The First of My Gluten-Free Recipes: Chocolate Nut Cake

Most of my whole family is Gluten-Free as most of us also have Celiac Disease. Likewise, many of us are allergic to dairy and soy. I am lucky in that we also all cook. My mother and I decided that most of the bread choices out there were horrendous, as well as many of the recipes. so we have worked on our own for years. Much of what follows started out as another recipes and have been changed, refined, and fiddled with until they seemed tasty, had good texture, and baked up consistently. So in the interest of putting some good stuff out there, here you go:

Seven Ingredient Chocolate Nut Cake (Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free)

• 2 1/2 cups Walnuts/Pecans, or 10 oz. any other tree nut (Use only one kind for best result)
• 4 Tbsp unsweetened natural cocoa powder (not Dutch Processed)
• 9 Tbsp egg whites/liquid egg substitute
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• optional: confectioner's sugar to dust the top
  

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease sides and bottom of an 8" round cake pan and line it with a circle of parchment paper.
3. Pulse nuts, cocoa, salt, and cinnamon in a food processor. Stop when mixture starts to climb the sides of the processor and threstens to become a paste.
4. Using an electric mixer with a whisk attachement, beat egg whites/egg sub. and vanilla for one minute and then slowly add the sugar. Beat on high speed until mixture triples in volumes and is at the ribbon stage. (Where you can see ribbons of mixture form on top as it is mixed.)
5. Fold nut mixture into egg mixture in 3 batches.
6. Pour batter into pan and smooth top.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake resists slight finger pressure, edges start to pull away from sides, and a skewer inserted in the center comes out only slightly sticky.
8. Take out and leave in pan for 10 minutes.
9. Finish cooling on a cooling rack.
10. After cake cools, sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.