Spiced flourless chocolate cake recipe

This delicious spiced flourless chocolate cake is light and airy with a rich, dark chocolate flavour and a liquorice hit from the star anise.

If you're looking for a gluten-free cake that still feels decadent, this is a great option. The sponge is completely flour-free, but so it's much less dense than traditional sponge, but still has a lovely bite and a slight gooiness right at the centre. The outer layer cooks to a lovely light crust. To keep it simple and let the chocolate flavour really take all the glory, we've just dusted the cake with a layer of bitter cocoa powder, which looks professional and fancy. Though light, it's a rich cake so it's best served with a helping of thick crème fraîche to counteract the chocolate.

Ingredients

• 200g bar dark chocolate 70% cocoa solids
• 250g unsalted butter
• 2 star anise, crushed to a powder to make 1⁄2 tsp
• 300g light soft brown sugar
• 6 medium eggs, separated
• Zest of 1 large lime
• Pinch of salt
• Cocoa powder for dusting
• Crème fraîche, to serve

Method

1. Set the oven to 160°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3. Butter and line the base of a 22-23cm (81⁄2-9in) loose-based/ spring-form tin with baking parchment.
2. Break the chocolate into a heatproof bowl and add the butter, in chunks, and star anise.
3. Put the sugar and 4 tbsp water in a small pan. Bring to the boil, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Pour the syrup over the butter and chocolate and stir until smooth. Stir in the egg yolks and lime zest.
4. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt in an electric mixer to soft-peak stage. Add about a third of the egg-white foam to the chocolate mixture, folding it in with a big metal spoon, then gently fold in the rest of the egg white.
5. Pour into the tin on a baking sheet and bake for 50-60 mins. Check if the cake is cooked by inserting a skewer, which should come out almost clean. The cake will have risen but will sink back and crack on cooling, and will still be a bit soft in the middle.
6. Leave in the tin to cool, then take out and dust with cocoa powder. Slice and serve with crème fraîche.

Top tip for making spiced flourless chocolate cake

It tempting to serve this cake still warm, but for the best flavour, leave to cool completely.

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