This is the second time I made this particular cake, and I am always surprised how decadent and chocolaty it is. The ground almonds and Cointreau make this a very rich cake. One thin slice with a cup of coffee is perfect, which means this cake goes a long way. It is a great cake for entertaining or for birthday parties. It has such an intense flavour and you definitely don’t miss the flour at all. I used raspberries, blackberries and cream on top to balance the richness of the cake. Whenever I think gluten free cake, I usually make my scrunched up face of disgust. I always imagine gluten free cake to be sticky and weird. As more and more people are gluten intolerant these days though, there is even more need for yummier options for coeliacs. I’ve been experimenting a bit this week and made some sweet potato cookies and this chocolate cake. I adapted this from a recipe by Jane Asher.
Ingredients
- 150g of butter
- 200g of dark chocolate (60-70% cocoa) broken into pieces
- 2 tablespoons of Cointreau
- 150g of castor sugar
- 100g of ground almonds
- 5 eggs seperated
- cream, lightly whipped
- Berries (raspberries and blackberries )
- Cointreau
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease an 18cm round tin (with a loose bottom) with butter. Put the chocolate pieces, Cointreau, butter, and sugar in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Heat gently, until it has all melted and become a smooth chocolatey liquid. Take off the heat and leave to cool. Next stir the 5 separated egg yolks into the chocolate mixture along with the ground almonds.
Meanwhile in a large bowl, whisk the five egg whites with an electric beater. Whisk until the egg whites have formed stiff peaks. Gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Finally pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 45 -60 mminutes.
Once cooled, remove the cake from the tin and leave cool on a wire rack. Place on a serving plate and decorate with the cream and berries. I put a little extra Cointreau in the cream for extra yumminess.
