Directions
Today’s cake is a bomb, a fabulous, rich and sumptuous dessert. A vegan and gluten-free variant of the classic rice cake to which we will add mandarin juice, macaroons, almonds and cognac. All these sweet and aromatic ingredients will allow us to create a symphony of unique flavors and, at the same time to minimize the doses of sugar, fat and calories. Even as fats, there are no large quantities of butter. Indeed there is not even a gram of it, as there are no eggs or milk or other ingredients of animal origin.
But this does not mean that our vegan rice cake with mandarins, macaroons and almonds is less delicious. Indeed the intense taste of almonds, macaroons and rose water makes it beautiful and very inviting. To make this rice cake more elegant and spectacular, remember at the end to sprinkle with powdered sugar, flaked almonds and then decorate with some mandarin wedges.
If you are looking for a healthy, delicious, light and vegan dessert, you have found the cake for you. The recipe is a bit long due to the cooking of the rice, but all in all, it is straightforward and you don’t need excellent pastry chef skills. A mixer is all you need.
Ingredients for making vegan and gluten-free rice cake with mandarin juice
8 servings
- 2 liters of almond milk
- 400 grams of rice
- 100 grams of silky tofu
- 180 grams of sugar
- the juice of 2 mandarins
- 5 grams of baking soda
- 3 grams of cream of tartar
- 16 gluten-free and vegan macaroons
- 140 grams of candied fruit, cedar and oranges
- 8 cl of cognac
- 1 organic lemon, untreated
- 220 grams of almonds
- 1 vanilla pod
- 4 drops of rose water
- extra virgin olive oil to grease the pan
- extra almond flakes and powdered sugar to decorate
How to make vegan and gluten-free rice cake with mandarin juice
Pour the almond milk into a saucepan, turn on the stove, add the vanilla pod engraved lengthwise, 70 grams of sugar, the untreated lemon peel after brushing and washing well. Stir and then throw in the rice, put the lid on, lower the heat and simmer, until the rice has absorbed all the milk. Remember to mix now and then.
Taste the rice and when it is cooked, remove the vanilla pod and lemon peel, replace the lid and let it cook again with its steam.
Throw the almonds in boiling water for a couple of minutes, then put them back in the oven and peel them. Finely chop them. We must obtain flour with some small fragments.
Remove the almonds and put them in a bowl.
Now in the mixer, chop the amaretti and put them in the bowl with the almonds.
T chop the candied fruit in a blender, then add the tofu and cooked rice. Blend, but be careful not to turn the mixture into a cream. The beans should be freshly ground, not turned into mush.
We added tofu, but for safety, boiled rice is already an excellent base for a vegan cake to give the cake more consistency. So much, so that boiled rice is often used to replace eggs. In this case, the rice is 90% of our cake!
Pour the rice into the bowl and mix everything, adding 4 drops of rose water and the juice of the mandarins in which you have dissolved bicarbonate and cream of tartar after filtering it. Now mix and add 60 grams of coconut flour: work slowly. There is no rush. The cake mixture must be firm but moist. If it becomes too liquid, add more coconut flour.
Turn on the oven and set the temperature to 170 degrees.
Meanwhile, grease a round cake pan 20 centimeters in diameter with olive oil, pour the dough into it and even out with a spatula.
Bake and bake the vegan rice cake for 40 minutes.
After 40 minutes, check the cake: it must be firm but certainly not dry. It is a cake with a moist and slightly shaky consistency.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar, sliced almonds, and a few mandarin slices. If the cake is for adults only, sprinkle the cake with a couple of tablespoons of cognac when the cake is still hot.
Remove from the oven and let cool. Then remove it from the mold, sprinkle with powdered sugar and almond flakes before serving the perfect rice cake.
As you have noticed, in addition to being vegan and gluten-free, this cake is also free of yeast, therefore even more digestible since there are only bicarbonate and cream of tartar.
Which wine to pair with vegan and gluten-free rice with mandarin juice?
The cake is very thick and sweet. Therefore the wine must be equally intense and sweet and not be overwhelmed. To create a balance between the delicate aromas of the sweet, almonds and vanilla, we combine fortified wines such as Porto, Madeira and Marsala.
