Phil Vickery's gluten-free fudgy almond cake recipe

Phil Vickery's gluten-free fudgy almond cake is simply divine. Made with dark chocolate, vanilla and almonds, it has a fresh mint filling and a deliciously crunchy honeycomb and mascarpone frosting.

Ingredients

For the cake

• 200g unsalted butter
• 200g gluten free dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces
• 5 medium eggs, at room temperature, separated
• Pinch of cream of tartar
• 240g caster sugar
• 1tbsp vanilla extract
• 200g ground almonds
• 50g chickpea (gram) flour

For the syrup

• 100g caster sugar
• 4tbsp chopped fresh mint

For the frosting

• 500g mascarpone
• 50g honeycomb, chopped
• 100g clear honey

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F, gas mark 4). Line a 24cm round, 7cm deep, loose-bottomed cake tin with baking parchment.
2. Place the butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl and melt over a pan of simmering water. Once melted, take the pan off the heat but leave the bowl over the pan to keep the mixture warm.
3. Place the egg whites and cream of tartar in a bowl and whisk until thick and foamy, then add half the sugar, and whisk again until creamy and thick.
4. Add the rest of the sugar and whisk until very stiff, but still a creamy consistency. Stir the egg yolks, vanilla extract, almonds and chickpea flour into the warm chocolate and butter, then straight away add half the meringue, mixing well. Finally, add the rest of the meringue and fold in.
5. Spoon into the lined tin and bake for 45-50 mins, or until well risen and firm.
6. Remove from the oven and cool slightly in the tin; it will collapse a little. Make several holes over the surface of the cake with a skewer.
7. Meanwhile, place the sugar, 100ml water and the mint in a small pan and boil until the sugar has dissolved, then strain. Spoon the syrup over the cake and leave to soak in and cool completely.
8. Once the cake has cooled, beat the mascarpone, honeycomb and honey together with a wooden spoon or spatula. Do not whisk or the mascarpone will be too soft and not hold its shape on the cake.
9. Turn out the cake carefully onto a large, flat plate. As there is no gluten in the cake, it will have quite a soft texture, so be careful. Cover the cake with the honey mascarpone.