coconut almond cake with chocolate ganache

coconut almond cake with chocolate ganache

• 30 Apr 2018

I made this cake at least 4 weeks ago and it's been lurking in the freezer ever since. It seemed criminal to leave the cake in my freezer for another 6 weeks while I go on holidays so on Sunday, I defrosted the cake and topped it with some chocolate ganache.



This is not a new cake recipe. It's Belinda Jeffery's recipe for a buttery flourless almond coconut cake baked in a loaf tin then topped with a water chocolate ganache recipe I found in 'Sweet' by Ottolenghi and Helen Goh. My only contribution to the recipe was the sprinkle of toasted almond flakes.



This is the third time I've made the cake and it's really easy to make. Although I've written the recipe as it appears in 'Sweet' I used the melt and mix method from Belinda's book, 'Mix and Bake'.




I had a few problems with the water ganache seizing up on me. While it looks glossy I'm not sure I'd use the chocolate ganache recipe again. My own chocolate glaze is way easier to make and maybe if I add a little glucose syrup to my own recipe, the glaze will stay glossy as well.

Here's the recipe for you which makes a small loaf tin or 18cm cake. If you'd like to make a larger loaf cake or 23cm cake, then just double all the ingredients but keep the cooking time the same. For all my recipes, I use a 250 ml cup and a 20 ml tablespoon. All eggs are 60 gm and my oven is a conventional oven, not fan forced. If your oven is fan forced you may need to reduce the cooking temperature by 20°C. 

Belinda’s Flourless Coconut and Chocolate Cake by Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh, inspired by Belinda Jeffery.

Ingredients

100g unsalted butter

125g caster sugar

30g desiccated coconut

1 tsp vanilla extract

pinch salt

2x 60g eggs

90g almond meal

2 tablespoons toasted flaked almonds

Water ganache
60g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped
25g caster sugar
25g glucose or corn syrup
45mls water
Scraped seeds of ¼ vanilla pod
25g unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small cubes

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Grease the base and sides of a small loaf pan or a 18cm round springform pan and line with parchment paper, then set aside.

Place butter, sugar, coconut, vanilla extract and salt in an electric mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on medium-high speed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Turn the speed on low, add the almond meal and mix until just combined.

Scrape the mixture into the pan and bake for 40 minutes if using the loaf pan or 50 minutes if using the round pan, or until the cake is golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Remove the cake from the oven and set aside to cool in the pan before inverting onto a serving plate. Set aside until completely cool.

To make the water ganache
Just before serving, place the chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside. Put the sugar and glucose syrup in a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Stir to combine and, when the sugar has melted, increase the heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring gently from time to time. Continue to boil for about 7 minutes, until the colour is a pale amber. Remove from the heat and carefully pour in the water. Don’t worry if the mix seizes; just return the pan to the heat, add the vanilla seeds and stir gently and continuously until it returns to a boil and the sugar has melted again. Remove from the heat and wait for a minute before pouring the water-caramel over the chocolate. Allow to stand for about 3 minutes, and then whisk to combine. Add the butter, a couple of cubes at a time, whisking after each addition. Continue until all the butter has been added, whisking to combine until the consistency is that of golden syrup. Spread the ganache over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides a little. If liked, decorate the top of the cake with a few toasted almond cakes.

The cake cuts easily and it's lovely and moist and it will keep well for up to 5 days in an airtight container. 

I'm flying to Paris on Friday so hopefully I'll have some images of Paris to share with you next week.

Bye for now,

Jillian