Almond Flour Chocolate Cake (Gâteau Reine de Saba)

A gluten-free French almond flour chocolate cake, known as Queen of Sheba cake. Usually served for special occasions, it's topped with a rum glaze and toasted flaked almonds.

Flourless Almond Flour Chocolate Cake

This cake is a light gluten free recipe as it doesn't contain wheat flour. Instead it uses cornflour or potato flour to thicken the batter instead of all-purpose or cake flour.

La Reine de Saba Meaning

Little did I know when I married my Frenchman in 1997 that the Queen of Sheba is la Reine de Saba in French. So imagine, years later, how it was music to my ears to hear that the French make a gluten-free chocolate cake called the Queen of Sheba. An almond flour chocolate cake, or Reine de Saba is a welcome arrival to any party, topped with a silky boozy glaze.

I loved to play Handel's 'Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' as a piano duet with my bestie, Lynda, growing up in Edinburgh. Even the day I married my Frenchman, I came down the aisle with Dad to the music, playing Queen for a whole day. I later discovered that Gounod wrote music for the Queen of Sheba too - listen to the waltz. It's beautiful.

There's also a Reine de Saba museum in Paris, particularly dedicated to Yemen.

Reine de Saba Cake's History

The Reine de Saba cake is most popular in America, thanks to Julia Child. She once tasted it in Paris and went on to make the recipe, catapulting it into almond flour chocolate cake stardom.

Despite living in France for over three decades, I've struggled to trace the origins of this French Saba cake. Even my pastry chef friends and renowned culinary guides like Escoffier, Larousse Gastronomique, even Alexandre Dumas, offer no clues. However, I discovered Marie-Hélène de Taillac's Reine de Saba recipe in Philippe Conticini's 'Souvenirs Gourmands.' She recalls enjoying this cake annually for her birthday and uses a blend of dark and milk chocolate in her version.

This recipe is not the same as Julia Child's: it's lighter with much less butter and sugar and it's gluten free.

So for its history, it's a mystery here in France. If you have any exciting leads as to where it came from, please let me know in the comments below.

Chocolate Almond Cake Recipe

Following on from our classic Chocolate Fondant Cake, this Reine de Saba cake recipe was inspired by '50 Best Chocolate Recipes' by France Loisirs. Many years ago, it was popped into my Christmas shopping bag at the checkout in a kitchen appliance shop in Paris's 16th. If you know the chic 16th in Paris (where I worked), getting anything free here is pretty unusual, so I treasured it.

I experimented with the Reine de Saba recipe, using various moulds, toppings, and adjustments like less sugar and added rum. This is the final result.

Weigh out the broken chocolate bits and the diced butter in a heatproof bowl and melt them over a pan of simmering water (double boiler or bain-marie). Mix together until just melted and set aside.

Preheat the oven and either grease the cake tin with a little butter or line it with parchment paper - see FAQ on how to line a cake tin.

Separate the eggs: place the 4 egg whites in a large clean bowl to whip them later. In another bowl, place the 3 egg yolks and whisk together with the sugar until light and creamy. Add the cornflour, vanilla and stir in the almond flour. Add in the melted chocolate, alcohol if using, and mix together. Set aside at room temperature.

Whisk the egg whites with the salt in either a stand mixer or using an electric hand whisk. When the whites are whipped up and firm, gently fold into the chocolate and almond mixture.

Pour the batter into the cake tin and bake for about 20 minutes. Leave to cool then transfer to a wire rack to cool further.

Queen of Sheba Cake Glaze with Rum

Mix together the icing/powdered sugar with the rum and lemon juice until a spreadable consistency. Spread the glaze over the cooled cake using a warm palette knife or large flat knife. Dry fry to toast the flaked almonds, leave to cool then sprinkle over the cake.

The icing glaze has a few possibilities. While Julia Child made hers with a chocolate glaze, this French recipe's glaze is without chocolate. If you prefer with, then add a couple of teaspoons of unsweetened cocoa powder or make this Parisian chocolate glaze from Patrick Roger's layered chocolate cake.

Serving Ideas for La Reine de Saba Cake

The rum glaze makes this a special recipe for birthdays or a Christmas or New Year's dessert. It's our favourite topping on our local speciality, le Saint-Germain French almond cake without the chocolate.

Alternatively, top or replace the glaze with freshly whipped Chantilly cream and scatter over some gold leaf, just for an extra Queen of Sheba effect.

This is also delicious served with a Chai crème Anglaise. To keep this dessert gluten free, serve with Chestnut and Vanilla ice cream or salted caramel macarons.

This recipe was first published 18 December 2019 but now completely updated.