Mega Moist Flourless Chocolate Amaretti Cake

Don't you love it when you find a recipe that you know you'll use time and time again. This is one such recipe, from Yummly.com. It is absolutely delicious and slightly healthier than normal chocolate cake because it doesn't contain flour. 

Ingredients (serves 8-10)

- 1 1/4 cup of amaretti biscuits (about 25 small ones)

- 3/4 cup almonds

- 1/4 tsp cinnamon

- 1/2 a cup of unsalted butter, softened (about 125g)

- 1/2 cup granulated sugar

- 4 eggs

- 8 ounces good quality chocolate, melted

- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Start by preheating the oven to 180°c and greasing a 9" cake tin.

2. Place the amaretti biscuits and almonds in a food processor and whizz until a fine meal forms. A bit of crunch is good! Put this mixture into a bowl, stir in the cinnamon and set aside.

3. Heat a little water in a small saucepan. Put a bowl on top of the saucepan and make sure that it doesn't touch the water. Break the chocolate into the bowl and stir until it's melted. Leave this to cool while you finish the rest of the cake.

4. Cream the butter and sugar in a food processor for a couple of minutes. Slowly add the eggs one at a time (with the motor running), and scrape down the sides with a spatular. 

5. Finally add the almond mixture and melted chocolate to the food processor, and stir in the vanilla essence. 

6. Pour the cake mixture into the prepared tin and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. 

This cake is great with creme fraiche, yoghurt and fruit.

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Dairy-free Carrot Cake

There's a first time for everything! One of my friends requested a carrot cake recipe, yet I had none to give her. In desperate need for a recipe, my mum acquired one for me - this is my 'tweaked' version.

Ingredients (makes 8 big slices)

for the cake - 

6oz caster sugar

6oz vegetable oil

3 eggs

5.4 oz plain flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/3 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

12oz grated carrot, roughly 3 carrots

1oz walnuts (I didn't have 3oz)

for the icing - 

half cup thick soya yoghurt or Total yoghurt for those that can eat dairy

2 tsp golden syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

or (the icing for the original recipe)

8oz philadelphia cheese

8oz icing sugar

2 tsp vanilla essence

1. Heat the oven to 170°C.

2. Mix the sugar and the oil and then add the eggs one at a time. 

3. Sift the flour, salt, baking powder and cinnamon in another bowl and mix well. Add the flour mix to the egg mix and stir well.

4. Then fold the grated carrots and walnuts into the cake mix and place in a suitable cake tin. 

5. Cook the cake at 170°C for 25 minutes and then turn the heat down to 160°C and cook for a further 20/25 minutes.

6. I didn't have the right ingredients for the icing so had to improvise. For the icing, put the yoghurt, syrup and essence together and leave it in the fridge until the cake is ready and has completely cooled. 

7. Cover the cake with the icing and decorate with walnuts of grated carrot.