This grain-free spiced chocolate torte is a great to end a festive dinner. It will satisfy any chocolate lover, but also has a delectable hint of spice.
Thanksgiving is over, and I’m planning to top everything with pomegranate arils from now until the end of the year. This grain-free spiced chocolate torte, of course, is no exception.
I love using warming spices like cinnamon and cardamom to make desserts smell and taste extra festive during the holiday season. However, I’m also a huge lover of chocolate. I didn’t want to choose between my love of chocolate and my love of a little seasonal spice, so I decided to combine the two into a spiced chocolate torte.
This torte has a perfect texture and crumb thanks to a combination of almond flour and tapioca flour from Bob’s Red Mill. Those two flours are my go-to for grain-free baking year round. The almond flour, which is made of whole, blanched sweet almonds, provides the tenderness and richness that every torte needs. And since Bob’s Red Mill almond flour is super finely ground, there’s no need to sift it before using! As an extra bonus, almonds are packed with healthy monounsaturated fats and protein, but are low in carbohydrates (and are naturally gluten free).
The tapioca flour helps add a little fluff to the cake so it’s not too heavy. The almond and tapioca flours work so well together that I bet you can fool your friends and family into thinking this cake was made with regular flour!
If you’re interested in a coupon to save some money on Bob’s Red Mill flours, you can get one right here!
This grain-free spiced chocolate torte is also simple to make–no mixer is required, and there’s no creaming of the butter or any other arm workout involved. Just whisk together the dry ingredients, melt the butter, whisk together the wet ingredients, and stir everything up.
As previously mentioned, cinnamon and cardamom give this cake its irresistible holiday flair. There’s also just a tad of espresso powder in the batter, which helps deepen the chocolate flavor.
After the cake is baked, it’s topped with a lightly salted ganache, whipped cream, and pomegranate arils. The combination of fudgy spiced chocolate cake, gooey ganache, fluffy whipped cream, and tangy pomegranate seeds is really irresistible. I’ve made this cake three times in the past two weeks, and no one over here is complaining!
This cake is even toddler approved. Our friends’ three-year-old son was beyond excited when we walked in with this cake the other night. He spotted it and cried, “It’s a cake! It looks like cheesecake! It has chocolate on it! It’s a birthday cake!”
We got him a piece right away. I was a bit worried the spices in the cake would put him off, but he soon declared it “deeeelicious”.
- 1½ cups Bob's Red Mill almond flour
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- ¼ cup Bob's Red Mill tapioca flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon cardamom
- ½ teaspoon espresso powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup (4 tablespoons or ½ stick) unsalted butter or ghee
- ½ cup raw sugar
- ½ cup honey
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- ½ cup bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips
- Generous pinch of salt
- ½ cup heavy cream (or milk of choice)
- Whipped cream or whipped coconut cream
- Arils from half a large pomegranate
- To make the torte, preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the bottom an 8-inch springform pan or 9-inch regular cake with parchment and grease the parchment and the sides of the pan.
- Mix the almond flour, tapioca flour, cocoa, baking soda, espresso powder, spices, and salt in a large bowl.
- Melt the butter in the microwave in a heatproof bowl (or on the stovetop in a small saucepan) and whisk in the sugar while it’s still hot. Add the honey and extracts and whisk until smooth, then whisk in the eggs one at a time.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir with a spatula until thoroughly combined.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake until just set, about 35-40 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake should come out clean or with a few small crumbs attached, but no goo.
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes, then transfer to a rack and allow to cool completely, right side up.
- To make the chocolate ganache, place the chocolate chips and salt in heatproof bowl. Warm the cream in the microwave or on the stovetop until steam is just rising from the edges. Pour the cream over the chocolate, cover the bowl with a plate, and wait five minutes. Whisk until smooth.
- Spread the chocolate ganache over the top of the cooled cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.
- Let the ganache set at room temperature for an hour or in the freezer for 15 minutes before topping with whipped cream and pomegranate arils. Slice and serve!
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of CLEVER and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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