Gluten free crostata with almonds

Here it comes the gluten free cake recipe for September

Today I shall thank Silvia, from one Italian gluten free blog that I love Eppur non c’è for sharing with us this great and easy recipe to make an Italian crostata with almonds, gluten free of course :).

The crostata has always been one of my favourite cakes since I was little. I remember my grandmother making one incredibly good that she is used to top with seasonal fruit. Today I am happy to try Silvia’s recipe and most of all, to introduce her to you: Silvia is a beautiful and sparkling mother of two, she lives in Italy and today, thanks to her blog, she has made one of her dreams come true: specialise herself in gluten free cooking and making it so good that nobody could guess the difference with a similar dish or cake with gluten.

Grazie Silvia!

INSTRUCTIONS

In a kneading machine bowl, add the cold butter cut in small pieces, the flour, and start to mix.

Add the sugar, the eggs, the lemon zest and the salt.

Continue to mix, speed it up until you get a smooth dough.

Put it in a cling film and to rest in the fridge for half an hour at least.

To prepare the custard, beat the mascarpone with the egg and the sugar with an electric beater.

Add the almond flour and mix some more time.

Take the dough out of the fridge; roll it on a flour-dusted working table.

Put it in the cake it and with the help of a fork make small holes all over the bottom.

Silvia is used to cover it afterwards with a greaseproof paper and put some beans on it to be sure the short crust pastry won’t rise in the oven.

Put it in a pre-heated oven at 170°C for 15 minutes.

Take it out of the oven, add the custard.

Decorate it on top with what you like the most (it could be the leftovers of the shortcrust pastry dough) and put it back into the oven at 150°C for 35 minutes.

When it turns golden brown, it’s ready.

Let it cool down for 4 hours minimum before serving.

Silvia’s last piece of advice?!!

The almond crostata is great with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Yummy!

pS If you would like to know more about Silvia, her inspiring story with celiac disease is right here.