A few days after Cindy's actual birthday I finally got around to making her a cake. She had her choice of anything in Ottolenghi and Helen Goh's Sweet. She went for this coconut and chocolate cake, thankfully well within the range of my baking skills. It's gluten free, made almost entirely of butter and sugar, with just enough coconut and almond meal to hold everything together. The ganache is a bit fiddly to make but adds a glossy, chocolatey sheen that's worth the effort. This was a real winner - rich and decadent, with a simple coconut and vanilla flavour. Recommended.
Flourless coconut & chocolate cake
(from Yotam Ottolenghi & Helen Goh's Sweet)
cake
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
250g caster sugar
2/3 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups almond meal
shake of salt
ganache
60g dark chocolate
1/8 cup caster sugar
25g glucose syrup
3 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
25g unsalted butter, diced into small cubes
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease and line a 23cm spring form tin.
Mix the butter, sugar, desiccated coconut, vanilla and salt in a big bowl with an electric mixer, until the mix is pale and fluffy. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating after each. Add in the almond meal and mix some more, until everything is combined.
Scrape the mixture into your tin and bake for 40-50 minutes, until it's gone brown on top and a skewer comes out clean. Set aside to cool and then remove from the tin.
To make the ganache, combine the sugar and glucose syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat and stir gently until the sugar is melted and everything has combined a bit. Simmer for 5 minutes or so, until it starts to brown.
Pour in the water - the mixture will seize up immediately - just keep it on the heat and everything will melt down again. Add in the vanilla. Once everything is liquidy and combined, kill the heat. Pop the chocolate chips in a bowl and pour the hot mixture over the top. Once the chocolate is melted, whisk in the butter, one cube at a time.
Spread the ganache over the cake and serve!
Belated happy birthday cindy - great job on the cake Michael - looks fancy without being over the top!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Johanna! Michael did a perfect job on this one.
DeleteA few questions.. I nees help!! I just made this, but not sure if I did something wrong! Did you use almond flour, or ground almonds? Mine is delicious, but is very oily looking to the point of making it seem not quite cooked, even though I cooked for 70 minutes. Were you able to actually pour the chocolate sauce as it said? I had to get it to melt again in double boiler, and then spread it.Was really sticking together. Any help is appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI used almond meal from the supermarket - Lucky brand I think? I couldn't pour the chocolate mix either, but I could spread it okay with a spoon!
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