Nori and no flour chocolate cake with lemon curd topping
This magnificently indulgent chocolate cake loses absolutely nothing by being wheat free, and is guaranteed to delight people who have wheat on their avoid list. I first saw it being baked when visiting Elspeth Semple in Scotland, and worked on the recipe back in my kitchen to discover that it pairs magnificently with nori. Serve very small portions as this really is a rich offering.
Seaweed used: Nori
Serves 15 – 20
Nori and no flour chocolate cake
2 sheets nori, prepared as paste
225g (8oz) plain chocolate
115g (4oz) butter
125g (41/2 oz) castor sugar
200g (7oz) ground almonds
4 eggs, separated
To prepare the nori
Soak nori sheets in tepid water for 5 – 10 minutes. Remove and squeeze out excess water with hand or a sieve. Tear and stir nori into a paste. Set aside.
To pepare the cake
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4
Line and grease the base of a spring form tin 71/2” square or 22cm (81/2”) round.
1. Break the chocolate into pieces and place in a bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water. Allow to melt. Add the nori paste. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
2. Put the butter and sugar into a large mixing bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Stir in the ground almonds, egg yolks and melted chocolate with nori paste.
3. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the butter, eggs and chocolate mixture.
4. Spoon into the prepared tin and bake for 50 – 55 minutes until firm to touch.
5. Remove from the oven, leave to settle for five minutes, then turn onto a wire rack to cool. The cake will sink slightly while cooling.
Lemon curd topping
55g (2oz) butter
85g (3oz) plain chocolate
5 tablespoons lemon curd or favourite jam
To prepare the topping:
1. Melt butter and chocolate in the bowl placed over the saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.
2. Spread the lemon curd over the cake followed by the runny chocolate butter topping. It doesn’t matter if it runs down the sides in places.
3. Serve in small slices.