Easter has been and gone and so has this very very decadent, Rich and Chocolatey Golden Egg Cake…… but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to show it off in all its glory.
I would have loved to publish this recipe before Easter, but sometimes even bloggers have to hold on making things until the time is right. This particular cake required plenty of company to share and enjoy and was so decadent, it could only be made once…..
This is a cake for serious chocolate lovers…… moist, light, gluten free chocolate sponge…… layered with rich, creamy, vanilla-infused butter icing……. slathered from top to bottom in smooth dark, sumptuous ganache…… surrounded by crisp, wafery dark chocolate cigarillos…… decorated with shiny, crunchy caramel-chocolate Galaxy Golden Eggs, chocolate curls and edible golden glitter…… This cake is a show-stopper in every sense.
We had a fantastically, chilled Easter…… with family staying, a new extension, deck and patio to enjoy in the beautiful sunshine and plenty of delicious food and free-flowing wine and bubbly….. Some local mooching in the lovely Whitstable shops, drinks on the beach at the local Neptune pub, a stroll through the harbour, an impromptu egg hunt and the kids (and adults) making the most of the trampoline at the bottom of the garden….. Life doesn’t get better.
Chocolate cake was the perfect Easter treat and given that one of our guests had had a birthday the day before arrival, it also rose to the occasion as a spontaneous birthday cake.
The chocolate sponge is my ‘go to’ recipe which I first developed in my early gluten free days. It is not over-sweet, uses almonds for extra structure and moistness (giving it a fantastic ‘improve over time’ shelf-life) and has yet to fail me. It has adorned many birthday and celebratory tables in various decorative guises…. Among its incarnations have been an early ‘Kiss Cake‘, a version with butter-icing roses, and Miss GF’s 8th birthday cake with blue icing and pink rosy swirls. The recipe makes the most amazing cupcakes as well….. I made some pretty Easter mini egg ones back in my first year of blogging with a variety of Italian Butter Creams and always try to make extra cake batter, to squeeze a few ‘ready to go’ cupcakes in the freezer when I am making a large cake (they freeze brilliantly).
The eagle-eyed of you will notice that having never used chocolate cigarillos before, this is now the second cake in a matter of weeks that has appeared on Gluten Free Alchemist dressed to kill. I bought a stash with this cake in mind, only to have Miss GF snaffle a load for my birthday cake back in March. I am absolutely not complaining….. she did them (and me) proud with her Fudgy Chocolate-Berry Cake….. but I then had to buy more so that I would have enough for this cake.
I bought the first batch online from the Chocolate Trading Company and was really impressed with both the quality and the packaging (which kept them secure from breakage during transit). Sadly, when I bought additional supplies, I bought them from a different company (The Craft Company), only to find that about a third of the sticks were broken. I had just enough (with only one to spare) to surround the cake. I didn’t have time before making the cake to complain and I’m not sure I can be bothered now, but I won’t be buying cigarillos from them again!
Either way, I share this Easter Rich and Chocolatey Golden Egg Cake with you today…… (better late than never)…… feeling very smug, knowing that it has now all been eaten and enjoyed by everyone who was lucky enough to plate a slice……..
Of course….. you could nip down to the shops whilst you can still grab Golden Eggs in the post-Easter sales and make one anyway…… I won’t tell!
Places I am sharing the chocolate love…..
Cook Blog Share with Recipes Made Easy.
Sunday Fitness & Food with Ilka’s Blog and Marathons & Motivation
Brilliant Blog Posts with Honest Mum.
Free From Fridays with Le Coin De Mel and Free From Farmhouse.
Love Cake with Jibber Jabber – who’s theme this month is ‘it was all yellow’. Okay….. I may be pushing it a bit far here, but gold is almost yellow….. isn’t it?
Cook Once Eat Twice with Searching For Spice – This cake was huge and rich….. Even feeding a load of mouths, you are likely to have a couple of slices left for tomorrow…… Or maybe not….
Rich & Chocolatey Golden Egg Cake
Ingredients
190g plain GF flour mix (I used mix A from this post)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1½ teaspoons GF baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
40g cocoa
80 ml boiling-hot water
240 ml milk
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
105g unsalted butter (room temperature)
285g golden caster sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs (room temperature)
105g ground almonds
120g unsalted butter (softened)
350g icing sugar (sifted)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 to 2 tablespoons coconut/almond/other milk
225g good quality dark chocolate (chopped)
160 ml double cream
Decoration
1 dark chocolate mini egg
edible gold glitter
gold ribbon of choice
Method
- Sponges : Base-line 2 x 8 inch round cake tins with baking paper.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4.
- Weigh and mix together the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt, making sure any lumps are broken down and all ingredients are well-blended. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, sift the cocoa and gradually add the hot water a little at a time, stirring to form a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Using a measuring jug, combine the milk with the vinegar and stir. Leave to stand for 10 minutes (it will become slightly ‘lumpy’).
- Cream the butter and sugar with the vanilla extract in a large bowl with an electric whisk, until light, fluffy and pale in colour.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, ensuring they are well blended.
- Add the cocoa paste and beat thoroughly until you have a smooth even mixture.
- Fold in the ground almonds.
- Gently fold in the flour mix alternately with the milk-vinegar mix about a third at a time, ensuring all ingredients are just combined. Ensure you do not over-mix.
- Divide the batter equally between the two tins and smooth the surface.
- Bake for about 30 minutes or until the top springs back to the touch and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.
- Leave the cakes in the tins for about 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Butter Icing : Beat the butter until soft and pale, then gradually add the icing sugar, vanilla extract and a little milk until light and fluffy and a good thick spreading consistency.
- Place the sponge on a flat, clean cake/chopping board and spread the icing evenly and smoothly on the internal side of one of the sponges and sandwich together with the second sponge. Ensure the sides are smooth, by using a palette knife and a little icing to fill any gaps.
- Chocolate Ganache : Place the chopped chocolate in a heat-proof bowl.
- Heat the cream in a small saucepan until just at simmer point and then pour over the chocolate. Allow to sit for about 30 seconds and then stir until all the chocolate has melted and blended with the cream and the ganache is smooth.
- Allow to gradually cool at room temperature, stirring occasionally until the ganache has thickened to a spreading consistency.
- Spread the sides of the cake with a layer of ganache and then the top. Ensure the top in particular, is smooth.
- Use a couple of flat spatulas straight away to carefully lift the cake onto a serving plate or stand and immediately stick the cigarillos to the sides of the cake, working quickly but carefully until you have a cigarillo ‘wall’ around the entire cake.
- Carefully tie the ribbon round the sides of the cake to secure.
- Arrange the golden eggs around the inside of the cigarillo wall and in the centre of the cake with the dark chocolate egg.
- Sprinkle the surface with chocolate curls, grated chocolate and edible glitter, ready to serve.
Your creations are simply stunning. You are very skilled. I love this cake!
Thanks Alida. xx
So pretty! I love the color and this cake looks stunning !
Thanks you Claire. That's so kind of you x
I used my trusty chocolate cake recipe to make an Easter nest cake this year. Everyone needs a good a chocolate cake recipe to rely on. This looks absolutely stunning and divine.
Absolutely Ness. a 'go to' is essential. Thanks for your kind comments x
Wow Kate! It's absolutely stunning! And I just love cakes which improve over time. I too have used the Chocolate Trading Company, though probably about a yr ago now for some chocolate transfers, and i have to agree that they items came so well packaged and arrived saf and sound. It's always such a shame when products arrive broken and spoilt isn't it. Definitely Pinning,
Angela x
Thanks Angela. I was a bit peed off with all the broken sticks, but Miss GF seems to have started to find some great uses for them! x
what a totally choctastic cake – I would love to be served this at easter or anytime to be honest with you. You would never know this is a GF cake – the cake looks so moist and delicious! Thank you for linking up to #Bakeoftheweek x
Aww thanks Jenny. It was very very good! And (in my very humble, probably can't remember what a wheat-based cake tastes like) absolutely as good as a wheat cake. xx
My goodness what an amazing cake! Although, as we've had two birthdays in our family in the last week I am trying to hold off eating any more cake right now! I'll have to have a look at what the Chocolate Trading Company as next time I do need to make an impressive cake, although it might not be until our next family birthday in the middle of summer. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEattwice x
Thanks Corina. Birthdays can be a bit of a diet-killer (as was Easter!).
Can definitely recommend the Chocolate Trading Company xx
Well that is certainly a stunning cake. Who could tell its gluten free the texture looks fabulous. I shall be recommending this to my sister who was recently diagnosed Coeliac.
I nearly always buy my chocolate for baking from the Chocolate trading company and a gree its a very good and reliable company.
Thank you for popping over to Recipes Made easy to share on #CookBlogShare
Thanks Jacqueline. I pride myself on making GF bakes that are as good if not better than wheat-bakes. This is one of my favourite sponges, regardless of how it is decorated, so I hope your sister enjoys it too! If she needs any help getting her head around the world of living gluten free, I am happy to help!
I love this sponge, so versatile. Being on a diet, I made and froze most of, a simnel/bara brith gf hybrid cake.
Me too DC….. We seem to have endless leftover cake in the freezer which regularly makes it into trifle! This one was way too good though….. fortunately we had friends to share it with. x
Glad your Easter gave you some nice relaxing time. This cake looks magnificent – I think part of the fun of easter is using up easter eggs after – in fact Sylvia was very disappointed there weren't any easter eggs in the supermarket on sale the day after Easter Sunday because she had visions of baking – I noticed more chocolate cigarillos on this cake – they are very stylish
Thanks Johanna. I hope you did too!
Anything that involves chocolate is a hit in our house! The chocolate Cigarillos were so easy to use and for a special cake, worth the cost! x