Christmas Chocolate Icecream Cake - Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free!

Missing out on normal chocolate and other edible Christmas naughtiness wasn't an exciting prospect for me in the lead up to Christmas. I usually love to have Santa chocolates or cashews or plum pudding-icecream, but because of my special diet for my immune system (ugh, see here if you have no idea what I'm harping on about) I had to cut all that out. So, to console myself I attempted to make a buche noel using agave (a sugar alternative) and coconut-milk icecream (dairy free). But we all know that gluten free cakes aren't the most pliable and that means they not so easy to roll.  So my buche noel turned into a bit of a rectangle layer cake. Surprisingly, it was delicious and looked lovely! It definitely brought some edible Christmas cheer back into my Christmas dinner.  In fact, I'll probably make it again for New Years Eve.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with lots of yumminess and fun with your family or friends! I know I did!

Ingredients for Sheet Cake
4 eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup agave syrup
100g gluten free flour, plain or self raising
90-100g gluten free cocoa

Method for Sheet Cake
In a bowl, beat the eggs lightly to disperse the yolk (by hand or with mixer if needed).  Add the agave and continue to whisk/electric mix the egg and sugar until mixture is slightly thicker.  At this stage, gradually fold in the cocoa and flour.  Spread mixture on a tray lined with baking paper.  Bake at 180 degrees (fan-forced) until just firm; perhaps 15 minutes.  The sponge should spring back when cooked properly.  Remove sponge from oven and allow to cool. Then cut the sheet cake into 3 sections.

Ingredients for Filling
Dairy Free, sugar free, icecream such as CocoLuscious Coconut (or Vanilla) Icecream

Method
Allow icecream to sit on bench for a little while until it is slightly softer. Use a knife to spread the icecream evenly (you can see in my photo that mine wasn't spread evenly on each layer) onto each layer of the sheet cake. Stack. Return to freezer for 20 minutes so the icecream sets. Remove from freezer and spread another layer over each 2 layers of icecream so it's quite thick. This will give the cake some height and a nicer, sweeter taste. Return to freezer.

Ingredients for Topping/Icing
100-120g agave-sweetened chocolate, such as Conscious Chocolate
50g copha (made on coconut oil)
2 tsp dairy free margarine, such as Nuttlex

Method
Place a saucepan half filled with water ontop of the stove. Place a heat-proof bowl on top of the saucepan. In this bowl, place the ingredients for the topping in there and wait until they melt. Mix with a metal spoon and pour evenly over the cake.  Return to freezer for 1 hour before serving.