This is a great Gluten free chocolate cake recipe. The cake is rich and dense and lovely served after dinner with an aromatic cup of coffee.

Ingredients 

• ½ tsp butter for greasing
• ½ tsp cocoa for dusting
• 500 g fresh ricotta
• 4 eggs separated
• 3 Tbsp orange juice
• 300 g light brown sugar
• 200 g ground almonds
• 250 g dark chocolate, melted
• 2 Tbsp zest for mixture
• 2 Tbsp candied zest for decorating

 Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 23cm cake tin and dust with cocoa powder.

2. Drain the ricotta and push through a sieve to remove the lumps.

3. Add the egg yolks, orange juice, brown sugar, ground almonds, melted chocolate and zest to the cheese and mix well.

4. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites, a little at a time, until soft peaks form. Working quickly, folds evenly into the chocolate-cheese mixture.

5. Spoon the mixture into the tin and smooth the top using a palette knife.

6. Bake for 55 minutes to one hour, or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool completely and then decorate with candied zest.

TIP

The cake also lasts for up to a week in a sealed container.