Gormandize: Vegan Kladdkaka (Gooey Swedish Chocolate Cake)

Thursday 30 August 2012

Vegan Kladdkaka (Gooey Swedish Chocolate Cake)

Only 2 days left of August! The year is going by so fast, we're almost into all the months that end with "ber" and to me that means that Xmas is practically here. There are also only 2 days left in Swedish Food month on this blog, which is sad in a way - although I'm sure my body won't mind eating less carbs, rich foods and chocolatey creamy desserts! It is just as well that Sweden month fell in winter, as I'm not sure how I would have coped with the rich and heavy foods during Sydney's summer months!

I've left my favourite Swedish dessert of the month until last. It's absolutely deliciously decadent! Kladdkaka is essentially a rich chocolate cake which is left slightly undercooked, so that the outer edge is chewy like a brownie and the inside is still gooey. It is very easy to make and is one hell of a fantastic comfort food! It's just like a big gooey chocolate brownie. What is not to love about that?

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups wholemeal flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup almond meal
1/8 tsp nutmeg
150g nuttelex (or other non dairy margarine)
2 tbsp golden syrup
1/2 cup almond milk (you can sub soy milk)
100g dark chocolate (vegan variety), chopped up
Chopped almonds to garnish (or other nuts if you like)

To Make
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
2. Combine the flour, sugar, almond meal and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.
3. Put the nuttelex and golden syrup in a saucepan and put over a low heat to melt.
4. Stir in the almond milk and heat until it is almost simmering, the milk should be hot but not simmering.
5. Remove from the heat and stir through the chopped chocolate. Stir continuously until all the chocolate has melted.
6. Pour the chocolate mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.
7. Grease a 22-23cm springform cake tin and line the bottom with greaseproof baking paper.
8. Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 20-22 minutes. The edges should be cooked and a skewer/knife should come out clean when inserted. The middle will be gooey.
9. Allow to cool a little. Sprinkle with chopped nuts. Can be eaten warm or cold, great served with vanilla ice cream.

Makes 1 cake.

~TIPS~
~ Remove the sides of the springform pan and then just serve it still resting on the base. As the middle is gooey it is not very stable and your cake may not respond well to being moved, so just leave it on the base to serve.