When juicy, in season cherries come together with a rich chocolate cake, it really is a summer match made in heaven. I had plenty of cherries in my kitchen to get through and after making an insane ganache-smothered cake I thought, woah, these are the perfect topping to finish it off! A nice light and fruity contrast to the dense, indulgent cake – which happens to be gluten-free, dairy-free and vegan too!
Ingredients:
For the cake –
- 100g dates, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes (I used Whitworths)
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil (I used Coco Fina)
- 4 tablespoons almond butter (I used Meridian Foods)
- 250ml almond or oat milk
- 100g ground almonds
- 100g flour of choice (I used Dove’s Farm gluten-free flour)
- 100g coconut sugar
- 40g cacao or cocoa powder (I used Bioglan)
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
For the glaze –
- 3 tablespoons almond butter
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup
- 4 tablespoons cacao or cocoa powder
- 2 tablespoons almond milk
Decorate with –
- Fresh cherries
- Cacao nibs
Get making!
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line a 20cm round cake tin.
- Soak the dates in a bowl of boiling water for 10 minutes then drain.
- Add the drained dates, coconut oil, almond butter and milk to the blender and whizz up well until smooth (I use my Ninja Kitchen).
- Mix together the ground almonds, flour, coconut sugar, apple powder, baking powder and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Pour in the date mixture and mix well until you have a thick batter.
- Spread the mixture out into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until firmed. Leave to cool in the tin.
- Whisk together the almond butter, maple syrup, milk and nut butter until smooth.
- Remove the cake from the tin then spoon the glaze over the cooled cake, including down the sides. Scatter over the cherries and cacao nibs on top, then slice and serve. Or – keep in the fridge beforehand and leave for a few hours – it’s like a rich chilled dessert!
