Gluten-free and Dairy-free Chocolate Almond Cake

Sometimes you just want to have a good chocolate cake. Here is my recipe for a wonderful gluten-free, dairy-free chocolate almond cake.

Gather the following dry ingredients:

1/2 cup corn flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup rice flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

5 teaspoons cocoa powder

1 big pinch of salt

Mix the dry ingredients together uniformly.

Now add the following wet ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil

3 large eggs

4 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 teaspoons almond extract

Mix all of the wet and dry ingredients together.

Have a greased cake pan ready (lightly greased with olive oil). Now, to provide the cake with some lift, add 4 teaspoons of white vinegar and give it a quick whisk. The vinegar will react with the baking soda and will make tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide. Be sure to mix in the vinegar and quickly transfer the mixture to the cake pan.

Bake the cake in a preheated 350°F oven for approximately 40 minutes.

Once out of the oven, let the cake cool slightly and flip it over on to a plate.

Once flipped, I like to add a topping of melted semi-sweet chocolate chips mixed with a dollop of almond butter. (No precise measurements are necessary.) Once the cake is frosted, slivered almonds on the top add a nice crunch.

Doesn't it look good?

Gluten-free Mustazzoli

For those of you who have read my previous entry on mustazzoli, you will know that this honey bread/cookie is popular amongst Southern Italians. (To read my previous recipe on traditional mustazzoli click here.) These cookies are naturally dairy-free. However, for some time now, I have been thinking about developing a gluten-free recipe. I have tested out this particular recipe and it works great!

This recipe uses buckwheat products to add a characteristic flavour. You will need to begin with 1 cup of buckwheat honey. This type of honey is quite commonly found in most large supermarkets and specialty food stores.

As you can see, the honey has a deep amber colour.

To the honey, add two large eggs.

Whisk to combine the two liquid ingredients together.

Now add 4 tablespoons of blanched almond flour.

Once added, you may give the mixture a quick stir.

You will now require one cup of buckwheat flour. 

Spoon and whisk the flour, into the liquid mixture, 1-2 tablespoons at a time. Once all of the buckwheat flour has been incorporated, the mixture will look like the picture below.

So far so good. Now, add 2 teaspoons of baking powder and whisk it into the mixture.

For the next part of the recipe, you will require roasted white rice flour. This type of rice flour has a texture more similar to wheat flour compared to regular white rice flour. In the Greater Toronto Area, roasted white rice flour can be found very easily at supermarkets catering to the South Indian and the Sri Lankan market.

Slowly, adding 1-2 tablespoons at a time, stir in enough roasted white rice flour to form a stiff dough. You will know that the dough is stiff enough when you can stick a whisk or spoon in it and it will be able to stand vertically.

Transfer large dollops of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet (greased with olive oil). With oiled hands, form the dough into small logs.

Bake the logs in a preheated 350°F oven for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Let the logs are cool to the point where you can handle them.  While still warm, cut the logs into thin slices.

Once cooled, these gluten-free mustazzoli will be ready to enjoy.