Almond Pulp Cake
Inspired by a traditional Spanish dessert, this cake is made with the pulp that remains after making almond milk
You’ve made almond milk and now you are looking for recipes to use up the remaining almond pulp?
You really have to try this almond cake: the taste is incredible, it only needs 4 ingredients and you can whip up the batter in less than 10 minutes!
Also, it’s very easy to make it keto (and it’s gluten-free).
It seldom gets so easy as this when it comes to baking!
This post may contain affiliate links. This means, if you make a purchase through one of these links, I may earn an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. Here you can read my affiliate disclosure.
The inspiration for this almond cake
This recipe is heavenly inspired in “Tarta de Santiago” (translated as “cake of James”).
Tarta de Santiago is a traditional almond cake from Galicia, a region in northwest Spain famous its traditional cuisine.
The cake is named after Saint James the Great, who is the patron saint of Galicia.
Also, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela City is the end point of the pilgrimage routes of “Camino de Santiago” or “the way of Santiago” (which is quite famous among pilgrims and hikers).
This cake is made from ground almonds, eggs, sugar and lemon zest.
The top is typically dusted with confectioners’ sugar and an imprint of a cross to symbolize Saint James’s cross.
Differences between the original Tarta de Santiago and this recipe
I love how Tarta de Santiago tastes as is.
But for this recipe I was looking for an easy way to use the pulp remaining after draining almond milk instead of a true version of Tarta de Santiago, so I made these swaps:
- Tarta de Santiago uses blanched almond flour – the pulp I use comes from unpeeled almonds, so my cake has a more rustic look
- Since the original recipe is too sweet for my taste, I reduced the amount of sweetener and skipped the powdered sugar decoration (which is nowadays is a must for any Tarta de Santiago in Spain)
- Also, I switched the sugar for a combination of xylitol/erythritol (but you can also make it with regular sugar; both taste great)
If you are curious about a more traditional recipe to make Tarta De Santiago, I recommend this one and this one.
How to make simple almond cake with almond pulp
Making this almond cake is incredibly easy: you’ll only need 4 ingredients (and no fancy equipment!).
ingredients
Check out the exact ingredients measurements I use in recipe card bellow
Time needed: 1 hour
How to make almond cake with almond pulp
- Grease the pan and preheat oven.
Greasing your pan with some butter will help release the baked cake easily.
Preheat oven to 160 °C ( 320 °F). - Beat the eggs
Beat the sugar* and the eggs with an egg whisk until combined.
*Switch for any low-carb sweetener you like for a keto version (I use a combination of xylitol and erythritol) - Add the rest
Add the almond pulp and lemon zest. You may also add some ground cinnamon if you like.
- Bake
Pour the batter in the greased pan and bake for around 50 minutes.
I first set a timer for 35-40 minutes and then add 10 minutes more if the cake isn’t gold brown yet or if making a toothpick test, the toothpick doesn’t come out clean after inserting it near the center of the cake. - Let it cool down
Let the cake cool down before you remove it from the pan.
- Decorate
Optionally, sprinkle some powdered sugar on top (I don’t do it, but this decoration is very distinctive for the original Tarta de Santiago).
Tricks
This is one of these uncomplicated recipes that don’t need you to be super meticulous. Still, here are some tips that may help you make this almond cake:
- Don’t worry too much about the size of your almond pulp
Originally, Tarta de Santiago calls for two types of almond flour: the half should be almond flour that is finely ground and the other half can have a more coarse grind (like almond meal, only from peeled almonds).
This way, you can get a cake that tastes light while also having occasionally some small almond pieces.
When using almond pulp (as we’re doing in this recipe), this means, it’s okay if your pulp has some small almond pieces. - Almond pulp that isn’t super squeezed/dry also works great
Many recipes that use almond pulp ask you to make the biggest effort to squeeze them.
While I also try to squeeze them as much as possible (you get more milk), in my experience this cake also turn out good even if the almond pulp isn’t the driest. - You can frozen almond pulp
I make this cake using almond pulp from 2 batches milk.
Since almond pulp don’t has such a long shelf life, I freeze it.
Then, before making the cake, I thaw it by letting it in the fridge overnight (or on the kitchen top if the room temperature isn’t as high). - Make your cake thin
Since there is no baking powder in this cake, it doesn’t inflate.
So, it’s easier to get it baked properly if it’s not so thick (traditional Tarta de Santiago is usually quite flat).
How to make this almond cake keto-friendly
I like keto recipes because they avoid refined sugars, but I don’t actually follow a strict keto diet, so I don’t usually count net carbs.
However, since a reader reached out about this topic, I did some research about the net carbs of this recipe.
In the recipe I wrote down “xylitol” as sweetener because I think it’s quite easy to find nowadays.
Now, 100 gr. xylitol contains 100 gr. carbs, which is a lot if you are on keto.
However, according to some keto and health experts, not all these should count as net carbs, since they are sugar alcohols (they don’t spike blood sugar).
For example, according to Sure keto you could count 3 gr. net carbs per 10 gr.; Paleo foundation counts 4 gr. net carbs per 10 gr.
Following these calculations, I came to the result that that this recipe (as it’s written) approximately has a total of 82-92 gr. net carbs (10 to 11.5 gr. net carbs per serving).
If you still prefer reducing the carbs:
- Erythritol might be a better alternative:
Erythritol is considered to have less net carbs than xylitol and works great for this recipe.
In addition, it isn’t toxic for pets (xylitol is!). - Consider trying your preferred keto-friendly sweetener:
I’ve also made this cake using a keto sweetener called Truvia (that contains stevia and erythritol) and it also worked.
I personally didn’t like the result as much as when using xylitol/erythritol because this brand in particular doesn’t taste as neutral.
It has a agreeable caramel aroma, but for this recipe I just prefer a neutral sweetener.
Also, since it needs less amount of powder, the eggs separated a little bit.
But the cake still tasted good.
So, I think most keto friendly sweeteners could work.
This almond cake lasts for around 3-5 days (probably more, but it never lasts so long… it’s too difficult to resist!).
If it’s not so hot, you can leave it at room temperature for a couple of days. But storing it in the fridge don’t dry it either, so once at room temperature, I put it in the fridge. You can also freeze it.
Almond cake from almond pulp
Ingredients
- 250 gr. almond pulp Or the amount you get after using 2 cups of almonds to make almond milk
- 100 gr. Xylitol This can be switched for sugar 1:1
- 4 medium eggs 5 if they are small
- ½ tsp. lemon zest (grated) lemon zest from 1 lemon
Instructions
- Grease the cake pan and preheat the oven to 160 °C (320 °F).
- Whisk the eggs with the sugar.
- Add the almond pulp and lemon zest.
- Pour the batter into the cake pan.
- Bake for around 50 minutes, until the top is gold brown or if inserting a toothpick, it goes out clean.Let the baked cake cool down before removing it from the pan.
So healthy with only healthy ingredients! What a great idea, I love this almond cake! Thank you very much for the recipe.
I’m very happy you like it. Thank you for your comment!
Absolutly delicious! Can you please share the carbs/net carbs for this recipe? I tried some online calculators and it came out outragous which makes no sence given the ingredients. I need confirmation that this can work with my keto diet, it is so good and I have tons of almond pulp from making almond milk.
Thank you for reaching out, Abby!
I researched a little bit further and I think I understand why some online calculators came out with a high amount of carbs.
The hight carbs count comes from the xylitol.
100gr. xylitol contains 100 gr. carbs, which is a lot.
Now, according to some keto and health experts, not all these should count as net carbs, since they are sugar alcohols and they don’t spike blood sugar.
According to sure ketoSure keto, you should count 3 gr. net carbs per 10 gr. Paleo foundation counts 4 gr. net carbs per 10 gr.
Following these calculations, I came to the result that that this recipe approximately has:
–2 gr. net carbs from 4 eggs
–50 gr. net carbs from 250 gr. almond pulp – please note that I couldn’t find the exact net carbs amount for almond pulp, so I’m counting as if we were using almond meal or almond flour; probably, almond pulp could have slightly less
–30-40 gr. net carbs from 100 gr. xylitol
That would make every serving having around 10 to 11.5 gr. net carbs.
If you still prefer reducing the carbs:
1- Most experts say that erythritol has less net carbs than xylitol, so it could be a good switch (I’ve tried it with erythritol for this recipe; it works as good as with xylitol)
2- I think you could try the recipe with the sweetener that works best for you, because I’ve also made this recipe using a keto sweetener called Truvia, that contains stevia and erythritol.
It also worked. I just didn’t like the result as much as with xylitol/erythritol because this brand in particular doesn’t taste as neutral (it has a agreeable caramel aroma, but I prefer this cake without that taste) and also, since it needs less amount of powder, the eggs separated a little bit (however, this wasn’t as bad).
I hope this helped!
And I hope you can enjoy this recipe to use up all that almond pulp 😀
Turned out really delicious . Thanks for the recipe
Thank you for the comment. I’m very happy about it!