I don’t know if summer is the time to be eating a cake so rich that it should only be served in slivers. But I assume if you chug a glass of juice afterwards, it all balances out? You guys. This cake is everything that a birthday cake should be. Deeply chocolatey, so so fudgy, nutty from all the almonds and the nicest coconut flavours.
I’ve been hoarding this Bon Appetit recipe for a while because flourless cakes are my favourite kind of cake. This particular one resembles this hazelnut version in texture, but it has all of the chocolate-coconut paradise going on inside. It’s a little more involved, but the results are absolutely worth it.
I made a few changes to the recipe: reduced the eggs to 4 instead of 6 because overly eggy cakes scare me off. I didn’t reduce the amount of chocolate though, so this is a very dense, fudgy cake. If you’d like a little more lightness, by all means use 6 eggs. The sugar is scaled down a bit and I found it just the perfect amount. And the frosting originally was a non-dairy coconut milk kind, but I used my new favourite fudge frosting. The result is this ooey gooey wonder.
The cake is best served at room temperature. It’s easier to slice and serve this way, but definitely keep tons of tissues near you because it is one giant frosting mess if you live in India 😀 This is definitely not an anytime cake, save it for an occasion and make sure there’s lots of people to share it with!
Happy baking and a very happy weekend!
Coconut Almond Fudge Cake (Gluten-Free)
Ingredients
For the cake
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup coconut oil*
- 225 gms dark cooking chocolate
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut*
- 4 eggs at room temperature*
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup castor sugar
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
For the frosting
- 2/3 cups icing sugar
- 1/3 cup cocoa powder
- 3 tbsps butter, at room temp
- 3 to 4 tbsps cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 175 C. Spread the almonds out on an ungreased baking tray and bake for 8 to 10 minutes until fragrant and lightly browned. Set aside.
- In a double boiler, melt the oil and chocolate until smooth. Set aside.
- Grease an 8" springform pan. Preheat the oven to 160 C.
- In the bowl of a food processor, blitz the still-warm almonds and cocoa powder until finely ground. Add the coconut and blitz until just combined.
- Using either a hand mixer or stand mixer (preferred), beat the eggs for about 20 seconds until combined, then add the sugar and vanilla and beat for about 2 minutes. The mixture should go pale and frothy, and when you lift the beater, the egg should drip back and sink in immediately. This step is important to give the cake a nice texture.
- Now beat in the melted chocolate mixture slowly (switch to the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer) and then add the coconut mixture. Fold in gently, taking care not to deflate the eggs.
- Pour the batter into the pan and smoothen the top. It does not spread or rise very much in the oven, so smoothening is important.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to come to cool at room temperature before frosting.
- To make the frosting, sift the sugar and cocoa very well, there should be no lumps. In a separate bowl, beat the butter until fluffy, then add the sugar and cocoa mixture, alternating with the cream. Beat till smooth and creamy. If needed, add more cream or whole milk to get the frosting to a thick, but spreadable consistency.
- Spread the frosting over the cooled cake and top with flaked almonds. If not serving immediately, store in the refrigerator especially if you're working in a warm environment.
- Before slicing, let the cake come to room temperature for the best flavour and texture. It tastes like fudge when chilled, so that's certainly not a bad idea either! Enjoy!
Notes
Sofia says
This cake looks heavenly! I am going through your recipes, and you have such awesome pictures girl! You totally deserve more followers! I am definitely gonna pin some of these!
Sofia
the desserted girl says
That’s so sweet Sofia! Thank you so so much 🙂
Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook says
This looks really delicious!!
the desserted girl says
Thanks Jhuls!
Sheila says
thanks for your recipe, today is Mother’s Day, i will make it for my mother. hope my mother will happy. I love my mother and love your recipe. My cooking skills have taken another step =)))
the desserted girl says
Thank you Sheila! I hope you and your mom love this cake 🙂
arpita says
Hi ! This looks like an amazing recipe. The gluten free is especially tempting 😀
I had a query, at any place in this recipe, can we replace sugar with honey?
Thanks!
the desserted girl says
Hi Arpita, I’m honestly not sure because the texture will be quite different. But if you try it, please let me know 🙂 Happy baking!
Arpita says
hi.. the cake cake out quite yummy and fudgy but sadly it was too wet in the centre and the cake broke while taking out from the tin (even though i baked for close to 40 mins ).. why do you think that happened 🙁
the desserted girl says
Oh no I’m sorry to hear that! Did you use honey like you wanted to? Or any extra moisture in any form ? That could have caused the centre to remain wet. Overall the cake is definitely moist. All ovens function differently so it’s possible the centre takes longer to cook in yours. Covering the cake with foil and then continuing to bake is a good idea. And the cake needs to be completely cooled before you can slice it. Hope that helped!