Chamomile Cake with Berries
A tender, golden almond and coconut flour cake made with strong-brewed chamomile tea, olive oil, and yogurt, and baked with fresh berries scattered over the top. Gentle, floral, and lovely with afternoon tea.
Yield: One 9-inch cake, serves 10–12 · Active: 20 min · Total: 1 hr 15 min, plus cooling · Year-round (with seasonal berries; frozen berries work too) · Best eaten: afternoon
Ingredients
1 cup strong-brewed chamomile tea (2 tbsp dried chamomile flowers, or 3 tea bags, steeped in 1 cup hot water for 10 minutes, then cooled)
1 cup blanched almond flour
¾ cup coconut flour
1 tsp baking soda
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
8 pasture-raised eggs, at room temperature
1 cup plain whole-milk goat's or sheep's milk yogurt (or coconut yogurt)
⅔–1 cup raw honey or maple syrup, to taste
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1½ cups mixed berries (blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, or sliced strawberries)
Method
Brew the tea. Steep the chamomile in the hot water for 10 minutes, strain, and let it cool.
Prep. Heat the oven to 350°F, and line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment.
Mix. Whisk the almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt in one bowl. In another, whisk the eggs, yogurt, honey, olive oil, vanilla, and cooled tea.
Combine. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet until smooth, then let the batter rest 5 minutes. It should be thick but spreadable. If it's too stiff, stir in a splash more tea or yogurt.
Top and bake. Spread the batter in the pan, scatter the berries over the top, and bake 40–50 minutes, until golden and a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool at least 20 minutes before releasing the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.
For a lighter cake: Coconut flour absorbs a lot of liquid, so this is a dense, moist cake. For a lighter crumb, reduce the coconut flour to ½ cup.
Storage: Refrigerated up to 4 days, or frozen, wrapped, up to 2 months.
A note on chamomile: People with ragweed allergies are sometimes sensitive to chamomile, too.
A note on honey: Baked honey is no longer raw. Honey shouldn't be given to babies under 12 months.
Nourishment Notes
Chamomile brings a gentle, honeyed, floral flavor to this cake, and with the berries and olive oil, it tastes like a Provençal afternoon-tea cake. It's the quiet celebration cake: lovely for afternoon tea, a slow Sunday, or the closing note of a summer supper.
Chamomile — apigenin, a flavonoid studied for its calming effects and traditionally used to ease digestion and support restful sleep.
Berries — vitamin C, anthocyanins, and fiber.
Almond flour — vitamin E, magnesium, and monounsaturated fats.
Coconut flour — fiber, which helps slow the absorption of the cake's natural sugars.
Pasture-raised eggs — complete protein, choline, and vitamins A, D, E, and K2.
Yogurt — protein, calcium, and a moist, tender crumb.
Extra virgin olive oil — oleic acid and polyphenols, and a beautifully moist cake.
For your cycle: Chamomile's calming qualities make this especially lovely in the luteal phase, when many women find it harder to unwind.
Sourcing
Chamomile — organic, loose-leaf dried flowers, from Mountain Rose Herbs or Frontier Co-op
Almond flour and coconut flour — organic and finely ground (keep the almond flour in the fridge)
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised, from a local farm or Alexandre Family Farm
Yogurt — Sierra Nevada goat's milk yogurt, Bellwether Farms sheep's milk yogurt, or raw yogurt from a farmer you know and trust
Berries — organic and seasonal, or organic frozen berries
Raw honey and maple syrup — organic, local, unfiltered raw honey; organic Grade A dark maple syrup
Extra virgin olive oil — organic, single-estate, harvest-dated, in dark glass (a mild, fruity oil is best here)
Vanilla — organic pure vanilla extract
Baking soda — aluminum-free
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall