Gluten free Bonfire cake

Remember, remember the 5th November chants around the bonfire. Each year in the United Kingdom, the Brits celebrate the failure of Guy Fawkes attempt to blow up parliament in 1605. As the fire burns fireworks are set off and children big and small wave around their sparklers. Treats are enjoyed from hot dogs to toffee apples to cinder toffee.

One treat enjoyed by many is a bonfire cake. There are variations of this but I like to make a simple gluten free chocolate cake and top it off with honey comb (cinder toffee). I also crush some cinder toffee up and add it to the middle layer of chocolate fudge icing. Below you will find two recipes, one for my gluten free chocolate cake and the other for cinder toffee. If you are not keen on handling hot sugar, then you can buy your own cinder toffee but it’s not as good as homemade.

Cinder toffee

5 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 5 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 200 g Caster sugar
  • 100 g Golden syrup
  • 2 tsp Bicarbonate soda

Instructions
 

  • Grease a 20cm square, deep cake tin and line with baking parchment. Grease the parchment.
  • In a large and heavy based saucepan, melt the sugar and golden syrup over a low heat. Do not stir but swirl the pan to combine the sugar and golden syrup. It will look dry at first but it soon turns to liquid.
  • Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up to a slow boil. Again, do not stir but insert a sugar thermometer. Once the temperature reaches 140c remove from the heat, add the biocarbonate soda and whisk until it is combined but do not over whist. The mix will expand as the soda reacts to the sugar, Pour into the lined tin and allow to cool before breaking up.

 

ultimate gluten-free chocolate cake

Ultimate gluten-free chocolate cake

5 from 3 votes
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Servings 10

Ingredients
  

For the Cake

  • 175 g Dark chocolate I use Cadburys Bournville
  • 175 g Soft butter
  • 175 g Caster sugar
  • 4 Egg yolks
  • 4 Egg whites whisked to stiff peaks
  • 90 g Ground almonds
  • 90 g Gluten-free plain flour
  • 1 tsp Gluten-free Baking powder

For the Icing

  • 90 g Granulated sugar
  • 45 g Butter
  • 125 g Dark chocolate
  • 75 ml Evaporated milk

Instructions
 

For the sponge

  • Preheat the oven to 180c fan Gas mark 4. Grease two 8inch sandwich tins.
  • Separate four eggs so you have four yolk in one cup and four egg whites in the other. Whisk the egg whites to form stiff peaks and set aside.
  • In a bowl resting over simmering water in a saucepan, melt the chocolate. Set aside.
  • Cream together the butter and sugar until fluffy and pale. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time. Stir in the melted chocolate and ground almonds. Now stir in the flour and baking powder.
  • Fold in the egg whites keeping as much air as possible.
  • Add the cake batter to the tins and bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool.

Make the icing

  • In a saucepan bring the sugar and evaporated milk to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes. Stir at all times. Take the pan of the heat and stir in the chocolate until it has melted. Now do the same with the butter.
  • Put the icing into a bowl and allow to cool. Once cool, put into the fridge. Once set, it will be spreadable and then you can ice the cake.