Chocolate Cake with Tahini Cashew Honey Cream Cheese Icing

This is a cake for any time of the year although I’ve created it for Easter.  The chocolate base and icing are both delicious on their own although together they take things to new levels.  To create an amazing cream cheese icing depends on a few details and then you will always end up with a perfect smooth cream. 

Everything should be at room temperature and I would only spread it on the cake when it’s fully cooled.  Actual prep-time should be only 30 minutes which isn’t bad for a whole cake! Enjoy, this is bloody good!  

Ingredients:

GF

Serves 12

260g unsalted butter, diced and soft

200g unrefined caster sugar

5 medium eggs, lightly beaten

230g almond flour/ground almonds

80g cocoa powder

2 tsp vanilla extract

pinch of sea salt

200g dark chocolate, 70% coco roughly chopped

For the icing

300g cream cheese, at room temperature

125g butter, softened and diced

4 tbsp runny honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

3 tbsp cashew butter ( I used Meridian) 

2 tbsp tahini paste 

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and grease line an 11-inch cake tin with baking paper.

Begin making the chocolate base and melt the chocolate in a bain-marie (in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water).  Once melted remove from heat and put to one side.

In a mixing bowl with a handheld electric whisk beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.  This should take about 3-4 minutes if the butter is soft.  Put the almond flour and cocoa powder together and slowly add a little of these dry ingredients followed by a little of the beaten eggs and mix in well.  Continue adding a little of each of the mixtures making sure to mix each part in properly and this will avoid curdling the batter. 

Next, pour in the melted chocolate, salt and vanilla extract and you should have a light fluffy batter.  Use a spatula to scrape this into the prepared cake tin spreading it out evenly.  Place into the oven for 40 minutes in the middle of the oven.  When it is ready it should have formed a skin on top which is firm but also not totally hard.  It will be a little gooey inside but it will continue cooking while it cools down.  Leave to cool completely.

When the cake is cool begin making the icing.  Throw the soft butter, honey and vanilla extract into a bowl and use an electric whisk to whip up to creamy, light butter.  This will take about 2 minutes.  Next, add in the tahini and cashew until incorporated. 

In a separate bowl whip up the cream cheese and then fold it into the butter mix.  You don’t want to over mix this as it is pretty delicious not to mention looks beautiful having the different coloured swirls of light brown and white.  Spoon this frosting onto the cake and use the back of a tablespoon to create wonderful waves and swirls of icing. 

This cake will keep covered for about 2 days.  I don’t put it in the fridge as the icing tends to go too hard.  FYI, it won’t last two days so it’s all good.