Sunken Chocolate Amaretto Cake
Serves: 4 to 6
A gluten-free Sunken Chocolate Amaretto Cake served with whipped cream and amaretti biscuits. Easy to make and perfect for entertaining.
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 100 g (3 ½ oz) dark chocolate, 70% cocoa, roughly chopped
- 100 g (1 stick) unsalted butter
- 4 eggs
- 125 g (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon) caster sugar, (superfine sugar)
- 75 g (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon) ground almonds, (almond meal)
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, plus extra
- 3 tablespoons Amaretto liqueur, see Kitchen Notes
For the Whipped Cream
- 250 ml (1 cup) double cream, heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon Amaretto liqueur
- Amaretti biscuits, (the crunchy variety)
Instructions
To Make the Cake
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) (without fan).
- Line a 20 cm (8 inch) springform cake pan with baking paper and butter the sides.
- Place the chocolate and butter into a bain-marie (or a double-boiler or a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water), and melt over low heat. Set aside to cool slightly.
- Using a stand mixer or an electric hand whisk, whisk the eggs and sugar on medium to high speed until the mixture is pale and mousse-like. The mixture should have nearly tripled in volume by this stage.
- Slowly mix through the ground almonds, cocoa powder, Amaretto liqueur, and melted chocolate mixture. The consistency of the batter should be similar to a raw chocolate mousse.
- Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake pan.
- Bake the cake for about 25 minutes, or until a cake skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Unfortunately, a cake skewer will leave a hole in your cake and may even cause the top of the cake to crack. I would suggest giving the cake pan a gentle shake - if the centre of the cake wobbles, you will need to bake for another 5 minutes or so. I would use a cake skewer only as the last step.
- Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack.
- Carefully remove the cooled cake to a serving plate or cake stand. The cake is likely to crack during this process, if it hasn't already done so upon cooling.
- Generously dust some cocoa powder onto the cake using a fine sieve.
To Make the Whipped Cream
- Whisk the double cream with the Amaretto liqueur until it has thickened with soft peaks.
- Place the whipped cream into a small serving bowl.
To Serve
- Crush the Amaretti biscuits by placing them into a large ziplock freezer bag. Seal the bag and use a large rolling pin to gently crush the biscuits into a mix or small and large crumbs. Place the Amaretti crumbs into a small serving bowl.
- Sprinkle some crushed amaretti biscuits over the whipped cream to decorate.
- Place a generous spoonful of whipped cream alongside a slice of cake, and allow guests to crumble more amaretti biscuits onto the cream.
- It is also not a bad idea to serve some small glasses of Amaretto liqueur alongside.
Kitchen Notes
- ALCOHOL SUBSTITUTES
If you don't have Amaretto, you could substitute with any other liqueur such as Frangelico, Cointreau, Grand Marnier, or rum. For a non-alcoholic version, simply replace the alcohol in the cake batter with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. - USING A LARGER CAKE PAN
To make a larger and slightly thinner cake, use a 23 cm (9 inch) springform cake pan and bake for approx 20 mins or until a cake skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. - MAKE-AHEAD TIPS
The cake can be made ahead of time and keeps well on a covered cake stand. The whipped cream can be made a few hours ahead of time and kept covered in the fridge. However, whipped cream is always best when it is freshly made. - RECIPE CREDIT
Recipe adapted from At My Table by Nigella Lawson - OVEN TEMPERATURES
All recipes on this website state temperatures for a regular oven (i.e. a conventional oven without fan). If you have a convection oven with a fan, please consult the manufacturer's handbook on how to adjust the temperature and baking time accordingly. - CONVERSIONS
To convert from cups to grams, and vice-versa, please see this handy Conversion Chart for Basic Ingredients.