Gluten-free, dairy-free, fat-free… these are not terms that you will often find me using. In my opinion, anything that ends in ‘-free’ might as well begin with ‘fun’. Fun-free desserts just don’t do it for me, but, with that said, I think everyone deserves the right to eat a slice of chocolate cake. And if your body has issues with dairy and gluten, then that should not stop you! This recipe was given to me by my much-better-half who is a supremely better pastry chef than I am. It is the darkest, richest, moistest chocolate cake you will ever have the pleasure of tasting. It’s also low on sugar (excuse me swearing like this, but you could even use ahem… xylitol which would make it Paleo or banting or whatever diet people are going on these days). But because there is no place for sugar-free desserts on this blog, my version will feature in all it’s sugary glory. If you’re not a fan of coconut, then swop out the coconut flour and milk for extra ground almonds and almond milk, although you’ll need to add some more oil as almond milk isn’t nearly as fatty as coconut milk. If you want a sweeter cake, simply add more sugar or honey but the bitter chocolate is really quite delicious!

Dark Chocolate Coconut Ganache Cake

Serves 6-8

 

For the cake:

75g coconut flour

30g ground almonds

100g (250ml) The Kate Tin Cocoa Powder

14g baking powder

250g muscovado sugar

800ml tinned coconut milk

7 large eggs

 

For the ganache:

200ml tinned coconut milk

100g brown sugar

100g (250ml) The Kate Tin Cocoa Powder

50g The Kate Tin Dark Baking Chocolate, chopped

Coconut shavings, toasted, to garnish

Combine the flour, almonds, cocoa, baking powder and sugar. Mix together the coconut milk and eggs and add to the dry ingredients. Whisk well to combine then pour into a 2 greased and lined 18cm cake tins. Bake in a preheated oven at 175C for 45-50 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. For the frosting, combine the coconut milk, sugar and cocoa powder in a saucepan and stir over a low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Bring to the boil, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chocolate. Stir until smooth then allow to cool. Assemble the cake by sandwiching with the ganache then topping with remaining ganache. Sprinkle with the coconut shavings to decorate.