Low carb, Lo-Fo Chocolate Cake
This is a GREAT cake recipe... Hardly any flour used - super high in protein from the eggs, high in healthy fats and antioxidants from the quality chocolate and the Extra Virgin Olive Oil. This cake is so healthy you can literally eat it for breakfast!
Don't forget to tag me @adietitiansmission in your creations!
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 10
Ingredients:
250g 85% dark chocolate, chopped up
100 mL Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I use Cobram Estate)
½ C rice malt syrup (or honey is FODMAPs aren't an issue for you)
¼ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons almond meal (or plain flour if that's what you've got on hand)
6 eggs, whites and yolks separated
How to:
Preheat oven to 180 deg C (fan forced). Line a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper.
Place the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and zap for 4 lots of 30 seconds, ensuring you mix the chocolate well each time. Once the chocolate is completely melted, add the Olive Oil to the chocolate and carefully whisk in till well combined.
Fold in the almond meal and the salt into the chocolate mixture.
Lightly beat the egg yolks with a fork till combined and then add them to the chocolate mixture and mix through with a wooden spoon. The mixture will thicken up.
Beat egg whites in a separate clean bowl until they are stiff, using an electric mixer set on medium. Scrape the sides of the bowl often with a rubber spatula. Continue to beat the eggs until the peak stands straight up when the beaters are lifted from the mixture.
Fold the egg whites gently into the chocolate mixture by adding the whites in three separate batches until all the egg whites are just incorporated.
Spoon the cake mixture into the baking tin. OPTIONAL: Sprinkle buckwheat kernels or seeds of your choice on top of the cake mix.
Cook the cake for 25 minutes, or until just cooked in the centre. The cake will rise and crack in the centre, then slowly sink once it is removed from the oven and left to cool.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then carefully run a knife around the edges to loosen. Remove from the tin and place on wire rack to cool completely.
Store the cake in an airtight container in the fridge for no more than 3 days, otherwise freeze.
Serve alone or with seasonal berries and/or yoghurt.
CATERING FOR DIFFERENT PALATES:
Depending on your palate, this cake may or may not be sweet enough. If you would like it to be more of a sweet cake (rather than bitter-sweet), you can use 55 - 70% dark chocolate instead, and add a little (1/4 C) brown sugar to the mix.
Bon Appétit!
ADM xx
Joyce Haddad, Director of A Dietitian's Mission, is an Adelaide based Dietitian, Nutritionist and Master Personal Trainer with a passion for health and wellbeing. ADM aims to help the public make informed and realistic nutritional choices and ensure everyone has a healthy relationship with their body and with food.
