Sugarless, Flourless Sea Salt Chocolate Cake

Before we get to chocolate cake, I wanted to share that I made lowcarbhighstyle’s Chicken Francese last Friday night (in honor of French Friday).  It was so good and so easy!  If you’re not a fan of lots of lemon flavor, I suggest subbing out half of the lemon juice with chicken broth.  I did that, but added the lemon zest, and I still got enough lemon flavor to satisfy my taste buds (I love lemon) while keeping my husband (a little lemon goes a long way for him) happy.  And zucchini “noodles” are now our go-to veg when we have a sauce that needs soaking up – that is, until spaghetti squash is back in season.

Okay, chocolate cake time.  Adrienne sent this recipe to me, and I’m trying to determine how to describe this “cake” to you.  Because there is so, so much chocolate, I found this to be much denser than a traditional flourless chocolate cake.  In fact, it tastes like eating a bar of chocolate (so make sure you use GOOD chocolate).  It’s rather intense, and my husband says having a dollop of vanilla whipped cream (homemade, of course) takes the edge off.

For me, I liked the cake better when I kept it in the refrigerator (or freezer) for a few days so the texture became even fudgier.  Food takes on a slightly different taste when it is cold versus being warm or even room temperature.  It tasted better having it with coffee and heavy cream than it did by itself.

A sugarless raspberry sauce may be a good future accompaniment, as would a low carb crème anglaise.  I’m also toying with the idea of ice cream made from coconut milk and cinnamon and sandwiching it between two wedges of cake for a little ice-cream-sandwich action.

Update:  The originator of the recipe is Andrea Drugay; there are some pretty fabulous looking recipes at her site, so please be sure to visit!

 http://andreadrugay.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/sugarless-flourless-sea-salt-chocolate-cake/

Sugarless, Flourless Sea Salt Chocolate Cake

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp raw cocoa powder
• 12 ounces 100% unsweetened baking chocolate, broken into pieces
• 8 Tbsp stevia
• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 5 eggs, separated

Steps

Preheat the oven to 375F.

1. Grease an 8″ round cake pan and dust with cocoa powder.
2. Using a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and butter until smooth. Stir in the salt and 6 Tbsp of the stevia, then remove from heat.
3. Whisk the egg yolks in a separate bowl.
4. Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks. Stir in the remaining 2 Tbsp of stevia until it is fully incorporated into the egg whites.
5. Gently stir the egg yolks into the chocolate-butter mixture. Fold in the egg white-stevia mixture until completely incorporated.
6. Add the mix to your prepared pan.
7. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.
8. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack cool completely. Enjoy!

Nutrition Info (created using Recipe Calculator)

8 servings

Amount per serving
Calories: 456.6
Total Fat: 47.3 g
Cholesterol: 154.5 mg
Sodium: 350.1 mg
Potassium: 529.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate: 18.4 g
Dietary Fiber: 9.6 g
Sugars: 0.5 g
Protein: 11.5 g

If you try this recipe, please share your experiences and other suggestions to improve it.  I think it's a great base to launch many permutations!

Rebekah