Gluten-free chocolate & Irish coffee cake

Servings: 8
Traditionally served piping hot, with a devilishly billowing blob of cool cream, Irish coffee’s combo of espresso and whiskey balances brilliantly with the broody sweetness of couverture chocolate and cocoa. ‘Couverture’ refers to the quality of the chocolate, with a greater percentage of cocoa butter and finer texture, which gives it that rich, melt-in-the-mouth result we crave in chocolate desserts. Speaking of ‘melting’, this is the melt-n-mix kind of cake that’s easiest of all to make, and it’s gluten-free! My preference is for a French or Belgian couverture dark chocolate such as Valrhona or Callebaut, but if you’re headed for the supermarket, Lindt 70% (or similar) will do the trick. This keeps wrapped up in fridge for up to 4 days, and can be frozen if you keep the whipped cream off the top.
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Ingredients 

  • 200 g couverture dark 70% chocolate see tips
  • 250 ml pouring cream
  • 50 g butter
  • 50 ml strong espresso coffee
  • 1 tsp vanilla paste/extract
  • 1 tbsp good quality whiskey
  • Good pinch sea salt flakes
  • ⅓ cup (30g) Dutch cocoa powder (plus extra for dusting)
  • ⅔ cup (190g) firmly packed dark brown sugar
  • 1 ⅓ cups (125g) almond meal
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 3 eggs beaten
  • 300 ml thickened cream whipped to soft peaks

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 180℃ (160℃ fan). Grease and line a springform pan.
  • In a saucepan, heat cream and butter until bubbling, then pour over the chocolate pieces in a heat-proof bowl and leave to sit for 10 minutes.
  • Make espresso and add along with the vanilla and whiskey if using and sea salt to the chocolate and cream. Stir until incorporated, then fold in the cocoa, sugar, nut meal and baking powder and give it all a good whisk until all the lumps disappear.
  • Whisk beaten eggs in until well combined, then pour into the prepared pan and cook for 45 minutes or until the top springs back when touched, and a skewer comes out mostly clean. You want the cake to be a little undercooked, so it has that fudgy character when cooled.
  • When the cake has cooled, spoon the whipped cream over the top, and finish with a final dusting of cocoa.

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