Almond Flour Chocolate Cake

Dry Ingredients: Gather your almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.

Wet ingredients: Gather your maple syrup, eggs and vanilla extract.

Chocolate Ganache

Gather Heavy cream and chocolate chips

Substitutions

Making this chocolate almond flour cake is super simple and you probably already have everything you need. But, in case you’re missing something, here are my recommended substitutions to make these brownies.

Almond Flour: Blanched almond flour is the correct flour to use in this recipe.
Baking Soda: This helps the chocolate almond flour cake to rise.
Maple Syrup: Maple sugar would be good refined sugar free substitutes for the maple syrup.
Cocoa Powder: Any type of unsweetened cocoa powder will work well in this gluten free chocolate cake recipe. I do not recommend using Dutch process for this recipe due to baking soda being the leavening agent.
Eggs: This is an essential ingredient for this moist and fluffy almond flour chocolate cake. This recipe hasn’t been tested without eggs.
Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips: This is for the chocolate ganache topping. Feel free to use any type of milk, semi sweet, or dark chocolate you like. Use a diary free chocolate to keep this cake diary free.
Heavy Cream: This is to make the chocolate ganache topping for the almond flour cake. Feel free to use an equal amount of coconut cream in place of the heavy cream to keep this cake dairy free.

How To Make

Ready to learn how to make almond flour chocolate cake in a few easy steps!

Preheat the oven to 325 F (160 C). Lightly grease and line an 8” or 9” springform or cake pan with parchment paper along the bottom. In a mixing bowl whisk the eggs, maple syrup and vanilla extract until fully combined.
Whisk in the cocoa powder, almond flour, baking soda and salt until smooth and well combined.
Pour the almond chocolate cake batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake for 27-33 minutes for a 9-inch cake pan. For an 8-inch cake pan, bake for 30-40 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the almond flour chocolate cake should yield a few moist crumbs. Cool the cake in the pan for 10-15 minutes. Remove the side of the springform pan and cool to room temperature.

Make the chocolate ganache by pouring chocolate chips and heavy cream into a microwave safe bowl. Heat the bowl for 20 seconds, remove from the microwave and gently mix the chocolate and heavy cream together. Repeat until all the chocolate has melted. Stir around the bowl in one direction until the mixture becomes thick and glossy.
Evenly spread the ganache topping on top of the cooled almond flour chocolate cake about an hour before serving. Top with fresh fruit for a beautiful pop of color and flavor.

How To Serve, Store, Freeze and Thaw

Serve this almond flour cake with chocolate ganache, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, dusting of powdered sugar, or with freshly whipped cream and fresh seasonal fruit.
Store the almond cake: Once the chocolate cake has cooled completely to room temperature, it can be stored in the fridge without the ganache topping or fruit for up to 3 days.
Freeze the chocolate cake: Make sure the cake is completely cooled to room temperature. Cut the almond flour cake into your preferred amount of pieces. Individually wrap each piece in plastic wrap and place in a ziplock bag. Store in the freezer for up to 2 months.
To thaw the cake slices: The easiest and tastiest way to thaw your chocolate almond flour cake slices is to let them sit out at room temperature for at least two hours or overnight in the fridge.

M’s Expert Tips

Bring cold ingredients to room temperature: This allows the ingredients to mix together more evenly which requires less mixing, resulting in deliciously moist and fluffy cake.
Lightly grease and line the pan with parchment paper. This helps to prevent the cake from sticking to the pan.
Fully cool the cake: You may be very tempted to top this cake with ganache, whipped cream or berries while its still warm, but a little cooling time is needed before enjoying this cake.
Look for the signs the cake is done. Use the baking time as a guide rather than a strict rule. Signs this almond flour cake is finished baking is a set center with baked edges that have slightly pulled away from the edge of the pan. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out with only a few moist crumbs.
Wait to top the almond cake until 60-30 minutes before you would like to serve it.

FAQs

Can I use coconut flour?

No, coconut flour and almond flour bake completely differently and shouldn't be interchanged for this recipe.

Can you bake with almond flour?

Almond flour can be substituted for wheat flour or all purpose flour at a ratio of 1:1. However, almond flour needs more liquid and leavening agents to help it rise and bake the same way regular flour does.

Are almond flour and almond meal the same?

Almond flour is made from blanched almonds and is finer in texture than almond meal with is made from raw unpeeled almonds. For this brownie recipe, it’s recommend to use almond flour instead of almond meal for the best taste and texture.

Is almond flour good for cakes?

Due to it’s high fat content, almond flour keeps baked goods tender and moist. Almond flour is ideal for baking brownies, cakes, cookies and quick breads.

Other Chocolate Cake Recipes to Try

If you try this Almond Flour Chocolate Cake recipe please rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Doing so helps other readers decide if this is a great recipe to bake. Don’t forget to tag me on Instagram using @olivesnthyme so I can see what you’re baking! Happy Baking! - M