Gluten-free Almond Sponge Cake – Keke Kōpungapunga Aramona Kore-Wīti
Keke Kōpungapunga (sponge cake) is hands down my husband’s favourite cake to eat. I love them too but he definitely wins in that department. I created this cake for my daughter, Hanaia’s birthday and because everyone loved it so much, I made it again for our New Year’s dinner for our whānau (family) and friends. The feedback was so good, I just had to share it with you all!
This keke kōpungapunga aramona (almond sponge cake) is naturally gluten free using peru oneone (ground almonds) and puehu kānga (cornflour) as the base. It also has the delicious flavour of pata parauri (brown butter) and a good whack of wanira (vanilla) in it.
Decorating this keke is completely up to you. I start with my simple Stable Whipped Cream recipe and from there we add layers of flavour. As we are in cherry season in Aotearoa (New Zealand), I just had to add them but these can be replaced with thin slices of your favourite fruit like canned plums or a store-bought fruit compote. A little ranu kōhia (passionfruit sauce) is drizzled on top, with kiri rēmana (lemon zest) for brightness. You can leave it like that and top it with your favourite fruit or add Swiss Meringue on top of the kirīmi (cream) to create beautiful texture and a little flair.
Gluten-free Almond Sponge Cake – Keke Kōpunga Aramona Kore-Wīti
A light and fluffy gluten-free almond sponge cake, layered with whipped cream, fresh fruit, passionfruit syrup and lemon zest. Finished with torched Swiss meringue.
Servings 1 layer cake (serves 12-14)
Ingredients
Almond Sponge Cake – Keke Kōpungapunga Aramona
- 90 g pata (butter)
- 6 hēki (eggs, size 6 eggs)
- ⅔ C (150 g) huka one (caster sugar)
- ½ tsp tote
- 1 tbsp wanira
- 2 C (240 g) peru oneone (ground almonds)
- ⅓ C (40 g) C puehu kānga (cornflour)
- ¾ tsp pēkana paura (baking powder)
- ⅓ C (75 g) huka one (caster sugar)
The Cream – Te Kirīmi (My Stable Whipped Cream recipe)
- 1 ⅔ C (400 ml) kirīmi (cream, chilled)
- ½ C (100 g) marscapone (chilled)
- ½ tbsp ½ tbsp wanira (vanilla)
- ⅓ C (55 g) puehu huka (icing sugar)
Condiments – Ngā Kīnaki
- 28 (300 g) tieri (cherries, fresh) If cherries are not in season you can used bottled cherries, fresh or canned fruit or store bought fruit compote.
- 6 tbsp ranu kōhia (passionfruit syrup, store-bought)
- Kiri rēmana (lemon zest, of 1 ½ lemons)
Swiss Meringue – Tāhungahunga Swiss (optional)
- 1 quantity Swiss Meringue
Instructions
Almond Sponge Cake – Keke Kōpungapunga Aramona
- Pre-heat the oven to 160 degrees, fan bake.Grease two 20 cm sponge or cake tins with butter and line with baking paper on the base and up the sides.
- Add the pata (butter) to a medium size pot and melt over medium heat. Continue heating until the pata (butter) is foamy and brown bits float to the top, stirring occasionally. Keep it on the heat (for an extra 30 seconds) until it smells nutty.
- Remove from the heat, pour in to a small bowl and leave to cool.
- Separate the hēki (eggs). Add the tōhua hēki (egg yolks) in to a large bowl and the kahu hēki (egg whites) in to a medium bowl.
- Add the first measure of huka one (caster sugar), wanira (vanilla) and tote (salt) in to the bowl of tōhua hēki (egg yolks). Whip it all on high for 3 minutes until thick, fluffy and pale in colour.
- Sift in the peru oneone (almond meal), puehu kānga (cornflour) and pēkana paura (baking powder). Fold it together. The mixture will be quite tight at this stage but trust me, it will be ok!
- Add the second measure of huka one (caster sugar) in to the kahu hēki (egg whites) that you prepared earlier. Whip it for 3 – 4 minutes on medium-high until stiff peaks form.
- Add a third of the tāhungahunga (meringue) in to the egg yolk mixture. Fold it in and watch as the mixture beings to loosen.
- Add another third of the tāhungahunga (meringue) and fold it in.
- Drizzle in half of the cooled pata parauri (brown butter) around the edge of the bowl, folding until it is incorporated. Add the second half of the pata parauri (brown butter) and fold it all together.
- Add the final third of the tāhungahunga (meringue) and fold it in.
- Divide the mixture between the two prepared tins and spread it out evenly.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- As soon as you remove the sponges from the oven, pull the baking paper off the edge of the cakes before it cools. This helps the cakes keep their shape.
- Remove them from the tins after cooling for 5 minutes and transfer to a cooling rack. Leave them to cool for 20 minutes. These can also be made a day ahead and kept in a sealed container in the cupboard until needed.
The Cream – Te Kirīmi (My Stable Whipped Cream recipe)
- Add the kirīmi (cream), marscapone, wanira (vanilla) and puehu huka (icing sugar) to a large bowl. Whip on medium speed until you get a stiff cream.
Assembly
- Note: This assembly is for the four layered cake. You can just do two layers and half of the filling ingredients inside. Kei a koe te tikanga – it is up to you!
- Take one of the keke (cakes) and place it on to a serving plate. Cut the cake horizontally. Remove the top piece and leave it to the side.
- Add around ⅔ cup of the kirīmi (cream) to the first layer.
- Remove the pips from the tieri (cherries), if you are using them. Keep 8 tieri (cherries) whole for the top of the cake. Slice the rest finely and place around 7 cherries worth of slices on to the keke (cake).
- Drizzle over 2 tbsp of ranu kōhia (passionfruit syrup). Using a fine grater, grate over kiri rēmana (lemon zest) of half a lemon.
- Add the second layer of keke (cake) and repeat the process of the same amount of kirīmi (cream), kōhia (passionfruit) and kiri rēmana (lemon zest).
- Cut the second keke (cake) horizontally.
- Add the third piece of keke (cake) on top. Add the same amount of kirīmi (cream), kōhia (passionfruit) and kiri rēmana (lemon zest). Add the final piece of keke (cake) on top.
- Cover the whole cake with the remaining kirīmi (cream). You can top it with your favourite fresh fruit at this stage if you want to.
- It is ready to eat like this. It will keep in the fridge (uncut) for 24 hours before serving.
Swiss Meringue – Tāhungahunga Swiss (optional)
- If you want to create a slightly more dramatic cake like I did, follow the instructions to make one quantity of my Swiss Meringue recipe.
- Once it is made, add it directly on to the cream covered sponge cake. Refer to the video on how I created the simple textured pattern. If you want to, using a kitchen blow torch, toast the tāhungahunga (meringue) for even more drama.
- Finish it off with some fresh tieri (cherries) like I did or any of your favourite fruit.
- Chill in the fridge for 2 hours or up to 24 hours before serving.
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