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Chocolate, rum and almond cake

Alcohol and chocolate have long been combined in desserts, the alcohol accentuating and offsetting the rich, fruity flavour of dark chocolate. It also shows how versatile chocolate can be: often associated with sweet cakes and dishes for children, here it is elegant and sophisticated, perfect for a dinner party. This will keep for 4–5 days and, as it contains no flour, has the advantage of being gluten free. For an extra impressive finishing touch why not decorate with chocolate squares instead of the blanched almonds?

Prep time: 15 minutes

Baking time: 38–45 minutes

Ready in: 1 hour 45 minutes

Serves: 8–10

225g (8oz) dark chocolate, in drops or broken into pieces

225g (8oz) ground almonds

250g (9oz) caster sugar

150g (5oz) butter, softened, plus extra for greasing

6 eggs, beaten

4 tbsp rum

8 blanched almonds, to decorate

Softly whipped cream or crème fraîche, to serve

For the glaze

75ml (3fl oz) double or regular cream

125g (4½oz) dark chocolate, in drops or broken into pieces

2 tbsp rum

20cm (8in) diameter spring-form cake tin with 6cm (2½ in) side

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), Gas mark 4, then butter the sides of the cake tin and line the base with a disc of baking parchment. Make sure the base of the tin is upside down, so there’s no lip and the cake can slide off easily when cooked.

Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave just until melted, stirring occasionally, then remove from the heat and set aside.

Place the ground almonds, sugar and butter in a food processor and whiz until well mixed. Add the eggs, rum and melted chocolate and whiz until blended.

Tip the cake mixture into the prepared tin and cook for 38–45 minutes or until puffed up and slightly cracked on the surface but still quite moist in the centre – a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake will still be slightly sticky.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 20 minutes, then loosen the sides using a small, sharp knife and carefully remove the cake from the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool down fully.

While the cake is baking, or while it’s cooling, make the glaze. Pour the cream into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then take off the heat, add the chocolate, stirring to melt, and mix in the rum.

Transfer the cooled cake to a serving plate and pour over the chocolate glaze (reheating if necessary), then decorate with the blanched almonds by placing these in an evenly spaced circle, with the nuts pointing inwards, around the edge of the cake. Serve in slices with softly whipped cream or crème fraîche.

Variations

I’ve used rum in this recipe, but you could just as easily use brandy, whiskey or even orange liqueur. The flavours will all be slightly different, but the effect will be much the same.