Greg’s Gluten-free Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake with Dairy-free Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Rich, decadent chocolate cake. This Dairy-free, Gluten-free and Paleo recipe is made with olive oil, ground almonds, honey and fudgy medjool date frosting.

Greg's Gluten-free Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake with Dairy-free Chocolate Fudge Frosting

This gluten-free and dairy-free recipe makes a dense and indulgent chocolate cake that leans toward pudding territory. Chocolate cakes made with cacao powder have a lighter crumb and a more intense flavour than those made with melted chocolate. This is because cacao powder is comprised almost entirely of cacao solids, whereas chocolate is diluted with cacao butter. Chocolate cakes made with melted chocolate have a fudgy texture and a richer mouth-feel. So when Greg asked for a chocolate birthday cake, I decided to give him the best of both worlds by combining cacao powder and melted chocolate.

makes
cooking time
1 cake
Greg’s Gluten-free Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake with Dairy-free Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Ingredients

for the cake:

  • 100g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
  • 1/2 cup (135g) honey
  • 2 1/2 cups (225g) ground almonds
  • 4 tablespoons raw cacao powder, sieved
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 large eggs, separated
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) olive oil
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) almond milk

for greasing the cake tin:

  • olive oil

for the raspberry puree:

  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 250g fresh raspberries

for the chocolate fudge frosting:

  • 300g medjool dates (about 16), pitted and roughly chopped
  • 1/2 cup (120ml) almond milk
  • 4 tablespoons raw cacao powder, sieved
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Bake the cake. Preheat the oven to 160°C/340°F. Lightly grease the sides of two 20cm/8″ round, loose-bottomed cake tins with olive oil, and line the bottoms with baking paper.
  2. Place the chocolate and honey in a heatproof bowl, and set over a pan of simmering water. Do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water, or any steam to come into contact with the chocolate, as this will cause the chocolate to seize into a grainy lump (so use a bowl that has a wider diameter than the pan). Once the chocolate has completely melted, set aside to cool for a few minutes.
  3. In a small bowl, measure out the dry ingredients (ground almonds, cacao powder, baking soda and salt).
  4. In a large mixing bowl, measure out the wet ingredients (egg yolks, olive oil and almond milk).
  5. Put the egg whites in a clean, dry bowl and whisk with an electric whisk for 2 minutes, until soft peaks form.
  6. Mix the wet ingredients with the same whisk, until pale yellow and aerated. Add the dry ingredients, and stir until blended using a wooden spoon. Add the chocolate mixture and stir until blended.
  7. Lighten the mixture by stirring in one-third of the whisked egg whites. Tip in the rest of the egg whites and gently fold in using a spatula: cut down the centre with the side edge of the spatula; scrape across the bottom of the bowl and up the side, scooping up the mixture as you go so that it is turned over and under; rotate the bowl 90° and repeat until fully blended. Be careful not to overwork the mixture and knock out the air, but make sure the bitter egg white is fully blended.
  8. Divide the mixture evenly into the two prepared tins. Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes, until a crust has formed on top and the cake starts to pull away from the side of the tin. The centre may still feel slightly squishy, but should not be wobbly (the cake will firm up as it cools in the tin).
  9. Wait until the cakes have cooled for 10 minutes before running a palette knife around the sides and turning out onto a wire cooling rack.
  10. Frost the cake. Meanwhile, make the raspberry puree. Combine the honey, lemon juice and raspberries in a saucepan. Heat over a high heat, stirring constantly and mashing until the puree thickens – about 8 minutes.
  11. Make the chocolate fudge frosting by combining the dates and 2 tablespoons of the almond milk in the small bowl of a food processor (if using dried dates rather than fresh dates, soften first by steeping in boiled water for 10 minutes then draining). Blitz to a smooth paste, gradually adding the rest of the almond milk a tablespoon at a time to loosen the mixture. If it starts to seize, scrape down the sides. Add the cacao powder and salt, and blitz until fully blended.
  12. Spread one half the raspberry puree over the top of one of the cakes. Spoon and spread about one-third of the chocolate fudge frosting over the raspberry puree. Sandwich the other cake on top, and repeat. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, but serve at room temperature so that the chocolate will melt on the tongue and release its flavour.

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2 thoughts on “Greg’s Gluten-free Chocolate Raspberry Layer Cake with Dairy-free Chocolate Fudge Frosting”

  • Hi. I love the sound of this recipe but I prefer to make cupcakes rather than one large cake. If I do that, how many cupcakes do you think I would get from the mix and how long do you think I should bake them for?

    Thanks!

    • Thanks for the feedback 🙂 That’s a really good question. I haven’t tried this but, if I were you, I would halve the amounts given for the cake, and expect that to fill about 12 muffin moulds. Fill the moulds two-thirds full, and bake for around 17-18 minutes before checking for doneness. If they feel springy to the touch then they’re ready, but, if not, bake for another 3-4 minutes before checking again. Leave them to cool in the moulds for 10 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack (gluten-free bakes are more prone to crumble when they’re still warm). They will be quite dense cupcakes (because this is not a chocolate cake of the fluffy and airy variety), and so, if you are after an airier texture, you might want to add another egg white. If you try any of this, let me know how you get on! Rwth x

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