Flourless Molten Chocolate Baby Cakes

Asked by AshH. Answered on 14th March 2015

Full question

Hi, I have made Nigella's Molten Chocolate Baby Cakes many times and they are always a crowd pleaser. One of my friends has recently discovered she has a gluten intolerance and I was wondering, given how little flour is used, if it would be possible to substitute the flour in the recipe for almond meal (and maybe some baking powder)? Thanks, Ash.

Our answer

Nigella's Molten Chocolate Babycakes (from Domestic Goddess and on the Nigella website) do contain a fairly small amount of flour. However unfortunately the flour is needed to give the puddings some structure so that they can sucessfully be removed from their moulds. Replacing the flour with a gluten free alternative is likely to increase the risk that the puddings break up as you put them on a plate.

However you could bake the puddings in ramekins and just serve them in the ramekins rather than unmoulding the puddings on to a plate (and you won't need to line the ramekins with baking parchment/parchment paper). We would suggest using a gluten free plain/all-purpose flour instead of the flour in the recipe. You may also like to look at Nigella's Glitzy Chocolate Pudding recipes (from Nigella Express and on the Nigella website) as this is a similar chocolate dessert where you could probably use a gluten free flour blend. Check also that the dark/bittersweet chocolate you use is gluten free as manufacturers vary according to their production processes. At time of writing Cadbury's list their Crunchie bars as "gluten absent" (for the topping on the Glitzy Chocolate Puddings) but always check the packaging before using.