Gluten-Free Apple Sponge Cake With Almond Topping

This gluten-free apple sponge cake has layers of thinly sliced apples finished with the most delicious almond topping. The fresh sweet-tart apples make this sponge cake super moist and not too sweet. Add the crispy almond topping to the mix, and you will find every slice irresistible. As soon as fall rolls around, I love to cook with apples. In this recipe, I used two varieties, Granny Smith and Honeycrisp. I find that both apples are great for baking. Granny Smith is a juicy tart apple, and Honeycrisp is a sweet crispy apple. In this gluten-free apple sponge cake, the two varieties will give you the perfect texture with a balanced sweet and tart flavour. 

Growing up in eastern Europe, this dessert was a staple in my home. The cake is made simply with plenty of fresh apples, baked in a lightly sweetened sponge cake and finished with a crispy almond topping. All in all, this is a simple gluten-free dessert recipe. The recipe is a Russian classic called apple sharlotka, this means, Russian apple coffee cake or some call it Russian apple pie. You will find that this melt in your mouth cake can be served for breakfast, snack, a dessert, or just about any time of the day.

What I love about this recipe is the simplicity of the ingredients. Once you have the apples and a few sliced almonds, you most likely have everything else in your pantry. This recipe has been in my family for many years, all I had to do is create a gluten-free version. Since this recipe is known to be simple, I wanted to keep it that way. So, instead of using various flours, I used a gluten-free flour blend. With some other small changes, this apple sponge cake came out just the way I remember it, DELICIOUS!

Need more apple recipes? Check out these gluten-free recipes.