Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Cinnamon & Chilli
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
This gluten free and dairy free chocolate cake tastes like a Mexican hot chocolate in cake form. That’s a good thing. The chocolate cake is fluffy and gorgeous and the ganache is rich and velvety. You couldn’t ask for a better combination
Author:
Recipe type: Cake, Gluten Free, Dairy Free
Cuisine: Dessert
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
For Cake
  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil, softened
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 ounces dark chocolate* (¼ cup), melted and cooled
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup all purpose gluten free flour, no xanthan gum needed
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ½ tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon finely chopped gourmet garden lightly dried chili
  • ½ cup coconut cream•
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • ½ cup strongly brewed hot coffee or espresso
For Ganache
  • ½ cup coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon gourmet garden lightly dried chili
  • 3 cinnamon sticks
  • 4 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 10 oz dark chocolate (I used a mix of 64% and 72%)
Optional garnishes:
  • more finely ground Gourmet Garden lightly dried chili, smoked sea salt, powdered sugar, cinnamon sticks.
Instructions
Make the cakes
  1. Preheat oven to 350º and grease and flour three 5 inch cake rounds. http://amzn.to/1RUXbts
  2. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together coconut oil and brown sugar . Beat in eggs one at a time, mixing each egg until it it fully incorporated. Scrape down the bowl with each addition- to make sure every little bit of goodness is incorporated into the cake batter. Add in vanilla extract and melted chocolate. Mix again.
  3. In a smaller bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a third bowl, vigorously mix coconut cream with vinegar. Next, we’ll add these ingredients to the creamed butter mix. Alternating, add in the dry ingredients in three additions and the coconut cream in two additions. Start and end with the flour. Finally, stir prepared coffee into cake batter.
  4. Pour batter into three greased and floured 5 inch round cake pan minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (about 30 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool on cooling rack for 30 minutes before turning cakes out onto plates or boards. Let cake cool all the way before frosting with ganache.
Make Ganache
  1. In a small saucepan, heat coconut milk, cinnamon sticks, and dried chili. Slowly bring to a fast simmer, then lower heat to the lowest setting and steep cinnamon and chili for at least 10 minutes. Keep warm, but don’t let it boil.
  2. Melt coconut oil in a medium saucepan over low to medium low heat. Add chocolate and stir often. Go slow, erring on the side of a too cold pan rather than a too hot pan. Once chocolate is all melted, strain warm coconut milk through a fine sieve and slowly pour the liquid into the chocolate, stirring to incorporate. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before frosting the cake.
Assemble The Cake
  1. If cakes are domed in the middle, use a good serrated knife to slice across the top of the cake removing the domes so you have a nice flat surface to work with.
  2. Place the bottom cake layer on the plate you plan to serve it on. Spread a layer of ganache about ¼ inch thick over the surface of the cake. Repeat with the next two layers. Once you have the thin layer of ganache spread across the top layer, start pouring the rest of the ganache all over the top of the cake. Use an offset spatula or the back of a large spoon to encourage the warm ganache to spill over the edges of the cake. This creates the dripping waterfall look you see on the finished cake.
  3. To garnish, sprinkle powdered sugar and cinnamon through a sifter or fine mesh sieve. Then top with finely minced Gourmet Garden Lightly Dried Chilli and top with two cinnamon sticks.
  4. This cake will keep well in the refrigerator for a couple of days. If you’re storing a frosted cake, don’t let the plastic wrap
Recipe by The Tomato Tart at https://www.thetomatotart.com/recipe/gluten-free-chocolate-cake-cinnamon-chilli/