An easy gluten-free Easter chocolate cake

Phew. Managed to get an Easter dessert up before the whole thing kicked off. You know I struggle with getting seasonal appropriate posts up in time, so this is a big deal for me! Last week I posted my shoulder of lamb vlog which was a suggestion for a simple and delish Easter centrepiece. And now this! Anyone would think I had quit drinking, and consequently become organised and highly productive…

This cake is an old favourite. Some of you may remember the flourless chocolate cake of years gone by… (Oh look! I make reference to how rubbish I am at doing seasonal posts in there too. See, it’s true.)

It’s just so easy – and I love that it has 6 eggs in! 6! That makes it nutritious, right? Also, it has ground almonds in! Double whammy!

This is super moist, and more of a dense (yet light) dessert chocolate cake than a crumbly birthday chocolate cake kinda cake. CAKE. CAKE. CAKE. Such a great word.

This time, I used natural yoghurt instead of double cream, both in the mixture and the icing. Not because of health reasons, but because it cuts through and adds a tang that is so good with dark chocolate. I like Yeo Valley. Greek yoghurt would be good too.

For decorating, seriously, I just opened my dusty tin of cake decorating crap, and artfully lobbed on anything that I thought could work. I suggest you do the same. Fortunately, my daughter had brought home an Easter basket with a couple of chicks in (she allowed me 1 for the cake) and my son won some Mini Eggs for his easter bonnet in a competition at school (he hasn’t realised that I used half the packet on the cake yet – hoping he won’t notice).

Make it tomorrow and it will be perfect for Sunday – in fact it gets better I think. But you may want to not add Smartie type decorations as I find the colour drains if you decorate too much in advance. 

1. Preheat your oven to 180C. Grease and line (peek the lining paper over the top as it rises quite a bit) a 19/20cm springform/sandwich cake tin.
2. Melt your chocolate and vanilla in a bowl over simmering water. Add your yoghurt and set aside to cool a little. 
3. Separate your eggs. Whisk your whites to soft peaks. 
4. Mix your yolks with the almonds and sugar. Then add your cooled chocolate (it needn’t be totally cooled). 
5. Fold in your whites. 
6. Pour your batter into the tin and cook for 40-45 minutes. Mine was ready at 40 minutes – I covered it loosely with a bit of foil at 35 minutes as the top was beginning to colour slightly. Test with a skewer to see if it’s done. It should come out clean. 
7. Leave to cool in tin for 15 minutes before cooling on a wire rack. 
8. To decorate, melt the chocolate and add yoghurt. Mix well. Once cooled a little, spread on top. 
9. Pop on the rest of your ingredients.

HAPPY EASTER!