Pineapple Almond Cake

What do you get when you take baked pineapple combined with maple syrup, top it with a moist cake, and then serve it for breakfast? A happy family. This is a great dessert, too, that is not too sweet, but still hits the spot (especially when you add a small scoop of vanilla ice cream).

Thanks to the almond flour, there is a good bit of fiber in this cake. I combined white wheat and all-purpose flour for the cake, upping the fiber even a bit more.

Yield: 12 servings
 
 Ingredients

 1/2 cup maple syrup
 1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks
 3 sticks unsalted butter (12 oz), at room temperature, plus more for the pan
 Almond flour, for the pan
 12.5 oz almond flour
 3/4 cup granulated sugar
 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 1 tsp salt
 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
 1 tsp lemon extract (or 1 T lemon zest)
 1 tsp vanilla extract
 5 large eggs, at room temperature

 Directions

 Preheat the oven to 350F, and adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Spread the syrup in the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Scatter the pineapple chunks all over the pan on top of the syrup. Set aside.
 

For the cake: In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the almond flour, the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon and mix on the lowest speed for 1 minute or until well combined.

 Add the butter and beat until fully combined and starting to get fluffy. Add the lemon extract or zest and vanilla extract and 2 of the eggs and mix until completely combined. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 1 minute. Add 2 more eggs and repeat, being sure to beat for 1 minute after they are absorbed. Add the last egg and repeat.

 Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, carefully spreading it over the pineapple. Bake until the cake is well risen and deep golden, 50 to 65 minutes.

 Cool the cake in the pan.

 Serve the cake warm or cool completely.

This makes a good sized cake. If you have extras, double wrap it and freeze it for up to a couple months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.

Enjoy!