ALMOND CARDAMOM SPONGE CAKE WITH WHITE CHOCOLATE GANACHE
I created this delicious almond sponge as part of a menu curation for a beauty launch, rejigging my Lemon Basil Almond Drizzle cake (from my book East by West) in my head whilst away in Ibiza. I baked it the moment I returned home, ready to take to a tasting the next day. Luckily for me (having bought 3 times the ingredients in order to do backup versions) it was perfect the first time, if a little overcooked on the edges - an easy fix, phew! The head chef took my slab of deliciously light sponge (yes on this occasion, I bothered to separate the eggs and fluff the whites) and turned it into something spectacular, returning with a perfectly piped spiced custard topping (recipe coming sometime soon while I test different substitutions) and precisely placed edible flowers.
Enjoying the ‘slightly’ overcooked cut offs back home the next day I imagined it as a double decker cake with a white chocolate ganache with rosemary sprig ‘holly’ and pink peppercorn ‘berries’ (I love a bit of the pink peppercorn berries with this btw but feel free to pick them off when eating!) - a lovely light alternative to a Christmas pudding, and of course one that works well for birthdays and any other celebrations too.
Now I said ganache in the title as that is how I’d imagined it - an oozy white chocolate decadent spread, usually made with white chocolate and cream, I ended up trying it with almond yoghurt for dairy-free option which ended up being less fiddly than playing with coconut cream and other vegan cream possibilities, and one I really liked with the cake. Double the recipe if you want the super decadent double-decker.
When it comes to using egg in the cake recipe, I haven’t yet experimented with a vegan substitute so, while I’ve successfully subbed flax eggs and chickpea flour eggs for cakes in the past, I’m not sure we’re going to come close to getting the delicate texture. But to be fair the flavour is so lovely, a stodgier texture won’t take too much away from the eating experience so if you try it let me know how it goes.
INGREDIENTS
250g ground almonds
90g gluten-free self raising flour (I used Doves Farm)
75ml (⅓ cup) extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for greasing
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp bicarb
¼ tsp sea salt
2 tsp cardamom
150g (¾ cup) coconut sugar
60ml (¼ cup) lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 large eggs
For the frosting:*
1/3 cup (80g) almond yoghurt, room temperature (I used Nush)
100g Vegan** white chocolate, in chips or a slab broken into small squares
Maple syrup to sweeten
To decorate:
Pink peppercorns
Fresh rosemary sprigs
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 170ºC (fan 170ºC/gas mark 3), and grease a 20cm (8inch) round springform tin with olive oil.
Mix together the dry ingredients; ground almonds, gluten-free self-raising flour, baking powder, bicarbonate flour, ground cardamom and salt, in a large bowl.
Separate the egg yolks and the whites. Beat the whites until light peaks form.
Cream the egg yolks, coconut sugar, vanilla extract, lemon juice and olive oil together.
Add the egg yolk mixture to the flour, mix well and then gently fold in the egg whites.
Pour the mixture into the prepared tin, smooth with a wet spatula and bake for 25 minutes or more, until the middle is set and a toothpick comes out almost clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.
Carefully run a thin knife around the edges of the cake to loosen it, then transfer onto a plate to serve.
For the frosting, slowly melt the white chocolate in a bain-marie until almost completely melted. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly before gently whisking in the yogurt until smooth. Taste and stir in a little maple syrup if needed and allow to cool to a thicker consistency if it’s too runny.
Spread the frosting evenly over the top of the cake and decorate with pink peppercorns and rosemary sprigs to resemble holly.
East by West tips:
Double the frosting recipe if you want to frost the middle cake too.
For a much richer ‘ganache’:
INGREDIENTS
160g Vegan white chocolate, in chips or a slab broken into small squares
100g coconut cream (take the thicker part from the top of a cold can)
METHOD
Scoop the coconut cream into a pan and bring up to the boil. Then pour over the broken chocolate pieces in a bowl.
Allow to sit for 3 minutes and then gently stir with a spatula until fully combined.
Place in the fridge for around 1-3 hours until a spreadable consistency.
**If you don’t need a vegan or dairy free recipe then by all means go for traditional white chocolate and yoghurt if you like.
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