Flourless Blackberry Chocolate Cake is the answer to everything I want this birthday. It’s gluten free, vegan friendly, healthy, but completely decadent and delicious tasting at the same time. You all know I’m a chocolate lover so this recipe came naturally when I was brainstorming what type of cake I wanted to make and share this birthday.
I already have the popular Chocolate Coconut Flour Cake with Chocolate Mousse Frosting, but wanted to make a vegan friendly chocolate cake for you all to enjoy as well, plus this one has secret ingredients that none of my friends were able to pinpoint when tasting at our Nutrition Stripped Supper Club on Sunday.
This past year has been incredibly fulfilling in so many ways and so much goodness has happened with Nutrition Stripped and in general with life. I’m constantly enthralled by the kind emails and comments I receive from you all about how Nutrition Stripped has helped you eat more whole foods and incorporate more plant-based foods into your diet–I especially get all giddy when you share it with your friends and family or recreate the recipes and show me the pictures! Reflecting on this past year, I’ve grown so much not only as a person, but as a blogger, as a cook, a photographer, friend, and a coach.
I can tell you this much, this year is going to be awesome- with the big announcement I made yesterday, I literally couldn’t have asked for a better birthday present. I made this chocolate cake to share with friends at Arrington Vineyards this weekend, one of my favorite spots, while cracking open some red wine and enjoying newly developed recipes- one of them being this! I had everyone around the table guess what the ingredients were and I must say, I have some pretty smart friends who know what I have up my sleeve with trying to sneak veggies into desserts, but no one guessed right away… sweet potatoes! I’ve used sweet potatoes in desserts numerous times, one of the most popular being the Cinnamon Sweet Potato Truffle, but that’s a given as sweet potatoes are in the title. I love using sweet potatoes in desserts, vegan desserts especially, to give a lot of body, starch, and density to it while keeping it naturally sweetened and moist.
Bubbly blackberries. I saw these amazing blackberries last weekend at the market and I literally gushed with excitement thinking I had to use them, photograph them, and ultimately gobble them all up– they were gorgeous! Blackberries play a vital role in this cake, they’re used not only to give a subtle sweetness to the cake, but are important in the texture by keeping the cake moist and dense.
Most flourless cakes are more dense than your standard fluffy cake, so don’t be surprised if this cake doesn’t rise like most of your other store bought cakes, it’s not supposed to. It’s going to be a cross between a cake and brownie/fudge and trust me, you won’t mind a bit. It’s incredible. It’s also made naturally gluten free and many of the ingredients that make this cake are loaded with fiber, natural sugars to sweeten, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips to boost the antioxidants… right? The almond meal is used simply to give the cake a bit more stability, but I’ve made it without the almond meal and it still tastes amazing, just a bit more fudgy. I love baking this cake in my cast iron skillet for the rustic presentation of it, but you can use a standard cake round or square pan.
Serve // You have the option of leaving the cake as it and simply topping it with fresh blackberries, cherries, or peaches, and a sprig of mint or two, topped with my Coconut Whipped Cream, or you can get fancy and make my Chocolate Mousse Frosting to spread a thick layer on top of the cake. It’s best served warm after you’ve let it cool for about 20 minutes, the inside is still gooey and incredibly decadent. I love topping it with assorted fresh summer fruits since this cake is already so decadent and rich.
- 1 cup fresh blackberry, pulsed (yield after pulsed)
- 1 cup blackberries, garnish
- 7 oz sweet potato, baked no skin
- 1 cup dates, pitted
- 1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup almond meal
- 1/4 cup dark chocolate chips, melted
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- Bake sweet potato in the skin at 400° F for about 40 minutes or until soft. No skin, set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 325° F (175° C)
- Melt chocolate chips using the stove top (double boiler method) or in a microwave. Set aside to cool at room temperature.
- Add the blackberries to a food processor or blender and pulse until smooth- you don’t want to make a juice out of these just a really good pulsed mash with chunks. Set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine water, baking soda, baking powder, and apple cider vinegar.
- Add remaining ingredients into a food processor and combine, dates, coconut oil, melted chocolate, and sweet potato. Scraping down the sides as needed. Add this mixture to the pulsed blackberries, cocoa powder, and almond meal and stir to combine. Stir in the small mixing bowl contents until everything forms a batter.
- Pour the cake batter into an 8-inch non-stick spring pan or cast iron skillet and bake it for 60 minutes.
- Let the cake cool slightly before removing from the cast iron skillet or cake pan.
- Enjoy with fresh fruit to garnish and coconut whipped cream or Chocolate Mousse Frosting.
I hope you all love this chocolate cake as much as I do! Now off to enjoy the rest of today with my love and friends… and Zoey of course. Cheers!
Sending über amounts of love today,
xx McKel
