Roasted Nut Cake with Chocolate Fudge Icing

Does flour fill you with foreboding, wheat unnerve you and gluten give you the willies? Well step right up folks and put some ardour in your larder with this vitalising, energising, dynamising flour free roasted nut cake. Rich in toasted nuts and now with the added power of chocolate, this remedying restorative is being made available just for you with this limited time only offer. So if you simply cannot tolerate gluten, or just have need of glorious gratification then treat yourself with one today (while stocks last).

Prep time: 30 Mins
Baking time: 50 Mins
100g Blanched Hazelnuts (Roasted)
100g Shelled Pistachios (Roasted)
100g Ground Almonds
1tsp Baking Powder
175g Light Muscovado Sugar
4 Large Eggs
1tsp Vanilla Extract

For the Chocolate Fudge Icing
100g Dark Chocolate (Broken into squares)
50g Unsalted Butter
1/2tbsp Golden Syrup

Before we begin, a brief note about my nuts. To roast the hazelnuts and pistachios, just spread them whole onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and place in the centre of a medium oven until golden, shaking the tray occasionally to ensure an even colouring. Once they are roasted, just leave on the tray until cool, then they are ready to use.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4, grease a 20cm deep loose bottomed tin and line the base with baking paper. Grind 50g of the roasted hazelnuts and 50g of the roasted pistachios as fine as you can (I do this in a mini chopper) and roughly chop the other 50g of each. Mix the ground and chopped nuts together with the ground almonds, baking powder and sugar, then set to one side.

In a large bowl whisk the eggs with the vanilla extract until pale and frothy. Tip in the dry ingredients and fold through until evenly combined, then pour into your prepared tin. Bake in the centre of the oven for around 50 minutes, until a metal skewer can be cleanly removed when inserted into the middle of the cake, then leave to cool for 30 minutes in the tin before carefully turning out and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack.

When the cake is cool you can place on the the serving plate and get started on the icing. Place the chocolate, butter and syrup in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water (also known as a bain-marie) and stir together until melted and smooth. Spoon the icing over the cake and spread gently with the back of a spoon until it cascades over the edges. Leave to set then slice and serve. Your work here is done.