A gluten-free low-carb chocolate cake to die for
Being locked-indoors, some of us may feel the urge of creating homemade sweet treats. Since many in my surroundings avoid the consumption of gluten, simple carbs, and sugar, I keep experimenting with new recipes.
This week I managed to turn a recipe for a French chocolate cake into its gluten-free version. It was a hit in terms of consistency and taste. What strikes me most,was that I could turn a handful of ingredients into such a mouthwatering experience.
The recipe is free of conventional sugar, hydrogenated oils, white flour and baker’s yeast. Instead, I can use high-quality butter or even ghee from grass-fed cattle, free-range eggs from the farmer’s market, and fair-trade dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa. It is loaded with fibers, polyphenols, good fat and clean protein.
Here's what I used to make gluten-free chocolate cake:
- 200 g grass-fed butter
- 200 g dark chocolate 70%+ cocoa
- 4 free-range eggs
- 10 dates, additionally 1-2 spoons of healthy-choice sugar, like the less-refined muscovado sugar
- 2 tbs of coconut-flour and 1tbs of starch, like tapioca starch (if you don´t have that, use 2 tbs spelt flour)
- optionally, dust with dark cocoa powder
How to Prepare the French Chocolate Cake
First things first. Get the ingredients out and prepare the baking materials: a pot and a water-resistant bowl for the water bath. Get a few bowls ready. You need a blender and a mixer, and a ten-inch cake tin covered with baking paper. Optionally, a food scale for weighing butter and chocolate, but usually there are the measurements already marked on those goods. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Soak the dates in half a cup of hot water beforehand, to soften them.
Melt the butter and the dark chocolate in a water bath.
Puree the dates with as little liquid as possible. Separate the eggs into two bowls. Beat the egg whites to a stiff snow.
Add the yolk to the dates. If you prefer sweeter cakes, add 1–2 spoons of raw sugar. Beat the mix to a creamy homogeneous mass then slowly add the coconut flour and starch, add the melted chocolate-butter slowly and mix well with a whisker. Carefully fold in the snow.
Fill the cake mold with baking paper.
Pour the creamy mixture into the pan and bake in the raw for about 30 minutes. Once cold, sieve cocoa powder over it.
How to melt butter/chocolate in water: you need to heat some water, put the solid mass in a heat-resistant bowl, and stir occasionally.
Savor every bite and embrace this delicious cake with a nice cup of tea or lactose-free Caffe Latte to its fullest.
For US-weights, check my post on Medium.