Say hello to a super celebratory cake, perfect for all of the December festivities! With dark chocolate, almonds, whiskey, orange zest and a suuuuuper delicious ganache frosting, this cake is not for the faint hearted. Rich, fudgy and unapologetically indulgent, it’s absolutely worth making and eating!

There is a fudgy chocolate cake from many moons ago on this blog, which I’d made using a Donna Hay recipe. It’s made with almonds but isn’t flourless and the small amount of flour in it keeps it just cakey enough. Anyway, I was toying with the idea of some sort of boozy chocolate cake and then remembered seeing one in Rachel Allen’s cookbook called Cake. That one is actually flourless but because I didn’t want a piece of cake that was entirely fudge, I made a mashup of both those recipes and was delighted with the result!

A cake of this kind is usually made without any leaveners like baking powder or soda. It relies entirely on eggs to rise (therefore no substitutes!), and cracks on top like a brownie would, leaving the inside of the cake moist, rich and gooey. With plenty of melted chocolate and butter, this is a dense and fudgy cake but like I said, the little bit of flour in it keeps it from solidifying into complete fudginess. I used whiskey here but Rachel Allen uses rum, and you can certainly use your favourite booze. I also added orange zest to the batter and the ganache topping and together it’s all kinds of festive flavour parties going on!

The ganache is thick, silky and good enough to be eaten as is. I’d say it’s not strictly necessary but does add a little something to the cake and I mean, it’s December, it’s ok to be over the top 🙂 Since this cake is so rich, it’s perfect for a crowd because though you can cut it into 8 pieces, they’re enough to serve two!

Make this and tell me how you like it!

Please read the recipe notes before beginning.

Chocolate Almond Whiskey Cake

Fudgy, frosted chocolate almond cake with whiskey and orange zest

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 45

Total Time: 1 15

Makes: 8 large pieces

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Ingredients

For the cake

230 gms dark cooking chocolate, chopped (70%)
1 cup ground almonds (see notes)
125 gms butter, at room temp
1 cup brown sugar
Zest of 1 orange
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 and 1/2 tsps vanilla extract
4 tbsps whiskey or rum
5 eggs, at room temp

For the ganache

1/3 cup cream, whipping or regular
Zest of 1 orange
2 tbsps whiskey
125 gms dark cooking chocolate, finely chopped

Instructions

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Stir occasionally until melted and smooth. Set aside to cool.
Grease a 9" round springform pan and preheat the oven to 180 C.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the ground almonds, butter, sugar and orange zest. Beat on low speed using the paddle attachment until well combined and paler in colour, about 2 minutes. (Or use a mixing bowl and hand mixer, making sure the bowl is large and deep enough to hold the batter.)
Now add the flour, vanilla and whiskey, beating briefly to combine. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on low before adding the next one. This incorporates enough air into the batter to help it rise.
Now pour in the melted chocolate, and beat on medium speed until fully combined and smooth.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothen the top and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the surface has cracks and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with moist crumbs but no wet batter (over baking the cake will dry out the inside). Let the cake cool completely at room temperature. As it cools it will sink a little bit and the cracks will almost completely close up.
To make the ganache, first place the chopped chocolate in a bowl. Then combine the cream, orange zest and whiskey together in a small saucepan on low heat, stirring often until hot, but not boiling. Pour over the chocolate and stir to combine until melted and smooth.
The ganache is fairly thick but it needs to cool a bit and thicken further. Then spread it on top of the cake and decorate with sprinkles, toasted almonds or whatever else you may like! Serve the cake warm or at room temperature. Store in the fridge in an airtight tin for 4 to 5 days. While I haven't tried it, I'm sure this cake will also freeze well. Happy baking!

Notes

*Grinding almonds at home is fine for this recipe (it's what I did) but typically the texture is coarser than store-bought almond meal so the cake has more of a bite to it. If making your own, remember not to let your blender or food processor run too long or you'll wind up with almond butter!

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