When I was a child, we would traditionally enjoy a ‘lamala’ cake for breakfast at Easter. Out of question to celebrate Easter without it! It is a type of sponge cake (génoise) typical in Alsace, which name literally means ‘little lamb’. The reason is that it is baked in a special mold, shaped as a lamb.
This soft and airy vanilla-flavored cake, sprinkled with powdered sugar, is particularly loved by children. As I don’t own a lamb-shaped mold, I picked a Moomin-shaped baking tin instead. Do you know the Moomins? The Moomins are a family of white and roundish trolls with large snouts, coming from a comic strip, by Finnish author Tove Jansson. They are very much loved characters here in Finland, and their adventures in the idyllic and peaceful Moomin Valley are known in many countries abroad.
In this gluten free – and Finnish – version of lamala, I replaced wheat with a mix of rice flour, potato starch and almond powder. Also I used unrefined brown sugar (muscovado) instead of white sugar, hence the caramel color of the cake crumb.
My Moomin cake tin is small, about 20 x 8 cm and 4 cm deep. With this recipe I baked two Moomin cakes. If you use a large tin, you need adjust the baking time, to about 30-35 minutes instead of 20 minutes.
To decorate the cake, all you need is to sprinkle powdered sugar. I took the liberty to add a pair of sugar eyes, but that’s totally optional. ^^
Traditionally we wrap a ribbon around the lamb neck, so my Moomin cake wears a ribbon too, to follow the tradition!
Happy Easter! Joyeuses Pâques! Hyvää pääsiäistä!
- 50 g potato starch
- 20g brown rice flour
- 20g almond flour
- 90 g brown unrefined sugar
- 3 eggs (at ambient temperature)
- ½ tsp vanilla powder (or 1 large tsp vanilla sugar)
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- Powder sugar to sprinkle
- Preheat the oven to 175 degrees (fan off).
- Separate egg yolks and egg whites.
- Whisk egg whites until they get well foamy. Then add 20g of the sugar, beating until you get firm peaks.
- In a separate bowl, beat the yolks with the 70g sugar left, until the mixture is pale yellow and creamy. Add in the lemon juice.
- Mix together the rice flour, starch, almond flour, baking powder and vanilla. Sift it and incorporate into the egg-sugar mixture.
- Stir in ⅓ of the egg whites in the batter with a spatula, to loosen the dense batter. Then fold in delicately the rest of the egg whites, scooping the batter.
- Grease your baking tin with butter or margarine.
- Pour half of the batter in. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. (note: if you use a large baking tin, pour all the batter and increase the baking time to 30-35 minutes.) Test if the cake is ready by inserting a knife blade blade into the center of the cake. If the knife comes out clean, the cake is done.
- Bake the second half of the batter the same way!
- Let the cakes cool down completely. Dust with powdered sugar, and decorate with a ribbon.
- 50 g fécule de pomme de terre (ou maïs)
- 20g farine de riz complet
- 20g poudre d'amande
- 90 g sucre muscovado
- 3 oeufs (température ambiante)
- ½ cc vanille en poudre ou un sachet de sucre vanillé
- 1 cc de poudre à lever
- 1 cc de jus de citron
- Powder sugar to sprinkle
- Préchauffez le four à 175°C.
- Séparez les blancs d’oeuf des jaunes. Montez les blancs en neige. Lorsqu'ils commencent à devenir bien mousseux, versez 20 g de sucre tout en continuant au batteur jusqu'à obtenir des blancs en neige assez ferme (bec d'oiseau).
- Dans un autre récipient, battez les jaunes d'oeufs avec les 70g de sucre restants, jusqu'à ce que le mélange soit pâle et bien crémeux. Ajoutez le jus de citron.
- Mélangez la farine de riz complet, la fécule, la poudre d'amande, la poudre à lever et la vanille. Tamisez et ajoutez au mélange oeufs-sucre.
- Intégrez un tiers des blancs en neige en mélangeant avec une spatule. Puis incorporez délicatement le reste des blancs en neige, en soulevant la pâte.
- Graissez le moule avec du beurre ou de la margarine.
- Versez-y la pâte et enfournez pour 20 minutes environ (mon moule Moumine mesure environ 20 x 8 cm et 4 cm de profondeur. J'ai cuit le gâteau en deux parties. Si vous utilisez un grand moule, ajustez le temps de cuisson à 30-35 minutes). Vérifiez la cuisson en piquant le gâteau avec la pointe d'un couteau qui doit ressortir sèche. Si ce n'est pas le cas, prolongez la cuisson de 5 minutes.
- Sortez le gâteau du four et laissez-le tiédir avant de le mettre sur une grille, hors du moule. Cuisez la deuxième moitié de la même manière.
- Saupoudrez de sucre glace et ajoutez un ruban pour décorer. Bon appétit!
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