SERVES 6
Known originally as a superstar of screens big and small, Jessica Alba is now equally famous as a passionate mother, lover of all things home, and founder of the incredibly successful Honest Company. Jessica is truly a beauty from the inside out, and her company reflects her own personal values of social responsibility and philanthropy. In 2015, I was fortunate enough to collaborate with her on a charitable cupcake we called Swirl by Jessica Alba. The proceeds went to a cause that she and I both support, Baby2Baby, which provides supplies to needy families with newborns and young children.
Jessica approaches food in the same way she does her lifestyle—by using simple, pure ingredients. The deeply decadent and elegant dessert she graciously shares here also happens to be both dairy- and gluten-free; Jessica recommends using all organic ingredients just like she does. Dense, moist chocolate cake lies beneath a fudgy chocolate-almond coating dusted with confectioners’ sugar and sliced toasted almonds. Like Jessica herself, it’s beautiful and pure.
Cooking spray
¾ cup plus ⅓ cup canned full-fat coconut milk (shake the can before opening to incorporate the milk solids)
1½ cups semisweet dairy-free chocolate chips, such as Chocolate Dream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ cup finely ground almond meal or almond flour*
6 large eggs
½ cup cane sugar
1 (7-ounce) package gluten-free almond paste
½ cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat six 6-ounce ramekins with cooking spray.
In a small saucepan, heat ¾ cup of the coconut milk over medium heat until bubbling. Add 1 cup of the chocolate chips and cook, stirring, until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, whisk in the vanilla, and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in the almond meal until blended.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs and cane sugar until creamy, 2 minutes. Gently whisk the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture until well combined.
Divide the batter among the greased ramekins and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, 24 to 25 minutes. Cool for 1 hour, then refrigerate, uncovered, until set, 1 hour more.
Remove the cakes from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature, 30 minutes. Condense the cakes by pressing down on each one gently with the back of a spoon.
On a clean work surface, roll out the almond paste to about ⅛-inch thickness. Using a 3½-inch round cookie cutter or the rim of a glass, cut six circles approximately the same size as the cakes. Set one circle atop each cake.
In a small saucepan, heat the remaining ⅓ cup coconut milk over medium-low heat until just bubbling, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the remaining ½ cup chocolate chips and cook, stirring, until blended and smooth, 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool for at least 10 minutes to thicken.
Smooth 1 tablespoon of the chocolate sauce over each cake. Sprinkle with the sliced almonds, then dust each cake with confectioners’ sugar.
* Almond flour can be purchased at health food stores (make sure to buy almond flour, not almond meal, which is ground from unblanched almonds and therefore not as fine).
Or to make your own almond flour, process raw blanched and skinless almonds in a food processor until fine (but make sure not to overprocess, which will create almond butter!).