So far in this series we’ve made a vegetarian tart, baked some melt-in-the-mouth cookies, braised some ribs cooked in rum and coke and pickled some watermelon rind.
Excellent for entertaining
Today we’re half-way through this series and by way of celebration we’re indulging in a dark, double chocolate, chocolate cake that also happens to be gluten-free.
Served with berries and a dollop of cream
The recipe comes from Liz whose blog, That Skinny Chick Can Bake is one of my favourites. When it came time for me to choose a recipe, I was in a great dilemma as Liz bakes almost everyday and always seems to post a recipe that I would love to try. Although Liz’s blog contains recipes from a wide range of cuisines with every imaginable dish covered, predominantly hers is a blog of baked goods. And baked goods is something Liz does very, very well with every dish presented neatly, perfectly and beautifully.
Two layers of chocolate
I fell in love with Liz’s blog pretty much instantly and discovered during my visits that despite living in different corners of the world, we have a lot in common. Liz is one of five girls and I am too. We both grew up with mothers who loved to cook, experimented widely in the kitchen and frequently entertained. After finishing high school Liz and I both went into nursing. We both have three children and we both have the same mix of two sons and a daughter. Liz’s children are in college and two of mine are also studying at university. But there is one big difference between us and that is that while my husband has never, ever been known to ever refuse any food item or dish put in front of him, Liz’s husband, Bill, has aversions to just about everything. I think he eats about five things.
Flourless Double Chocolate Cake
I’m really grateful to be living in a time when blogging exists and that friendships can be made and developed with people on the other side of the world and one of the great things about an on-line friendship is that you can discover just how much you have in common with someone you otherwise, would never, ever have known.
So where is Liz?
Liz grew up in Iowa and currently lives in, uhm, (trying to think of it), uhm…oh dear, I’m not too sure. But it must be near Iowa because it has very cold and long winters. So today we’re somewhere in the middle of the USA and we’re enjoying something very rich, very dark and very decadent.
Rich and indulgent
This recipe will appeal to many because it’s gluten-free, because it’s relatively easy to make and because it’s impressive and therefore great to present when entertaining. It requires just a handful of easy-to-source ingredients and in fact, I only needed to go out to buy the chocolate.
I’ve rewritten the recipe converting it to metric with the imperial measurements in brackets.
I served the cake with fresh berries and a dollop of cream.
- 250gms (1 cup) dark chocolate chips
- 125gms (8 tbspns) butter, chopped
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tsp espresso
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ tsp salt
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup cocoa powder, sifted
- For the Ganache:
- 250gms (1 cup) dark chocolate chips
- ½ cup thickened cream
- Preheat oven to 180C (375F).
- Line the base and sides of a 21cm (8 inch) cake tin with baking paper.
- Place a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water making sure the water doesn't touch the bowl. Add chocolate and butter and stir until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. (Alternatively, melt in the microwave stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth).
- Add sugar, espresso vanilla and salt and stir until well combined.
- Add eggs and beat until smooth.
- Mix in cocoa powder and stir until smooth.
- Pour cake mixture into prepared tin and cook for 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
- Upturn cake on to serving platter and allow to cool completely.
- For the Ganache:
- Combine chocolate and cream in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water being careful not to let the water touch the bowl. Stir cream and chocolate until melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Allow to cool slightly. (Alternatively melt chocolate and cream in a bowl placed in the microwave for 30 second bursts, stirring between bursts).
- When ganache has thickened but still spreadable, pour over top of cake.
- Place cake in refrigerator to chill completely before serving.
- Serve with berries and cream if desired.
If you would like to visit Liz, you will find her at That Skinny Chick Can Bake or your can follow her via facebook.
Fourless Double Chocolate Cake
Tomorrow we’re going for crunch!
Looks like a lovely cake Liz and Charlie!
Such gorgeous shots Charlie simple and decadent I’m really keen to try this recipe, thanks for sharing it with us!
How nice that you have so many things in common and yet have never met apart from across the blogosphere. Who doesn’t love chocolate cake? Looks divine.
I love Liz’s site also!! And this cake looks ridiculously decadent. In the best way, of course!
That cake looks so perfect – and tempting – I would not be able to resist it – interesting that it has not flour at all – will be bookmarking for GF family
Looks like a fantastic recipe to have up your sleeve! Can’t wait to try it! Liz x
This sounds so decadent and perfect for me, a chocolate lover.
Perhaps Liz lives north across the border from Iowa in Minnesota where winters are, indeed, very cold and long.
Looks like a fabulous cake. I love this series Charlie. GG
Double chocolate, words to live by. This looks fab. I’m definitely going to check out Liz’s blog. Sounds like she might be sort of a neighbor. Illinois is next to Iowa.
I love any cake that I don’t have to split, fill and decorate. And the fact that it’s such a beautifully dark and rich looking chocolate doesn’t hurt. I just noticed that there’s espresso powder in it too … score!!
Liz writes such a great blog, doesn’t she? And her recipes always work. This is a wonderful one — thanks.
–Pure, Utter Decedance.
WOWWWwwwwwwwwwww.
Drooling in MN. xx
Charlie! What a fun surprise!!! I’m so honored that you baked up one of my cakes. And I know we’d be fast “real life” friends, too, if we actually lived in the same neighborhood (not to mention hemisphere!). Can’t wait to see who’s up next. xo
That looks wonderful! I may have to bake it today. 🙂
I don’t know how happy I am with you introducing me to more wonderful cooks, Charlie. Especially bakers! You see, I am NOT a skinny chick, LOL! Liz has a wonderful blog, which I’ve just visited thanks to you. The flourless cake really tempts me and I’m certainly clipping recipes from you and your blogging friends, hoping to have some baking weather soon. And I couldn’t agree more about the opportunities for worldwide friendship. I feel like the whole world has become my neighborhood. It’s delightful. We were on a train this past weekend and shared a lovely conversation with a couple and their small child visiting Los Angeles from their home in Sydney. I had such a better conversation with them (more authentic interest) because of what I’ve “seen” through you. It was lovely to reference you as my friend in Australia. ox
Would it be bad to have a slice of this for breakfast. Oh how I would love a slice right now. You really can’t go wrong with rich chocolate cake, cream and berries can you. Thanks for introducing me to another blogger. I’m loving this series!
I just love Liz’s blog too and am ever so jealous of how she manages to keep so thin and bake all these things! The gluten free chocolate cake is beautiful Charlie, I’m sure your guests would love it. That’s the thing that I too really enjoy about blogging is the ability to become friends over such distances, it really is incredible.
I have never tried making my own flourless cake!! Looks so moist too!
YUM – double chocolate cake that’s flourless makes portion control oh so hard! 😉
My daughter and I have a similar cake we make – only with coconut oil instead of butter and I haven’t added cocoa too with the chocolate chips – gotta try adding cocoa next time! Thanks for sharing this recipe from Liz – and your presentation looks gorgeous!
Hi Charlie, did not know you and Liz had so much in common. Love this chocolate cake, it’s a thing of beauty.
Wow this chocolate cake looks incredible. I love that it’s flourless especially.. wish I had a slice to devour right now!
This is a gorgeous chocolate cake! Liz really does bake some delicious sweets. I love the recipe you picked. So decadent!
That cake looks incredible and has now made it onto my list of recipes to try!
This looks very like the cake that my friend made for my birthday. It was delicious, but I had to resist eating very much because of the amount of sugar. My daughter-in-law is now using coconut sugar or agave in her cakes and I would recommend this option.
Isn’t Liz the best? You two would be best friends if you were living on the same continent. 🙂 I love the food you both create.
I love Liz, her recipes are incredible 😀
Delicious photos, I am dying for a taste!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
What an impressive looking cake! Your icing might have featured cream instead of coconut oil but I do love how rich and thick it looks 🙂
Charlie, this is a lovely tribute to Liz (the skinny one!)… I don’t know how she does it with all that baking… I’d be the size of a house. Gorgeous cake.
Oh no Charlie, I have all these ingredients in my cupboard right now! Must resist….. save calories for special occasion….weakening…… Help!
I’m truly surprised how many things are in common between you and Liz! I think she’s your soul sister. 😀 You must feel some kind of special bonding when you find out there are so many similarities! That’s really cool. And you make the excellent cake just like Liz does! Blogging makes the world a bit smaller than it is. I love that feeling. 🙂
I’ve never met a flourless chocolate cake I didn’t love, and this one is especially pretty.
This is one gorgeous cake! I love your photos, the cake stand and bowl whipped cream and raspberries, makes me want to pull up a chair! One of the women I met on my trip was going to send me her flourless chocolate cake recipe as we had been talking about it and then I saw your post. It’s taken me a few days to get here to view it, but it’s been on my mind for all these days! I love the dense chocolately texture of this, so sinfully good!
This looks amazing !
I like chocolate cake.Thanks for the recipe.
can you please tell me what kind of thickened cream is used?
Hi Patty, thickened cream in Australia is normal pouring cream that has been thickened with gelatine. If you can’t buy that in your part of the world, I would suggest using double cream.