Whole30 Certified Coach and love sharing wholesome remixes to traditional Guyanese and Caribbean dishes.

    More about me →

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