I put a post on Facebook yesterday that had everyone drooling at the mouth. I was talking about the delicious Coconut and Raw Cacao flourless cake I made. So, I thought I'd post the recipe here.
If you have never heard about the glorious wonders of raw cacao (This is not a spelling mistake. It is cocoa in it's raw form.), then make sure you check back in here, because I plan on writing about the benefits of it soon. I have been reading a book on the history of chocolate and I was quite honestly blown away by the power of it and nutritional content.
Did you know that cacao beans used to be used as currency? An edible money, hmm…
As a chocoholic, I'm always looking for good ways to eat chocolate, instead of the stuff loaded with sugar from the supermarkets.
I opened up one of my favorite books, Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon and this recipe was right there… It was delicious and I'm tempted to make it again very soon!
When you look at the recipe it looks a bit finicky. There is a bit of a process but it's easy. I did it with the help of my 15 month young baby strapped onto me in a Baby Bjorn. He loved watching and helping and I could still manage the whole thing.
Also… if you are reading this and know my husband, Hugh, you know that he is anal about what he puts into his mouth and just doesn't eat chocolate or sweets anymore. He usually crashes in minutes when he eats any sugar, fruit included. He had a sliver of this cake (much to my shock) and didn't crash.
Give it a go and let me know what you think. If you have any questions about the ingredients, please feel free to comment here and ask questions. I'm happy to answer. Have fun and ENJOY!
Flourless Cocoa-Coconut Cake
Preheat oven to 350F (about 180C). Butter a 9in springform cake pan and dust with arrowroot. Sift together arrowroot, cacao, and cinnamon. IN a very clean glass or stainless steel bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until frothy. Gradually add 3/8 cup sweetener. Whip whites until glossy and smooth. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat egg yolks with vanilla until pale in color, about 3 minutes. Gradually add 1/4 cup sweetener and beat until yolks are pale and a thick ribbon falls from the beaters, 6-7min.
With a rubber spatula, fold about 1/3 of whites into yolks. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of dry ingredients on the yolk batter and fold gently. Continue to alternately fold in egg whites and dry ingredients. Finally quickly fold in the coconut.
Turn batter into prepared pan, gently smooth top and place in oven. Bake 30 min, or until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and middle springs back if gently pressed. Let cool on a rack about 10 min. Release sides and wait another 10 min before removing cake. Place on a serving plate and chill well. (I didn't chill it). Ice with whipped cream and gently press coconut on top.
To make the whipped coconut cream…
It's meant to whip like dairy cream, but takes awhile. (It was still a bit runny for me after several minutes (like 8min) so I just used it that way and it was still all yummy. Once I put the leftovers in the fridge it solidified into more of a cream.)
Place cream in a large bowl and whip with an electric mixer for several minutes until cream thickens. Add sweetener and vanilla and whip a minute more.
If you have never heard about the glorious wonders of raw cacao (This is not a spelling mistake. It is cocoa in it's raw form.), then make sure you check back in here, because I plan on writing about the benefits of it soon. I have been reading a book on the history of chocolate and I was quite honestly blown away by the power of it and nutritional content.
Did you know that cacao beans used to be used as currency? An edible money, hmm…
As a chocoholic, I'm always looking for good ways to eat chocolate, instead of the stuff loaded with sugar from the supermarkets.
I opened up one of my favorite books, Eat Fat, Lose Fat by Mary Enig and Sally Fallon and this recipe was right there… It was delicious and I'm tempted to make it again very soon!
When you look at the recipe it looks a bit finicky. There is a bit of a process but it's easy. I did it with the help of my 15 month young baby strapped onto me in a Baby Bjorn. He loved watching and helping and I could still manage the whole thing.
Also… if you are reading this and know my husband, Hugh, you know that he is anal about what he puts into his mouth and just doesn't eat chocolate or sweets anymore. He usually crashes in minutes when he eats any sugar, fruit included. He had a sliver of this cake (much to my shock) and didn't crash.
Give it a go and let me know what you think. If you have any questions about the ingredients, please feel free to comment here and ask questions. I'm happy to answer. Have fun and ENJOY!
Flourless Cocoa-Coconut Cake
- 7 tablespoons arrowroot powder
- 1/3 cup sifted unsweetened cocoa powder (I used the raw cacao powder that you would find at some health food shops. I have personally never seen it at a supermarket. Yes there is a big difference between raw cacao and cocoa in the way it's been processed.)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 4 egg whites at room temp
- pinch of sea salt
- 3/8cup Rapadura, Sucanut, or Maple sugar (All healthier sugar alternatives than processed white sugar)
- 4 egg yolks, at room temp
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup rapadura
- 1 cup freeze-dried course-cut coconut, plus more to top cake (I actually haven't been able to find this in a shop, but you can toast coconut with maple syrup to get the same idea. In this recipe, I just used organic desiccated coconut and it came out yummy and with less sugar and took less time.)
- 2 cups whipped coconut cream
Preheat oven to 350F (about 180C). Butter a 9in springform cake pan and dust with arrowroot. Sift together arrowroot, cacao, and cinnamon. IN a very clean glass or stainless steel bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until frothy. Gradually add 3/8 cup sweetener. Whip whites until glossy and smooth. Set aside.
In another bowl, beat egg yolks with vanilla until pale in color, about 3 minutes. Gradually add 1/4 cup sweetener and beat until yolks are pale and a thick ribbon falls from the beaters, 6-7min.
With a rubber spatula, fold about 1/3 of whites into yolks. Sprinkle about 1/4 cup of dry ingredients on the yolk batter and fold gently. Continue to alternately fold in egg whites and dry ingredients. Finally quickly fold in the coconut.
Turn batter into prepared pan, gently smooth top and place in oven. Bake 30 min, or until cake pulls away from the sides of the pan and middle springs back if gently pressed. Let cool on a rack about 10 min. Release sides and wait another 10 min before removing cake. Place on a serving plate and chill well. (I didn't chill it). Ice with whipped cream and gently press coconut on top.
To make the whipped coconut cream…
It's meant to whip like dairy cream, but takes awhile. (It was still a bit runny for me after several minutes (like 8min) so I just used it that way and it was still all yummy. Once I put the leftovers in the fridge it solidified into more of a cream.)
- 11/2 cups coconut cream
- 2 tablespoons rapadura, sucanut or maple sugar
- 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
Place cream in a large bowl and whip with an electric mixer for several minutes until cream thickens. Add sweetener and vanilla and whip a minute more.
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