I bake with Almond Meal/Flour a lot. I've used both - and generally I use them interchangeably. Almond flour is *very* expensive, so I mostly use Almond Meal. I get the best deal at Trader Joe's ($3.99/lb). I have several recipes. Here's one of my favorites and easiest. I'm making some Thursday night, so I'll post a picture, which will be worth a thousand words. Chocolate Dipped Almond Macaroons (they don't look like traditional Macaroons). - 3 cups Almond Meal or Flour - 1/2 cup Egg whites - 1 to 1 1/2 cups of Sugar (depending on how sweet you like them) (I tend to use less sugar, and part Splenda) - 4 tsp Almond Extract (or other flavorings of your choice) - Jam or fruit spread (optional) - Bittersweet or Dark chocolate, melted for dipping 1. Mix Almond meal with egg whites. 2. Add in sugar/sweetener and Extracts. 3. Let rest for 1/2 hour. Dough is sticky. 4. Scoop dough onto parchment lined baking sheets. Press into a circle about 1/4 inch tall. (dough is still sticky :-) 5. If using jam, press small indent in center and add a bit of jam. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 - 23 minutes (this is for large 2 ounce cookies, smaller cookies will take less time). 6. Remove to cooling rack immediately. 7. When cookies are cool, dip halfway into melted chocolate and lay on wax paper to set (I put them in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to help set). Bonnie 8. Eat.

This may be MORE than a challenge because the flours don't substitute in equal amounts. The coconut flour rule-of-thumb is use 1 whole egg per ounce of coconut flour or 6-eggs per 1/2 c. coconut flour. I'd suggest doing a search on-line for cake recipes using coconut flour or you may end up with a lot of wasted ingredients and time. I realize this recipe has little in common with the recipe you are trying to make, but it will give you an idea of the ratio of eggs to coconut flour for a 9" square cake. I've never made it (due to the number of eggs needed). WILLIAMSBURG ORANGE CAKE (source: Cooking with Coconut Flour by Bruce Fife, N.D.) 1/2 c. butter, melted 12 eggs 3/4 c. sugar 1 t. salt 1 t. vanilla 1 c. SIFTED coconut flour 1 t. baking powder 1/2 c. golden raisins, cut up 1/2 c. nuts, finely chopped 1 T. grated orange peel Blend together butter, eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps. Fold in raisins, nuts, and orange peel. Pour batter equally into 2 greased 8 or 9x1-1/2-inch layer cake pans or one 9x9x2-inch pan. Bake at 350-degrees for 30-35 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean. Cool. Cover with Williamsburg Butter Frosting. WILLIAMSBURG BUTTER FROSTING 1/2 c. butter, softened 4-1/2 c. powdered sugar 4-5 T. orange flavored liqueur or orange juice 1 T. grated orange peel Combine all ingredients and beat with an electric beater until smooth. REDUCED SUGAR WILLIAMSBURG BUTTER CAKE Make Williamsburg Butter Cake as directed but reduce sugar to 1/4 to 1/2 c. depending on desired sweetness, add 3 T. powdered or liquid stevia, and 1/3 c. coconut milk. If using liquid stevia, add it to the wet ingredients. If using powdered stevia, combine it with the coconut flour before mixing into the wet ingredients. Bake at 350-degrees F for 40-50 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.

Oh! Thanks for the info Colleen! Yeah, I've got to try that Princess cake again. :) I saw something on TV recently where they were talking about a style for covering cakes in marzipan in the late Victorian period. I've read about people using marzipan as a covering for birthday cake in Australia (though I can't find it now), and that's what I was thinking of. It seems also to be somewhat traditional for New Orleans King cakes. Though I'm thoroughly confused now, having tried to find that reference, because one essay has it that the word evolved from "marchpane" but a different history of marchpanes describes them as being the almond paste and sugar as the cake, and standard icing (sugar) on top. But a great way to use up a lot of almond flour is making marzipan, and since Sarah wants cake, covering it with the marzipan could serve. Lots easier than making good macarons! Though the sponge cake is really good. Feather light and tasty. Good--perhaps better!-- with orange instead of lemon, too.

And hence the joy of making your own preserves!! Once you start, you do become addicted to the superior taste and quality. You'd pay a pretty penny for a store-bought item with that level of taste and quality ingredients and craftmanship. Right now I am deep into pickle variations. I make and like bread and butters but have yet to find a dill that I can bwb that I like. I need to make shelf-stable ones to give away and store. But I have made tolerable dill sandwich slices. But I am going to give kosher dills another try, even thought the refrigerator ones are the real special deals. I have so many cukes and tomatoes I might not get to many jams this year. I hope I can get some blueberry lime jam made. Blueberry is one of the jams that I think is far superior to store bought in every way. That's not a particularly great cheese board item though . . . I found my recipe for "brandied carrot jam" which has the plus of being able to be made at my leisure any time of year . . . Although peach preserves are one of my favorite, I made a bunch last year and still have them so they might get pushed to the back burner for another year due to my glut of waiting tomatoes . . . Today I noticed I have a package of Certo, maybe I'll try an herbal jelly this year or a pepper jelly . . . If it manages to jell it will be fab. If not, I will get sick of using it as a sauce . . . I think the theme for my canning this year is going to be savories mostly. 60+ tomato plants and a couple of monster cucumber plants are seeing to that . . . I made the mistake of going on the "Nuts.com" last night. If all else fails, I may order some products from there to fill out my gift baskets. I have always wanted to try some of their products. I can't afford much in the way of fancy snacks but a few splurges will be hard to resist. The dark chocolate covered cranberries are calling my name . . .