My Aunty Mona used to make a spiced bundt cake that she would serve with whipped cream and whatever wonderful fruit she had in her garden or preserved from her garden in her cupboards. She grew apricots and raspberries back then, so that is mostly what I remember. I think about this cake alot. I’ve asked Mona for the recipe and she thinks that it might have been an apple spice cake from the 5 Roses Cookbook. 5 Roses was the Canadian flour brand that all Canadian farm families purchased in bulk from the Farm Coop. If you purchased a very large amount, which everyone did, you would get a free 5-Roses flour cookbook. This is the cookbook to which 90% of Canadian baking can be traced. I have a copy.

The warm spices cake in this post is a gluten-free finanacier flavored with the spices from the 5- Roses spiced Apple Cake recipe. It’s equal parts clove, nutmeg and cinnamon. The clove really comes through and I think that is the flavor that I was nostalgic for. This cake keeps nicely in a sealed container at room temperature so that you can have a slice with tea everyday for a few days. It’s really good plain, but my goodness it is amazing with unsweetened whipped cream and whatever fruit is in season. It’s pictured here with Pomegranates.

I’ve been thinking about making this cake for a while, but I had some time off this week and I spent part of it doing an inventory of my spice closet and making spice mixes for holiday gifts. Since I had all my spiced out, I decided to try the warm spice cake, and also a version with cardamom, coriander and lemon zest. This spice cake has a more delicate and cool taste profile and it actually tastes better a day or two later for reasons that are mysterious to me. Like the warm spice cake, the cool spice cake is delicious alone but really shines with a dollop on unsweetened whipped cream. It’s pictured here with sliced kumquats.

I buy spices in large bags from the Indian grocery, becasue they are cheaper and fresher that way. I buy whole spices and grind them myself in an electric coffee grinder that is never ever used for coffee. If you are ever in an Indian grocery, do not miss the opportunity to treat yourself to cardamom seeds. These are the black seeds, already removed from the pods, but not yet ground. You can grind them as needed, and have the most beautiful cardamom experience. That is what I used (along with freshly ground coriander seed) for the Financier with Cool Spices. All of this is to say, that if you are making these recipes with ground spices from the supermarket, you may want to increase the quantities.

Financier with Warm Spices

If you are not gluten-free replace the rice flour, tapioca starch, and arrowroot starch with 1 cup total all-purpose wheat flour

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons butter, plus extra for buttering the tin
• 1 cup almond flour (about 4 oz)
• 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, divided in half
• The pulp scraped out of 1/2 of a vanilla bean
• 1 teaspoon grated nutmeg (preferably freshly grated)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (this is the only one I buy reground)
• 1 teaspoon ground clove (preferably freshly ground)
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1/4 cup arrowroot starch
• 8 room temperature egg whites (about 1 cup)
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar to sprinkle on top
• Unsweetend whipped cream (optional)
• Fruit (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a  7 or 8 inch round springform cake tin.  Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the paper too (don’t skip this).
2. Melt the butter, remove it from the heat.  Set it aside to cool.
3. Combine the almond flour with 3/4 cup sugar, the vanilla, grated nutmeg, ground cinnamon, ground clove, brown rice flour, tapioca starch and arrowroot.
4. In another clean large bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a steady stream, beating until the mixture forms soft peaks again.
5. Starting with the dry mixture and ending with the melted, cooled butter, alternately fold the dry mix and the melted butter into the egg whites, one-third at a time.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin, top it with the sliced almonds and bake for 35- 45 minutes.
7. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes before unmolding it.   Sift the powdered sugar over the cake.  Serve warm or at room temperature. It is good plain, or with a dollop of unsweetend whipped cream and fruit.

Financier with Cool Spices

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons butter, plus extra for buttering the tin
• 1 cup almond flour (about 4 oz)
• 1 and 1/2 cups sugar, divided in half
• The pulp scraped out of 1/2 of a vanilla bean
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander (preferably freshly ground)
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (preferably freshly ground seeds removed from the green pods)
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
• 1/2 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup tapioca starch
• 1/4 cup arrowroot starch
• 8 room temperature egg whites (about 1 cup)
• a pinch of salt
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar to sprinkle on top
• Unsweetend whipped cream (optional)
• Fruit (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a  7 or 8 inch round springform cake tin.  Line the bottom with parchment paper and butter the paper too (don’t skip this).
2. Melt the butter, remove it from the heat.  Set it aside to cool.
3. Combine the almond flour with 3/4 cup sugar, the vanilla, ground coriander, ground cardamom, lemon zest, brown rice flour, tapioca starch and arrowroot.
4. In another clean large bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt until soft peaks form.  Add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a steady stream, beating until the mixture forms soft peaks again.
5. Starting with the dry mixture and ending with the melted, cooled butter, alternately fold the dry mix and the melted butter into the egg whites, one-third at a time.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared tin, top it with the sliced almonds and bake for 35-45 minutes.
7. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes before unmolding it.   Sift the powdered sugarover the cake.  Serve warm or at room temperature. It is good plain, or with a dollop of unsweetend whipped cream and fruit.