Belinda's flourless coconut and chocolate cake

Every month or so we gather in the test kitchen with our pastry chefs. It’s an open forum, with the chefs presenting their offerings, which we then taste and discuss. It’s always exciting, as ideas are constantly being improved and implemented.

This cake was a product of one of those meetings, brought to the table by Franceska Venzon, herself inspired by Belinda Jeffery’s version of the cake. We’ve played around with the shape – baking it in a loaf tin – and added a chocolate ganache, but the base is all Belinda’s.

There’s something about a cake showcasing its flourless-ness or gluten-free nature which can often make it sound a little bit worthy. Unfairly so, in a case like this, where the feeling of eating it is the very opposite of ‘free-from’: it’s utterly buttery and decadent.

Serves 8
 

Ingredients:

Cake:

200g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing

250g caster sugar

60g desiccated coconut

scraped seeds of 1 vanilla pod

¼ tsp salt

4 large eggs

180g ground almonds

Water Ganache:

60g cooking chocolate (70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped into 1cm pieces

25g caster sugar

25g liquid glucose

3 tbsp water

scraped seeds of ¼ vanilla pod

25g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into 2cm cubes

Method:

1              Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C Fan/Gas Mark 4. Grease the base and sides of the 900g loaf tin or 23cm round springform tin and line with baking parchment, then set aside.

2         Place the butter, sugar, desiccated coconut, vanilla and salt in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on a medium-high speed, until pale and fluffy: about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Reduce the speed to low, add the ground almonds and mix until just combined.

3         Scrape the mixture into the cake tin and bake for either 40 minutes if using the loaf tin, or 50 minutes if using the round tin, or until the cake is golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin before inverting on to a serving plate. Set aside until completely cool.

4         Make the water ganache when you are ready to serve. Place the chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside. Put the sugar and glucose in a small saucepan and place over a medium-low heat. Stir to combine and, when the sugar has melted, increase the heat to medium and bring to the boil, stirring gently from time to time. Continue to boil for about 7 minutes, until the colour is a pale amber. Remove from the heat and carefully pour in the water. Don’t worry if the mix seizes: just return the pan to the heat, add the scraped vanilla seeds and stir gently and continuously until it returns to the boil and the sugar has melted again. Remove from the heat and wait for a minute before pouring the water-caramel over the chocolate. Allow to stand for about 3 minutes, then whisk to combine. Add the butter, a couple of cubes at a time, whisking after each addition. Continue until all the butter has been added, whisking to combine until the consistency is that of golden syrup.

5        Spread the ganache over the top of the cake, letting a little run down the sides.

Notes:
- This can either be made in a regular 900g loaaf tin or a 23cm round springform tin.

- This will keep well for up to 5 days in an airtight container. It can be eaten on the day of making, but we think it tastes even better served at room temperature the following day.