Chocolate & Amaretti Cake. Dairy, Wheat & Gluten Free!

A dense chocolate cake, filled with amaretti biscuits and lots and lots of chocolate! This is a perfect dessert cake for a special occasion; rich, decadent, and chocolatey in every mouthful!

This dessert was stumbled upon by accident, and I’m so glad I did! In search of something to give a chocolate fix, I came across this recipe on the Food Network. Full of ground almonds, amaretti biscuits and orange zest it just sounded too good not to try. I’m now a real convert to using chocolate and almond as a combination ever since these delicious Raspberry & Amaretti Brownies, and it never disappoints.

Not only do the ground almonds and amaretti biscuits provide a lot of flavour, they also replace any flour you would normally need in a cake. That means not only is this cake dairy free, it is also gluten and wheat free too! You really wouldn’t know it though – the cake slices beautifully and has a dense cake-like texture.

Now although this is a cake, and you could, of course, eat it at tea time – I think this cake really deserves to be eaten as a dessert. As rich and decadent as it is, it just cries out for a light drizzle of chocolate sauce on top, and is delightful with a small scoop of ice cream. It’s not heavy as such, but a small slice will go a long way after a big meal!

I’m making this cake to take to my brother’s house for Christmas as the chocolate dessert – so one of the absolute best things about it is that it genuinely tastes better a day or two after baking. The amaretti flavour seemed to come out a lot more, and you could taste more of the orange zest. I’m a firm believer that everyone needs a repertoire of recipes from the quick and instant to the make in advance; and this recipe would fit that second category perfectly.

As a side note, if you’re making this for an adults only group, I would highly recommend adding a small amount of Disaronno. The amaretti-flavoured liqueur gives a slight alcoholic heat to the chocolate sauce, and really helps the almond flavours stand out. Trust me – once you’ve tried this sauce, you’ll start to think of the many other things it would go with….

Serves 10 – 12, takes 25 minutes to make plus baking and cooling time.

Recipe adapted from the Food Network: http://www.foodnetwork.co.uk/recipes/chocolate-amaretti-cake.html

Ingredients:

• For the Cake:
• 110g dark chocolate
• 150g ground almonds
• 60g soft amaretti biscuits
• 120g dairy free butter, plus extra for greasing
• 130g golden caster sugar
• Zest of 1/2 orange
• 4 eggs
• Cocoa power for dusting
• For the Chocolate Sauce:
• 50g dark chocolate
• 1 tsp dairy free butter
• 1 tsp dairy free milk
• 1 tsp golden syrup
• Optional: 2 tsp of Disaronno

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees. Line a 23cm loose bottom cake tin with grease proof paper, and grease the sides of the tin with a little dairy free butter. Place tin in the fridge to get cold whilst you make the cake.
2. Melt the chocolate either slowly in a microwave, or in a bowl suspended over simmering water.
3. Place the ground almonds and amaretti biscuits into a food processor and pulse until the biscuits are breadcrumb like.
4. Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the orange zest and mix again. Add the eggs one at a time and mix until smooth.
5. Add the almond mixture and melted chocolate to the batter and mix until evenly incorporated, then pour into the cake tin.
6. 
7. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes until the top is dry (don’t worry if it cracks) and a skewer comes out clean from the centre.
8. Leave to cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes, then carefully turn out onto a wire rack.
9. 
10. Whilst the cake is cooling, make the chocolate sauce. In a small bowl, add the chocolate, butter, milk, golden syrup, and Disaronno if using and melt slowly in a microwave or suspended over simmering water until smooth.
11. Serve warm, drizzled with chocolate sauce, and with ice cream if wished.

NB: This cake tastes even better the day after baking. To serve, reheat each slice of cake in the microwave for around 20 seconds. Melt the chocolate sauce again in the microwave and serve.