HAPPY BIRTDHAY to a very special man in my life, who has supported me since day 1, no matter how difficult I’ve been in the past 25 years (yes, these type of men do exist). Thank you!
I don’t know if you recall the birthday craze two years ago where I baked 5 cakes for one celebration. And there weren’t even many leftovers! Lucky for me, after a certain age, big birthdays only come once every 5 or 10 years (depending how excited the birthday child gets). This year, having reduced the guestlist from roughly 50 to an intimate family affair, one cake fed all. Not just any cake, but my grandma’s famous chocolatey, flourless, moist, gluten free, almondy heaven. It was praised by all tasters. One even demanded I post the recipe online. So here you go, try and recreate, let me know how it goes, invite me to taste and judge, but most importantly – enjoy.

Grandma’s Chocolate Cake

makes a 26cm cake

You’ll need

125g butter, softened
6 eggs
250g caster sugar
250g ground almonds
6g baking powder
1 tbsp Kirsch
1 tbsp Amaretto
250g dark chocolate (45-50%), melted
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cornflour

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a 26cm cake tin with baking paper and grease the sides with butter.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, eggs and butter until you have a smooth mixture.
3. Stir in the cornflour, almonds, salt and baking powder. Finally add your melted chocolate, Kirsch and Amaretto and whizz until combined.
4. Pour this chocolate heaven into the prepared tin and bake for about 40 minutes, until an inserted skewer comes out clean.
5. Once baked, let it sit in the tin for about 10 minutes before removing. Let the cake cool completely before serving. Decorate to your liking (I usually top it with melted almond-praline-chocolate, because yay to more decadence and calories).

Rating: 10/10

It’s simple, it’s quick, it’s deliciously satisfying, it’s gluten free.

P.S. use half of the ingredients for a 20cm cake