Amaretto Cake

If you have been following my Instagram Stories, you will have noticed that I have made this Sunken Chocolate Amaretto Cake no less than three times in the last month – it is that good!

At first, I was hesitant to try a new chocolate cake recipe, especially since my go-to birthday cake is my all-time favourite Sour-Cream Chocolate Cake, whilst my mother-in-law’s Queen of Sheba flourless chocolate cake is what I make most frequently when we have friends coming over.

nigella sunken chocolate amaretto cake with amaretto biscuits

Nigella Lawson Recipe

But after watching Nigella Lawson make this cake from her latest cookbook, At My Table, I felt a sudden urge to add another liqueur to our drinks cabinet, for which I am sure my husband has been quietly thankful (he finished off the bottle of Amaretto within a matter of days!).

nigella sunken chocolate amaretto cake on metal tray

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

In addition, I have been on a mission to find more gluten-free recipes to add to my repertoire.

We have a good friend who has coeliac disease, and whilst I am sure he has no complaints about the many pavlovas I have served to him for dessert over the years, my range of gluten-free recipes is pretty limited.

Chocolate Amaretto Cake

At first glance, this Sunken Chocolate Amaretto Cake is quite similar to the Queen of Sheba which I have been making for years.

But what I found intriguing was that, instead of separating the eggs and whisking the egg whites separately to give the cake air and volume (which you need to do with the Queen of Sheba), you simply whisk the eggs together whole for a long time until they are light and mousse-like in texture.

So, in effect, it is much easier and quicker to make than my trusty Queen of Sheba.

nigella sunken chocolate amaretto cake sliced with cream and crushed amaretto biscuits

How to Make a Sunken Chocolate Amaretto Cake

This recipe requires you to whisk the eggs until they are pale and frothy; by this stage, they should have nearly tripled in volume.

The mousse-like texture of the cake batter is what helps the cake to rise, as there are no raising agents in this recipe.

However, as the law of gravity dictates, what goes up must come down. Hence, that is why this is called a Sunken Chocolate Amaretto Cake. As the cake cools, it will start to deflate a little and may even crack on the surface. This is completely normal.

It is a fairly rich cake in that it uses real melted chocolate in the batter. As I do quite a lot of baking at home, I bought a bain-marie some years ago, specifically for melting chocolate. It has turned out to be a wonderful investment because I frequently use the small saucepan in cooking, and I have been rather surprised by how often I use the bain-marie in my everyday cooking.

A bain-marie is essentially a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water. What is important is that the bowl should never be in contact with the water underneath. The steam from the simmering water underneath is what heats up the bowl to warm whatever ingredient it is holding.

So if you don’t have a special bain-marie like that pictured below, simply use a glass or metal bowl which can sit over a saucepan with a slightly narrower width.

How to Serve a Sunken Chocolate Amaretto Cake

What really sold me about this recipe was not so much the cake itself, but the gorgeous whipped cream with crushed amaretti biscuits which is served alongside.

There is something heavenly about the combination of the crunchy amaretti biscuit crumbs, the softly whipped cream, and the velvety chocolate cake.

Nigella suggests mixing the amaretti biscuits crumbs through the whipped cream, but I prefer to add them at the last minute to ensure that they remain lovely and crunchy.

Besides, if you are also planning to serve small glasses of Amaretto liqueur with the cake, you will want some extra amaretti biscuits for dipping!

nigella sunken chocolate amaretto cake with glass of amaretto liqueur

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