Cocoa squares with himalayan salted ganache, candied ginger and chocolate curls

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 200 g semi-whole wheat flour
• 80 g wholemeal flour
• 120 g almond flour
• 40 g unsweetened cacao powder, sifted
• 50 g muscovado sugar
• half a teaspoon vanilla powder
• 2 teaspoons cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• a pinch of whole sea salt
• 180 g barley malt syrup
• 100 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 200 ml almond milk, unsweetened and unflavoured
• 100 ml almond cream (or other vegetable cream, GMO-free)

For the chocolate sauce:

• 300 ml almond milk, unsweetened
• 4 tablespoons rice malt syrup
• 2 teaspoons ginger juice
• 1 teaspoon natural vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon dried ginger powder
• a pinch of whole sea salt
• 3 tablespoons unsweetened cacao powder, sifted
• half a teaspoon cornstarch, dissolved in 1 tablespoon filtered cold water

For the chocolate ganache:

• 150 g dark chocolate (70% cacao), broken into pieces
• 200 g rice malt syrup
• 50 ml almond cream (or other vegetable cream, GMO-free)
• half a teaspoon fine ground Himalayan salt

To complete:

• chopped candied ginger (candied with dark brown sugar), to taste
• dark chocolate curls (made with a vegetable peeler dragged down one side of the chocolate block from top to bottom), to taste

You may like

Chocolate fudge with salted butter caramel

Preparation

• Preheat oven to 180° C, lightly oil and flour a 20 cm square (stainless steel) cake pan, or alternatively, lay down a sheet of parchment paper on your cake pan. In a large bowl, sift together the semi-whole wheat flour, wholemeal flour, almond flour, cacao powder, muscovado, vanilla, cream of tartar, cornstarch and salt. Mix well.
• Place the barley malt syrup, extra virgin olive oil, almond milk and almond cream in a bowl and stir well. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk until the batter is blended.
• Make sure everything is well combined. Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake for about 50 minutes. The centre of the cake should be firm but still a little moist (use a wooden stick to check donness). Let cool before removing the cake from the pan.
• To make the chocolate sauce, place the almond milk, rice malt syrup, ginger juice, vanilla extract, ginger powder and salt in a saucepan and start cooking over low heat. Add the cacao powder while you keep stirring.
• Cook for another 2-3 minutes, then add the cornstarch and cook for another minute or until the sauce is slightly thick (don’t stop stirring while it thickens). Let cool for a few minutes but not too long as the sauce will thicken a bit further as it cools.
• When the cake has cooled, remove it from the pan and cut into squares. Poke a few holes in the squares, using a fork or stick. Pour some chocolate sauce over them little by little and let it soak in. Set aside for a while, to let cool again and let the sauce make everything moist. In the meantime you can make the chocolate ganache. Place the chocolate in a saucepan together with the rice malt syrup, almond cream and Himalayan salt and simmer over low heat, stirring constantly.
• Remove from the heat as soon as the chocolate has completely melted and everything is combined. Let cool for a bit then pour the ganache over the top of the cake squares and garnish with the candied ginger and chocolate curls.