Can I Make The Lemon And Elderflower Pudding Cake Without Ground Almonds?

Our answer

Nigella's Lemon And Elderflower Pudding Cake (from COOK, EAT, REPEAT) is a gluten-free sponge that uses a combination of rice flour and ground almonds (almond meal or almond flour). Ground nuts are often used in combination with gluten-free flours as they add some extra moisture (gluten-free flours tend to absorb more moisture than other flours) and also they often help with the texture of gluten-free cakes.

If it is only an allergy to almonds then it is possible to use another nut, such as hazelnuts or (unsalted) peanuts. However, if it is a wider nut allergy then it can be difficult to find a replacement, particularly if the amount of nuts used is quite high and you would need to look at each recipe on an individual basis. If the cake does not have to be gluten free then sometimes you can use a smaller quantity of plain (all-purpose) flour. For example, in Nigella's Chocolate Olive Oil Cake the 150g of ground almonds can be replaced with 125g of plain flour. For the Lemon And Elderflower Pudding Cake, if it does not need to be gluten free then you may be able to replace the combination of rice flour and ground almonds with 150g plain flour. However, we have not tested the recipe with this combination, so are unable to guarantee the results.