Healthy Dessert: Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe

by Mom It Forward on April 20th, 2019 | 3 Comments »

Two words: "cake" and "healthy." Yes, I did just use those words together in the same sentence. It is possible to have your cake and eat it too with this Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe from The New Sonoma Diet by Dr. Connie Guttersen. This particular diet recommends actually enjoying food, eating it slowly and with others as often as possible, while eating wholesomely, locally, and in controlled portions. This chocolate cake recipes uses dark chocolate to amp up the health quotient.

About the healthiness of dark chocolate, Dr. Guttersen states: "Studies suggest that the antioxidants in dark chocolate and cacao, called flavanols, may protect arteries and help them relax, thereby easing blood flow. Enjoying just a quarter-ounce of dark chocolate every day was found to lower blood pressure without increasing body weight, according to a 15-year Dutch study. The anti-inflammatory compounds of dark chocolate are just what the doctor ordered when the percentage of cacao is greater than 70%. "

The recipe also eschews the use of flour to reduce the amount of gluten in your diet. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley, rye, malts, and triticale. It is used as a food additive in the form of a flavoring, stabilizing or thickening agent, often hidden under "dextrin". A gluten-free diet is the only medically accepted treatment for celiac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, and wheat allergy.

So, here's one cake you can eat without guilt:

New Sonoma Diet Flourless Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

4 ounces good-quality bittersweet chocolate (72% cacao), in small pieces
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup nonfat yogurt
3 eggs
1/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups finely chopped almonds
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
3 cups fresh raspberries, blueberries, or strawberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 9-inch round cake pan with nonstick cooking spray. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper and spray again on top of the parchment paper.
Place chocolate and butter in a bowl. Place over a pot of barely simmering water. Gently heat, stirring periodically, until the chocolate is melted. Whisk in yogurt and set aside. Do not melt the chocolate over boiling water or the chocolate may scorch.
Beat eggs and sugar with an electric mixer in a large mixing bowl until thick and fluffy, about 4 minutes on high speed. Stir in salt and vanilla.
Add nuts, then gently fold in chocolate. Do not overmix.
Pour into prepared pan.
Bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
Dust with powdered sugar and serve with 1/4 cup of fresh seasonal fruit.