Chocolate, Coffee and Walnut Cake
One of my favourite wine makers is Charles Melton in South Australia’s Barossa Valley. Charlie is the quintessential Aussie primary producer, hardworking, layback, self effacing and passionate about his product.
The Charles Melton label produces only red wine. They are red wines of outstanding quality, ranging in style from a predominantly Grenache rosé to a luscious, unctious dessert wine labelled “Sotto de Ferro”.
Made in the style of vin santo, muscadelle and pedro ximinex grapes are hand picked, then the bunches are hung in a corrugated iron shed for up to eight weeks to naturally dehydrate. When the juice is considered to be sufficiently concentrated, the grapes are pressed in a basket press for a low yield of juice which is then yeasted and fermented in old barrels for 18 months. When fermentation is complete the wine is then barrel aged for a further 4 years before it is bottled.
As part of my October “in my kitchen” post I featured a bottle of “Sotto de Ferro” that was waiting for me to make a chocolate dessert. This well travelled bottle came on our trip to Western Australia, padded against bumps and accidental breakage in an old thick woollen sock. The time was never right to open it, until now. Barely sweet, my flourless walnut chocolate cake with a hint of coffee is just THE perfect excuse.
This recipe was adapted from a post for a flourless chocolate cake from blogger “the Cooking Chook.” The first time I made this luscious cakes I lined muffin tins to make individual serve cakes. They needed just 20 minutes in the oven.
Chocolate, Coffee and Walnut Cake
60mls strong espresso coffee
180g butter
180g dark chocolate, 70% cacao
2 tablespoons Dutch process cocoa powder
4 eggs separated
1 scant cup castor sugar
2 cups walnut meal
Pre heat the oven to 170C. Butter a 20cm round cake tin and line with baking paper.
Put the coffee, chocolate, butter and cocoa into a bowl over a saucepan of hot water and place over a low heat. Warm until the butter and chocolate are melted, stirring frequently and taking care not to over heat the mixture. Set aside to cool.
Beat the egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chocolate mixture, then the walnut meal.
Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks, then fold half into the chocolate mixture. Fold in the remaining egg whites.
Pour into the cake tin, smooth the top then bake for 50 minutes or cooked when tested with a skewer.
Cool in the tin for 30 minutes before releasing the spring. Dredge with Dutch process
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36 comments on “Chocolate, Coffee and Walnut Cake”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
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Add dark chocolate ganache and a few cherries – pure indulgence !
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A blow-out! 😀
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I have made something similar to this before but used hazelnut meal instead and served it warm with cream and a berry coulis for dessert for a friend with Coeliac Disease. It was awesome and is a frequently requested dessert by everyone.
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Thanks, yes it’s a great cake. I also have a chocolate hazelnut cake recipe on my blog. Here’s the link.
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That chocolate cake might just as well go with a red wine! Yum!
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Yum indeed, and super just on its own!
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yummy yum yum YUM!
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Indeed!
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Oh Sandra! Your cake looks dense and so chocolatey. And moist, no? Mmmm, I know I’d love this. Pinned!
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Yep, it ticks all the boxes…….low cal too!😉
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What’s not to love? A dense, chocolate-y cake with a hint of walnut. Oh, be still my heart! I like the idea of using a muffin pan to make individual cakes. I’d freeze them and pull one out every night to go with the next morning’s coffee. That’s how you start the day!
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Yeah, a great way to start the day!!
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Reblogged this on Dish 'n' the kitchen and commented:
This looks delicious and the in laws are coming for a visit soon…very suitable for a decadent dessert with the inlaws!
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mmm. that is one nice looking cake! I bet it was delicious especially with the wine 🙂
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You’re right, it was fantastic with the wine, which was sweeter than the cake BTW! Thanks for the reblog too
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what do you think about having it with Port?
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Perfect, but use bitter choc so you have contrast of sweetness. Let me know what you think 😃
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You know I think that would go rather well with a nice red wine?!
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Thank you. The sweet wine was perfect with the cake.
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A beautiful looking cake and I can imagine how delicious it can be. Gorgeous photos! 😛
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Thanks Fae, it’s quite a rich cake, but very delicious!
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Oh my, Leah!!! I soooo want some of this and it’s breakfast time. Of course, with the coffee, chocolate, walnuts and eggs, it’s a perfect breakfast cake, don’t you think? I would have to forego the wine until lunch but then I could have another slice of cake. 😉
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LOL! The time is always right somewhere in the world………..
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looks so delicious
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Thanks you, it’s a great recipe!
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Sounds like a wonderful pairing! I haven’t tried making this cake with another type of nut meal, so it’s good to see that that part of the recipe can be substituted with something else and still turn out to be delicious 🙂
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It was a great pairing. Thanks for the fantastic recipe, it’s become quite a favourite and changes with the purity of the chocolate you choose. We like the adult version of 70% cacao but have made it with 45% too.
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Wonderful, Delicious and just can’t wait to make this!
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Try it out, let me know what you think. We love it!
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So tempting! Cannot wait to try it!
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I think it’s the best chocolate cake recipe I’ve ever made! Be tempted
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Well I am already a self confessed groupie of Charlies but that cake looks AMAZING! Great post x
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Thanks, it went down well with the wine! Xx
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