Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Cake
This heavenly Gluten-Free Chocolate Cherry Cake is easy to whip up and elevates an everyday chocolate loaf cake into summer bliss by the addition of fresh luscious cherries. Drizzled with a thick chocolate glaze this cake keeps everyone coming back for more.
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 491kcal
Ingredients
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 200 g greek yoghurt
- 125 ml olive oil mild and light
- 250 g light brown sugar
- 3 eggs medium
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 180 g ground almonds
- 125 g teff flour
- 60 g tapioca starch split into 40g + 20g
- 40 g cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 250 g cherries pitted and halved
Chocolate Glaze
- 100 g dark chocolate
- 50 g unsalted butter cubed, at room temperature
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4.
- Line and grease a large 2lb loaf tin (27x15x8cm).
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or a bain marie and set aside to cool slightly.
- Beat together the yoghurt, olive oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
- Stir in the melted chocolate.
- Whisk together the ground almonds, teff flour, 40g of tapioca starch, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt in another large mixing bowl.
- Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
- Pour the remaining 20g tapioca flour into the used dry ingredient mixing bowl and stir in the halved cherries until thoroughly coated.
- Stir the cherries into the cake mixture until evenly dispersed.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf tin.
- Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
- Remove from the oven and carefully insert the Chocolate Cherry Cake onto a rack to cool thoroughly before drizzling with the chocolate glaze.
Chocolate Glaze
- Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or a bain marie.
- Stir in the butter and salt until melted and glossy.
- Drizzle the glaze over the Cherry Chocolate Cake.
- Allow for 30 minutes for the glaze to set before serving.
Video
Notes
Chocolate
This recipe was tested with 70% dark chocolate for the cake and 54% dark chocolate for the glaze. Using the sweeter percentage of dark chocolate in the glaze means it isn't such an intense flavour. You can use 70% or indeed 54% for both the cake or the glaze.Cake tin
This cake was tested in a large 2lb loaf tin which is sized at (27x15x8cm). You could also bake this cake in a 20 x 10cm (8 inch x 4 inch) round cake tin.Flour substitutions
Teff flour. You can substitute for sorghum flour or buckwheat flour. The switches will affect the resulting flavour of the cake. Ground almonds. You can substitute for sunflower seed flour. The switch will affect the resulting flavour of the cake. Tapioca flour. You can substitute for arrowroot powder.Tips and Troubleshooting
- Room temperature. All ingredients should be at room temperature in order for them to mix together properly.
- Sift the brown sugar. As otherwise it has a tendency to clump
- Sift the cocoa powder. To avoid clumping.
- Coat the cherries in the tapioca flour and leave to rest for 5 minutes before adding to the cake mixture so the tapioca flour has a chance to absorb the cherry juices.
- Check the cake at 50-55 minutes. Unless your oven is properly calibrated some ovens run a bit hotter than others. Just in case, do check your cake 5-10 minutes before the allowed baking time. An inserted skewer should be removed without any wet crumb.
- Rest. Allow the cake to rest for 5 minutes in the tin before removing to give it a chance to relax away from the sides of the tin.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting or it will crumble.
Dairy-free version
- The cake. You can substitute the greek yoghurt for a coconut yoghurt.
- The glaze. Switch out the butter for a plant-based butter.
How to store
Store for up to 3 days in a cool dark place in an airtight cake tin.How to freeze
Wait for the cake to cool completely then freeze without the chocolate drizzle. Double wrap in cling film and aluminium foil then store in the freezer for up to 2 months. To defrost, remove the cake from the freezer and allow to defrost thoroughly at room temperature before unwrapping.Nutrition
Calories: 491kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 51mg | Sodium: 272mg | Potassium: 295mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 193IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 126mg | Iron: 4mg