I used to bake this particular recipe a lot when I was younger as a special treat. In its original form it’s decadent, rich chocolate and full of sugar! I remembered the recipe recently and decided to give it a makeover to make it gluten and dairy free and much lower in sugar. The result is a delightfully light, moist chocolate heaven.

It could also be vegan if you use an egg alternative. I’ve put notes in the recipe so you can tweak to suit your preferences in regard to flour and fat options. I use cacao in preference to cocoa, but cocoa powder will also work as long as it’s gluten free.

Be warned this cake is seriously addictive so make sure you have plenty of people to share it with!!

So now you can have your cake and eat it. I hope you enjoy x

Rich Chocolate Fudge Cake

Ingredients

Sponge

50 g cacao powder

200 ml hot water (bring kettle to boil then leave for 5 mins to cool)

175 g flour (this can be a mix of your favourite gluten free flours or gluten free plain flour. I used 1/3 buckwheat flour, 1/3 millet flour and 1/3 almond flour to increase the protein content)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 heaped tsp baking powder (GF)

125 g dairy-free spread (I used Naturli)

2 eggs (or vegan alternative)

1 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla paste

170 g sugar (you can use molasses sugar, coconut sugar or caster sugar depending on your preference)

Filling

1 tbsp cacao

1-2 tbsp hot water

25 g dairy free cream cheese (I used Violife)

25 g coconut cream (you will need a tin of coconut milk without emulsifiers so that the coconut cream separates from the water)

80 g icing sugar

Fudge Icing

25 g dairy free spread (I used Naturali)

1 tbsp dairy-free milk

1 tbsp cacao powder

60 g icing sugar

1-2 tbsp arrowroot powder

Optional

Walnuts or shaved chocolate to decorate

Method

1. Line two 20 cm sandwich tins with baking paper (you won’t need to grease the tins if you use baking paper)
2. Heat the oven to 180^oC (350^oF)
3. Blend the cacao powder with half of the water until you have a smooth paste, then add the rest of the water and leave to cool. Note: make the cacao mixture for the filling by combining 1 tbsp cacao powder and 1-2 tbsps hot water to make a stiff paste. Put to one side and leave to cool
4. Sift the flour, baking powder and bicarb together in a separate bowl
5. Cream the dairy-free spread and sugar together with 3 tbsp’s of the cacao mixture and the vanilla essence until well combined. Beat the eggs (or egg alternative) in one at a time
6. Fold in the flour, alternating with the rest of the cacao mixture, until well combined
7. Divide the mixture between the lined sandwich tins and bake for 20 minutes (check with a skewer before removing from the oven. If too soft leave for a few more minutes)
8. Remove from the oven and leave in the tins to cool for a few minutes. Take the sponges out of the tins and place on a wire rack to cool.

Filling

1. Once the sponges are completely cool you can fill them and top with the fudge icing. If you do this while the sponges are warm the filling and icing will melt and run off!
2. Mix the cooled cacao mixture (see point 3 above) with the coconut cream, cream cheese and icing sugar
3. Spread across the flat side of one of the sponges and sandwich the two halves together.

Fudge Icing

1. Put the dairy-free spread, milk and cacao powder in a bowl over a pan of hot water and heat gently until melted and combined. Remove from heat
2. Beat in the sifted icing sugar until well combined. The icing may be quite thin at this point
3. Add one tbsp arrowroot powder and mix well. Judge the thickness of the mixture and if it still seems a little thin add the second tbsp of arrowroot and mix well
4. Leave to cool slightly
5. Spread across the top of the cake

Decorate with walnuts if using or shave chocolate. Serve with coconut cream or dairy-free yogurt.