Flourless chocolate cakes are not just great for the coeliacs in your life, they are simply lovely cakes – somewhere between a brownie and a chocolate truffle – and incredibly delicious! The lack of flour means they are naturally rich and fudgy. The bitterness of the dark chocolate makes what would otherwise be quite a sweet and heavy cake, something quite sophisticated and moreish. Perfect served with some whipped coconut cream and a mug of coffee! I wrote this recipe with nut and gluten allergy sufferers in mind, but you can substitute the sunflower seeds with ground almonds if you wish. The recipe illustration above is from my book which is available to add to your veg box order on our website. The recipe video can be found on our Instagram @greenearthorganics1 or at the end of this blog on our YouTube channel. Liz x
Ingredients
- 100g sunflower seeds
- 1 x 400g tin black beans
- 100g sugar
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 30g cocoa/cacao powder (plus an extra tsp for dusting)
- pinch of salt
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 200g dark chocolate (melted)
Method
Pre-heat the oven to 180C and line a loose bottomed cake tin with a circle of baking parchment.
Pulse the sunflower seeds in a food processor or large blender until they come into a course flour. Careful not to process for too long as that will turn the seeds into butter!
Add the tin of black beans to the blender – including all the aquafaba (that’s the viscous liquid that the beans were cooked and sitting in) from the tin. Blend again until smooth.
Add the sugar (or a sweetener of your choice eg maple syrup), baking powder, cocoa powder, salt, vanilla, olive oil and melted dark chocolate and blend again to combine. To keep it dairy free, check the ingredients in the chocolate – most dark chocolate is dairy free but it’s always worth checking the label. I usually just melt the chocolate in the microwave in little 10 second bursts, checking and stirring between each. You can put the chocolate in a bowl over a small pot of simmering water to melt it gently that way too.
Then scrape the mixture into the lined cake tin, smooth it out with a spatular and bake it in the centre of the oven for 30 minutes or until cracked on top and with minimal wobble.
Allow it to completely cool in the tin before carefully removing it onto a plate and dusting the cake with a tsp of cocoa powder.
Serve slices of the cake with whipped coconut cream from a tin (we sell these in the grocery section of our shop) – it’s also delicious with fresh, tangy raspberries in the summer, to cut through the richness of the cake.
Enjoy! Don’t forget to tag us @greenearthorganics1 on instagram if you make this recipe and join our friendly facebook group to share recipes and tips.