A dense, dark gluten free chocolate mud cake. Suitable for covering in fondant, tiered cakes, carved cakes, and decorating using the three day timeline.
Heat oven to 160°C (320°F). Line the base and sides of a 7” round (at least 3” high) cake pan, and make a baking strip and foil lid.
In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and xanthan gum. Whisk to combine well.
In a large, heavy-based saucepan, heat the milk and butter over a medium-low heat, stirring occasionally until the butter is melted.
Add the chocolate and coffee powder, and stir until the chocolate has melted.
Add in the sugar and stir again until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.
The liquid mixture now needs to sit until it's cool enough that you can comfortably hold your finger in it. You can either transfer the mixture to a large heatproof bowl to cool it faster, or you can leave it in the pot and wait a bit longer for it to cool.
When cool, add the dry ingredients in three additions. Mix with a whisk, but use a folding rather than whipping motion to avoid excess air bubbles forming. Whisk the eggs together with a fork and add to the batter, folding again with the whisk until combined. Leave the batter to sit for a minute to allow bubbles to come to the surface. Swizzle the whisk around the top of the batter to pop them.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, place the foil lid over the top and bake for 2.5 – 3 hours. To test if the cake is done, use a thin skewer. When the skewer comes out clean, insert a thin-bladed knife into the middle of the cake. When that comes out clean or with only a few crumbs attached, the cake is done. If you have an instant-read probe thermometer, the centre of the cake should be at least 99°C.
Remove the foil lid and allow the cake to cool in the cake pan for half an hour or so, then cover the top with foil (either unfold the edges of the foil lid and use that or use a fresh piece of foil), securing around the edge of the pan. Leave the cake overnight to cool completely before removing from the pan.
Notes
Gluten free flour - I use my Gluten-Free Flour Blend for Baking in this recipe, but you can use your own favourite gluten-free flour blend. Keep in mind that if you use different flours than I have, your results may vary from mine. Check out my gluten free cake post for more information. If using a pre-made gluten-free flour blend that contains a gum ingredient, omit the Xanthan gum from the recipe.Chocolate ganache - To fill and cover a cake this size with dark chocolate ganache you will need 1.5kgs of ganache (1kg dark chocolate to 500g cream.) If you're new to ganache, you may want to check out my ganache tutorial for more info.