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Recipe of the Month: December – Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

December 01st, 2015


‘Coming in from the cold weather over Christmas and warming ourselves by the fire with a glass of mulled wine and a minced pie can be a real treat. However, many people find pastry and all foods containing gluten very difficult to digest making the season of Christmas with its tradition of pudding, cake, and bread sauce a bit of a nightmare!

Here is a nice alternative which is easy to make and will also suit any of your visitors who are not so keen on dried fruit. Enjoy.’

Nicky Seabrook BSc.Dip.IONmBANT CHNHC

Nutritional Therapist

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

  • 100g butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
  • 140g best-quality dark chocolate, with 70% cocoa solids, broken into pieces
  • 6 large eggs, separated
  • 140g ground almonds
  • 1 tbsp kirsch or Cointreau (optional)
  • pinch of salt
  • 85g caster sugar
  • cocoa powder and crème fraîche, to serve

Preheat the oven to 170C/Gas 3/fan oven 150C. Grease a 23cm/9in springform cake tin and line the base with greaseproof paper or baking parchment.

Put the chocolate and butter into a heatproof bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water. Heat until melted, then remove the bowl from the pan and stir until smooth. Leave for about 5 minutes to cool slightly.

Stir in the egg yolks, ground almonds, and the liqueur, if using. Put the egg whites into a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and whisk until soft peaks form. Continue whisking, sprinkling in the sugar a little at a time, until stiff peaks form. Stir 2 tablespoons of the whites into the chocolate mixture, then carefully fold in the remainder until no traces of white are left.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake for 30-35 minutes until well risen and just firm to the touch. Cool in the tin (don’t worry if the cake sinks and cracks slightly – it will still be fine). You can make the cake up to this stage up to four days ahead and keep it in an airtight container in a cool place. It also freezes well for up to one month.

To serve, remove the cake from the tin and peel away the lining paper. Sift cocoa powder liberally over the top and cut into slices. Serve with crème fraîche.

Taken from Good Food Magazine 2002

If you’d like to know more about Nicky and the work she does at the centre then visit her page here.

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