My Almond Flour Cake Was Too Dense Until I Started Doing This With the Eggs

Almond flour can make a rich cake, but getting a light texture takes more than mixing the ingredients and putting the batter in the oven. For this red velvet sheet cake, the eggs don't all go into the bowl at once.

Four of the six eggs are separated, and the whites are beaten into a meringue before being folded into the almond flour batter. Those whipped egg whites add air to a batter that starts out thick, helping the finished cake stay soft rather than dense.

Separate Four of the Six Eggs

Start with six eggs. Separate four, placing their whites in one bowl and their yolks in another. The remaining two whole eggs go into the bowl with the four yolks.

Whisk the yolks and whole eggs with oil, vanilla extract, and red food coloring. Granulated sweetener, baking powder, cacao powder, and almond flour go in next.

At this stage, the batter will be stiff. That's expected, so don't try to thin it before preparing the egg whites.

Beat the Egg Whites Until Stiff Peaks Form

Use an electric mixer to beat the four reserved egg whites until they form stiff peaks.

The whites should hold their shape when the beaters are lifted. This trapped air is what changes the texture once the meringue gets folded into the heavier batter.

Add about one-third of the whipped whites first. This loosens the batter and makes it easier to incorporate the rest without knocking out as much air.

Fold Instead of Stirring

Once the first portion of meringue has loosened the batter, add ¼ cup coconut flour. Fold it in rather than stirring hard.

Add the remaining whipped egg whites in portions, folding after each addition. The goal is to keep as much of the air from the meringue as possible.

This step matters with a batter containing 2 cups of almond flour and coconut flour. Mixing the whipped whites too hard defeats the reason for separating the eggs in the first place.

Bake It as a Sheet Cake

Spread the batter across a parchment-lined 8-by-13-inch baking pan and bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes.

Check the center with a toothpick. When it comes out clean, remove the cake and let it cool before adding the frosting.

The cream cheese frosting uses cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and sweetener. Spread or pipe it over the cooled cake, then refrigerate the cake for about an hour so the frosting can set.

Separating the eggs adds another step, but it's the part I wouldn't skip. Instead of asking a thick almond flour batter to rise on its own, whipped egg whites bring air into the mixture before it ever reaches the oven.

Do you separate your eggs when baking with almond flour, or have you always added them whole?