Bake your way into the long weekend! This week, food writer Libby Kimber shares this recipe for a gluten-free chocolate fudge cake.
This is an edited extract from How to Make Anything Gluten Free by Becky Excell published by Quadrille RRP $39.99 and is available in stores nationally from 17 February 2021.
- Butter, for greasing
- 190ml (generous 3/4 cup) milk
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 200g (1 1/2 cups) gluten-free plain flour
- 50g (1/2 cup) cocoa powder
- 160g (3/4 cup) plus 1 Tbsp caster sugar
- 150g (3/4 cup) light brown sugar
- 1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
- 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
- 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
- 2 medium eggs
- 80ml (1/3 cup) melted butter (or oil), cooled
- 1 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 Tbsp instant coffee
- 190ml (3/4 cup) plus 1 Tbsp boiling water
For the icing
- 200g dark chocolate, broken into pieces
- 155g (2/3 cup) butter
- 90ml (6 Tbsp) double cream
Preheat your oven to 160°C fan/180°C. Lightly grease two 20cm round cake tins and line with non-stick baking parchment.
Start by making your icing. In a large heatproof bowl, add your chocolate, butter and cream. Place over a saucepan of gently boiling water, making sure the water isn’t touching the base of the bowl, and keep stirring until everything has melted and mixed together. Set aside to cool completely and thicken to a spreadable consistency.
In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix your milk and lemon juice and allow to stand for 10 minutes until it curdles a little.
In a large mixing bowl, add all the dry ingredients, sifting in the flour and cocoa powder. Mix well.
Crack your eggs into the slightly curdled milk, then add the melted butter or oil, and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add the wet mixture to your dry ingredients and mix together until well combined.
Next, dissolve the coffee in the boiling water and add to the cake mixture. Mix until it has a nice shine to it, then split your mixture evenly between the two tins.
Bake for 30–35 minutes, checking that the cakes are cooked by sticking a skewer into the centre – if it comes out clean, then they’re done. Leave to cool for 10 minutes in the tins before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Spoon the icing onto one of the cooled cakes and spread evenly to the edges. Place your other cake on top, spoon more icing on top and evenly spread it to the edges, adding enough for the icing to just start going over the edges – you can then spread the icing around the sides too so that the cake is completely covered.
Slice and enjoy!
Making it dairy-free? Replace the butter with a (hard) dairy-free alternative to butter. Ensure the chocolate and cocoa powder are both dairy-free. Use dairy-free milk. Use a dairy-free alternative to double cream.
Making it vegan? Follow the advice above to make it dairy-free and replace the eggs with 6 Tbsp aquafaba (whisked until frothy).
Check out Becky Excell’s gluten-free banoffee pie recipe.
