I made this cake for my husband’s birthday. First I wanted to make his birthday favorite Julishka, but then I thought maybe this year I’d make something new and different. He likes chocolate and he also likes caramel, so what could really go wrong?!
I remembered a while ago I made a Black Forest Cake which didn’t require any flour, so I thought that would be a good start. I’ve changed a few things around: increased almond meal to 100 g and then substituted bread crumbs with organic shredded coconut.
I also remembered a cake my mom used to make with the almond caramel sauce, for which I don’t have a recipe, but thought I could recreate the sauce and pour over my chocolate cake. The cake turned out so much better than I hoped for. It has a nice texture, it’s moist and not too sweet at all. The sweetness of caramel fits really good with this cake and almonds give it a nice crunch. It’s definitely a winner!
Flourless Chocolate Cake with Caramel Almond Topping
Cake:
- 8 eggs (divided)
- 1 whole egg
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 TBSP water
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1.8 oz (50 g) dark cocoa
- 3.5 oz (100 g) ground blanched almonds
- 1.8 oz (50 g) organic shredded coconut
Topping:
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 6 TBSP (85 g) unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
- 1 cup (150 g) roasted blanched almonds
Preparation:
- Divide eggs and first beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm or when you turn the bowl upside down they don’t move. Set aside
- Now beat egg yolks, 1 whole egg, water and sugar until very pale yellow, add vanilla extract and cocoa. Make sure cocoa is well blended with eggs. Fold in almonds and coconut.
- At the end add egg whites and mix all together by hand until just incorporated.
- Pour into a round 8 inch (20 cm) cake spring form lined with parchment paper.
- Bake at 365 F (185 C) for about 30 minutes.
- While cake is baking roast your almonds until light brown and fragrant; set aside to cool.
- Remove the cake from the oven and cool completely and then make caramel topping.
- For the topping pour sugar into a heavy bottom pot and melt at a medium temperature. Have butter and cream handy.
- Once the melted sugar starts boiling add butter and cream at once. Lower the temperature and cook for another 5 minutes. Add roasted almonds and let it cool for about 5-10 minutes.
- As it cools caramel will become thicker. Pour over cake and serve. Keep the cake at the room temperature, or if keeping in the fridge remove 30-60 minutes before serving.
Bon Appetit!
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