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Recipe of the Week: Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

Chocolate Cake


Serves 12 | Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus cooling | Cooking time: 35–45 minutes

Chocolate has always been my ingredient of choice and you don’t have to be on a gluten-free diet to enjoy this rich and dark creation – all my customers love it!

115g (4oz) butter, melted, plus extra for greasing
350g (12oz) ground almonds
25g (1oz) desiccated coconut
100g (3½oz) unsweetened cocoa powder
70g (2½oz) stevia granules
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
225ml (8fl oz) milk
3 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
2 tbsp clear honey
cacao nibs, to decorate

For the ganache
350g (12oz) dark chocolate (80% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
125ml (4fl oz) double cream
2 tsp vanilla bean paste

Preheat the oven to 170°C (fan 140°C)/325°F/gas mark 3. Grease 2 x 20cm (8in) diameter sandwich cake tins and line with baking paper.

In a large bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, combine all the wet ingredients, then fold into the dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix.

Divide the mixture between the prepared tins and bake in the oven for 30–40 minutes until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a cooling rack to cool completely.

To make the ganache, melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of barely simmering water, making sure the surface of the water does not touch the bowl. Meanwhile, put the cream into a saucepan and heat to just below boiling point. Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and slowly pour in the cream, gently stirring with a balloon whisk until smooth and glossy. Fold in the vanilla paste. Leave to cool and thicken to a spreadable, glossy ganache.

When thickened, spread a good layer of ganache on to one of the cakes, then sandwich together with the remaining cake. Spread the remaining ganache over the top of the cake and decorate with cacao nibs.

ERIC


Extracted from Eric Lanlard’s Afternoon Tea by Eric Lanlard. Available here