It’s almost Halloween and I’m reminded of one of my favorite candy bar questions – Mounds Bar or Almond Joy? I’m sure that many of you reading this would quickly exclaim ‘neither’ but coconut has always been one of my favorites.
Shortly before the pandemic, I attended a women’s leadership workshop hosted by Thrive Leadership. Little did I know that was the last in person training event I’d attend for a long time. When we arrived we were asked to select a small candy bar from a bowl and save it. Later we formed small groups for an exercise based on our candy bar selection. I had picked an Almond Joy (there are never any small Mounds bars) and was so pleased to find a table full of strong and interesting women who had made the same selection. We all laughed as we knew people rarely gravitated to this chocolate-coconut candy bar and we loved that we had this in common.
Back to the original question, the answer for me is ‘both.’ I love that Mounds has dark chocolate and Almond Joy has almonds. The perfect candy bar for me would be dark chocolate Almond Joy.
That’s what I should have named this cake! The cake is a wonderful spongy mix of almonds (from almond meal/flour) and coconut. I used unsweetened coconut and it had just the right amount of sweetness. If you’re looking for something very sweet, you can use sweetened coconut. The ganache (or icing) is a rich dark chocolate. The ganache instructions may look a bit detailed but it’s worth the effort as the result is lovely thick glaze which is easy to spread over the top of the cake. Don’t skip sprinkling the flaky sea salt on top of the cake as it intensifies the chocolate.
This cake is gluten-free/wheat-free but don’t be put off by the lack of flour – this is a decadent cake. Nobody will miss the flour. Please be sure to check out the Notes section in the recipe for some useful information on some of the ingredients.
I made this cake for my parents knowing that my love of coconut comes from my dad. He was quite pleased with the combination.
| Flourless Chocolate-Coconut Cake | Print |
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
- 1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
- ⅔ cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut (see Notes)
- Scraped seeds of 1 vanilla bean (see Notes)
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 4 large eggs
- 1-2/3 cups almond meal/flour
- 2 ounces dark chocolate (70%), roughly chopped into small pieces
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon light corn syrup
- 3 tablespoon water
- Scraped seeds of ¼ vanilla bean (see Notes)
- 1-1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small cubes
- Garnish with flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease base and sides of a 9x5-inch loaf pan or a 9-inch round springform pan (see Notes) and line with parchment paper and set aside.
- Place butter, sugar, coconut, vanilla seeds and salt in a stand mixer with the paddle attachment in place. Beat on medium-high speed, until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Turn speed on low, add almond meal/flour and mix until just combined.
- Scrape mixture into the pan and bake for 40 minutes if using the loaf pan or 50 minutes if using the round pan, or until the cake is golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
- Remove the cake from the oven and place pan on a wire rack to cool completely. Invert onto a serving plate when cool. (Don’t worry if the cake cracks a little bit as the ganache will cover it up.)
- Wait until cake is cooled before preparing the ganache.
- Place chocolate in a medium bowl and set aside.
- Add sugar and corn syrup to a small saucepan and place over medium-low heat. Stir to combine. When sugar has melted, increase heat to medium and bring to a boil, stirring gently from time to time. Continue to boil for about 5 minutes, until the color is a pale amber.
- Remove from heat and carefully pour in water. Don’t worry if the mix seizes – just return pan to heat and add vanilla seeds and stir gently and continuously until it returns to a boil and sugar has melted again.
- Remove from heat and wait 1 minute before pouring caramel over the chocolate. Allow to stand for about 3 minutes, then whisk to combine. (If the chocolate hasn’t completely melted, microwave for about 30 seconds and stir). Add butter, a couple of cubes at a time, whisking after each addition. Continue until all the butter has been added, whisking to combine until the consistency is that of thick syrup.
- Spread the ganache over the top of the cake, letting it run down the sides a little. Sprinkle flaky sea salt over the top. Serve at room temperature.
- This cake will keep well for up to 5 days in an airtight container at room temperature. It can be eaten on the day of making, but it tastes even better served at room temperature the following day.
* I used Let’s Do Organic Shredded Coconut (unsweetened and fine shred). If you prefer more sweetness, you can use sweetened coconut flakes
* Vanilla beans are a key ingredient in both the cake and ganache. For ease in baking I often use vanilla bean paste – 1 whole vanilla bean = 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste = 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. You get more flavor from a vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste but you can also use vanilla extract. Nielsen-Massey is my go-to for all things vanilla.
* Almond meal and almond flour are the same thing – it’s simply ground up almonds. I used regular grind – not super fine – for this cake.
* Don’t skip sprinkling the flaky sea salt (such as Maldon) on top of the cake as it intensifies the chocolate.
Source: Adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh’s Sweet (2017)
As a beta taster it is an awesome dessert. BTW I have always wanted a Mounds Almond Joy.
Dad – Thank you for your endorsement. Just another reason why it’s clear you’re my father!