Chocolate almond cake is one stunning rich, dense, fudgy, and very chocolatey little number. One that you need in your repertoire. Just 5 ingredients and 50 minutes cooking till you’ve got a cake that will win over everyone.
Now this cake would be a ten served just as is with some freshly whipped cream, but to really turn it into a ‘little black dress of cakes’ we slather it with chocolate ganache, and then sprinkle with toasted almonds. OMG, talk about over the top, but in a really elegant way this cake will turn any meal into fine dining.
This is a cake that we trot out year round for its simple deliciousness.
Almond meal
Depending on what part of the world you live almond meal could be called almond flour or ground almonds. What you need is 100% almonds and nothing else, so check out the label.
Gluten free
As this cake is made with almond meal it is gluten free.
Check out some more winning cake recipes
click on the link…..Edna’s Lemon Curd Cake
click on the link…..Orange and Almond Cake
click on the link…..Plum Streusel Cake
click on the link…..Sicilian Apple Cake
click on the link…..Easy Moist Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Icing
What’s your favourite chocolate cake recipe? We would love to hear from you in the comments below.
Chocolate Almond Cake
Jill Dupleix's 'Incredibly Wonderful Chocolate Cake' recipe is an adaptation of a superb Elizabeth David recipe. It is rich, dense and slightly fudgy, but not in a cloying way like mud cake. It's a winner!
Ingredients
Cake
- 250g (9 ounces) dark cooking chocolate finely chopped - see notes
- 150g (5 1/4 ounces) castor sugar
- 150g (5 1/4 ounces) butter
- 5 large eggs, separated
- 100g (3 1/2 ounces) almond meal (almond flour)
- 1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
Ganache
- 1 cup thickened (heavy) cream
- 200g (7 ounces) dark chocolate - see notes
Instructions
ganache - make your ganache before starting the cake
- in a small saucepan add cream and chopped chocolate
- bring to a simmer and stir till chocolate is melted and mixture is combined
- remove from heat and refrigerate till cool and thickened (about an hour)
cake
- preheat oven to 180c (350f) on bake, not fan force
- butter and flour a 20cm (8 inch) cake tin an cut a disc of baking paper for the base
- melt butter, sugar and chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water
- remove from heat and stir thoroughly
- add almond meal (almond flour) and blend, then beat in egg yolks, one by one
- in a separate bowl beat egg whites till stiff and peaked
- add a couple of spoonfuls of egg whites and mix to slacken the mixture, then gently fold through remaining egg whites
- pour mixture into cake tin and bake for 45-50 minutes
- leave cake in the tin to cool
- remove cake from tin
- spread ganache over cake top and sides and sprinkle toasted almonds over cake
- serve and enjoy!
Notes
- we used Lindt Dessert 70% Cocoa cooking chocolate
Nutrition Information
Amount Per Serving Calories 0Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 0mgSodium 0mgCarbohydrates 0gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 0g
Cooper
Aww, just look at this gorgeous little bundle. Flicking through some images of Coops on the day we picked him up, even then he’d been into some water!
Cooper, like all retrievers loves water (and air con) and has his very own little hard plastic swimming pool so he can just have a swim whenever he likes, which is a lot.
8 comments
I made this cake, it came out so yum that it finished in no time.
Thank you for such simple and amazing recipe
Hi Kanika, yes it’s a little winner and we’re so happy you loved it. Thanks for commenting, Jo and Jen
I have made this recipe twice and both times it sunk in the middle after I took it out of the oven. I checked the cake was baked with a skewer prior to taking it out, so I’m not sure what went wrong. The cake’s texture was fine when cut, however I don’t think the cake should sink. Any advice?
Hi Andrea, so sorry to hear your cake sunk. Jen and I are thinking that the egg whites were either under-beaten or over-beaten. When you beat egg whites you’re incorporating air into the tiny bubbles which becomes the rising agent for the cake. If there is not enough air bubbles it will cause the cake to sink, same as over beating the egg whites will destroy the air bubbles.
The other factor is when you fold the egg whites in you need to gently fold the whites through so as to not break the air bubbles.
When you make it again try to pay particular attention to the whites.
Some other factors that cause a cake to sink are
1. cake batter sits too long before putting in the oven and the bubbles collapse
2. incorrect oven temperature
3. incorrect pan size
Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you still have problems so we can get to the bottom of the sinking.Kind regards, Jo and Jen
I made this cake for my boyfriend for his birthday with great success. There was a bit of sinking I think I need to let it cool a little longer. I simply shaved off the top and iced it with the lava of the Gods and topped it with almonds and Tadaa, a thing of beauty. This also doubles easily! Loved it and will makeit for my birthday in a couple weeks.
Hello Mairi, we’re so pleased you were happy with this cake. It is a thing of beauty and tastes great too! Thanks for commenting. Regards, Jo and Jen
I cooked this cake, using it as the base for a chocolate mousse cake -(2 layers of mousse, milk and white choc-mint and then a thin dark ganache over the top for an18th Birthday Cake). The cake was a hit! I did find I needed to cook the cake for a bit longer than suggested, as the surface layer cooked more quickly than the middle (my oven can be temperamental). I found using a knife was a better indicator of the cake being cooked than using a thin skewer which came out clean – when the cake needed further time. When returned to the oven for extra time, there was no sinking (took a knife test rather than skewer test to get an accurate reading of it being ready) and the texture and flavour was divine! Thank you for this amazing recipe! Lots of positive comments from my stepson and his friends! I’ll definitely be making this one again.
Hello Lindy, so pleased you enjoyed the cake. Thanks for the knife tip. Regards, Jo and Jen