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Eat Well Jul. 12. 2013
Desserts

Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Frosting

Jul. 12. 2013
Desserts
McKel Hill Kooienga, MS, RDN, LDN

McKel Hill Kooienga, MS, RDN, LDN

Founder of Nutrition Stripped® and the Mindful Nutrition Method™

A healthy, paleo chocolate cake and frosting; it exists.

You can have your cake and eat it too. This Gluten Free Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Mousse Frosting is low calorie, low carbohydrate, high fiber, and high protein. Coconut flour is the star ingredient that allows all this goodness to happen. Then… Chocolate. Mousse. Frosting. Three words that individually stand their own ground, but when put the two together you get a total flavor party in your mouth!

As with my Dark Chocolate Avocado Mousse, I’m bringing the avocado back into action with it’s perfectly creamy and thick texture. The avocado mousse means you don’t have to use any dairy, processed sugar, or hydrogenated oils as with most frostings. This mousse is also great for simply dipping fresh fruit into (try strawberries, pears, apples, plums, etc.). This cake is also perfect for my paleo friends! Yes, a delicious paleo chocolate cake does exist.


I tested this recipe out using many variations. Trust me it was challenging work eating all of these delicious chocolate cake recipe successes and failures…such a hard job (wink, wink). I use the term “failures” in the kitchen with a grain of salt, because nothing is ever a failure, I’m continually learning new ways to develop recipes and combinations of flavors, therefore a more suitable term would be learning lessons. So next time you’re in the kitchen and you have a “failure”, back yourself up with positivity and say “no, this was just a learning lesson”, and keep the good cooking/baking vibes rolling 😉

Vegan friends, I have not tried this recipe without using eggs. You can try this recipe using “flax eggs” (see recipe here for it) or an egg replacement, but the egg whites and whole egg in this recipe allow the cake to become very fluffy in texture and rise well. You may or may not have the same success in a vegan cake. If you experiment this way, please comment below and let me and your fellow friends know!

This cake is light, airy, and spongey in texture. It also is slightly sweet and not overpowering. I prefer the cake to be a little less sweet, that way when you top the cake with a rich Chocolate Mousse Frosting or pair it with BananNO Cream. Either way, you will have a perfectly balanced combination. If you want to make this cake sweeter, try adding in more soaked and pureed dates, honey, or other natural sweeteners. Coconut flour is a popular baking ingredient of my choice, as seen in my Coconut Flour Crepe-cakes, and Grain-free Banana Bread. You can pair this Chocolate Coconut Cake with Chocolate Mousse Frosting with your favorite ice cream of choice, fresh fruit, or double frosting which is what I love to do!

 

 

 

What’s your favorite type of frosting on chocolate cake? If you try this recipe out vegan, please comment below I’d love to hear your experiences trying this one out!

Happy cake making!

xo McKel

The Recipe

Serves 4

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Ingredients:

For the cake:

3/4 – 1 cup vanilla almond milk 

4 organic egg whites

1 organic egg, whole

1/4 cup raw cocoa powder

1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup of coconut flour

2 tablespoon cold espresso (or cold coffee from the morning)

6 pitted dates, soaked and chopped (sugar free version- see note)

1 tablespoon flax seed, ground

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the frosting:

2 avocados, pitted

50g of dark chocolate (about ½-1 bar)

4 pitted dates

2 tablespoons raw cocoa powder

1 tablespoon espresso (or cold brewed coffee), optional

1 tablespoon coconut oil 

½ teaspoon vanilla 

almond milk to thin (if needed)

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a round baking pan (8-9 in)

If using dates, soak until softened and puree with almond milk so you don’t have large chunks. If not using dates, skip this step.

Combine all the wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl (eggs, almond milk, vanilla, coffee, dates) and whisk until combined or use a mixer.

Pour in dry ingredients (all remaining ingredients), and stir until well combined.

NOTE: with coconut flour, the batter may initially look and feel like it’s very thin and watery. This will change as the coconut flour starts to absorb the moisture. The overall batter will be thinner than a standard cake batter which is desired. When baking it will come together.

Bake for 30-40 minutes (depending on your oven settings), or until you can stick a knife/toothpick into the center and it comes out clean.

Let sit and cool for about 10-20 minutes.

While cooling, make the frosting by blending until smooth.

Once cool, frost with Chocolate Mousse Frosting and enjoy!

Notes:

Can be kept in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

You can easily make 2 batches of this recipe to “stack” the two layers on top of each other to achieve a higher cake. One recipe yields a cake layer (if using a round pan) of about 1 inch in height; if using a bread loaf pan it yields about 1 1/2 inches in height.

 

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