Simple, Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

This is my favorite chocolate cake because it has so many nuts in it. Nuts and chocolate is a winning combination if you ask me!

It’s also fairly simple to make and you can make it without flour if you like. I don’t have a problem with flour, but for the purpose of showing how to make it gluten-free, I used almond flour here (only two tablespoons).

 

Start by setting up a double boiler on your stove top (a bowl over a pot filled with an inch or so of water)…

 

In the bowl, place 1 1/4 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips (or other baking chocolate broken into small pieces), 2 sticks of butter minus one tablespoon ( or in other words, 14 tablespoons butter, keep the last tablespoon for buttering your baking pan), and 2 teaspoons of instant coffee. 

 

Turn the heat on high and use a spatula to stir the mixture frequently…

 

Until the chocolate and butter are completely melted and combined. Turn the heat off, take the bowl off the pot, and set aside to cool a bit.

 

To the food processor, add 2.5 cups of nuts. I used raw peanuts because I have a huge bag of them in my freezer, but you can use any kind of nut. I love making this cake with walnuts (that’s my favorite). You can use roasted nuts or raw nuts. 

 

Pulse the nuts until they are as fine as they can be.

 

To a large mixing bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer), add five eggs and 1/2 cup sugar…

 

Blend the eggs and the sugar together (I use a hand mixer but you can do this in a stand mixer)…

 

Then, slowly mix in the chocolate mixture…

 

Until it is well combined.

 

Add the 2.5 cups of ground nuts and 2 tablespoons of flour. You can use regular flour, almond flour, coconut flour… I used almond flour here.

 

Mix the nuts and flour in.

 

Butter a 9” springform pan…

 

And add the cake batter. Bake in a 350F, preheated oven for about 40 minutes.

 

To check if the cake is ready, stick a toothpick in its center, it should come up with a few moist crumbs. If it comes out wet, bake a few more minutes.

 

Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 10-20 minutes.

You can serve it warm if you find that you can’t wait to dig in.

To release it from the pan, insert a butter knife between the cake and the pan and slide it around…

 

Then release the spring and remove the ring of the pan.

 

It’s moist and delicious. Goes very well with berries, or vanilla ice cream, or whipped cream…

Or all of the above! Life is short, baby.

 

I leave it on the counter, at room temperature (in an airtight container or covered by aluminum foil) and it doesn’t take long for it to disappear.

 

You can also store it in the fridge if you like.

Enjoy!