Sugar-free Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Chia Jam
Serves 12
Wanna know the way straight to my heart?
1) It’s got to be chocolate-y
2) It’s got to be cake-y.
Ergo – chocolate cake for the win! Treat your loved one this Valentines with this Spelt Flax Chocolate Walnut Cake with layered Raspberry Chia Jam. It is all kinds of fabulous! And it also just happens to have no added sugars to boot. The deliciously moist and tasty cake is only sweetened with natural sugars like iron-rich dried apricots, potassium–filled bananas and a little apple puree. Oh and of course the dark chocolate itself! As you may well already know if you follow my recipes, I love to make healthier swaps so that we can enjoy all of the good old family classics (like chocolate cake), without experiencing the usual sugar highs (and inevitable crashes), but most importantly without compromising on the taste in the slightest. It sounds like an impossible feat, but rest assured – it is entirely doable to succeed on all counts!
Sweetening food with natural sugars is a wonderful way to add more “goodness” to a food. Adding sugar of course does its one job – to sweeten the dish. And then that’s it – job done. But by adding natural sugars like dried fruits or bananas instead, not only do you get the sweetness, but you also get the added benefits of extra nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants and fibre too.
And funnily enough, it is the presence of fibre in particular, in a food, which slows down the absorption of sugars in your blood stream. This helps to stabilize blood sugar levels and leads to more consistent energy levels. That makes it a good choice for satisfying that ever-nagging little kiddies sweet tooth too!
Each portion (with the chia jam) provides 269 calories, 7g of protein and a massive 8g of fibre. Not to mention approximately 15% of my daily Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Iron and Calcium requirements….which is pretty good going when we are talking about a delicious slice of chocolate cake!
INGREDIENTS
For the cakes
· Approximately 230g Bananas
· 200g Dried Apricots (unsulphured)
· 25g Milled Flaxseeds
· 1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
· ½ tsp Baking Powder
· 30g Melted Butter (or Coconut Oil)
· 1 Egg (or Flax Egg if vegan)
· 50g Apple purée
· 120g Dark Chocolate – roughly chopped
· 100ml Milk (I used Oat Milk)
· 185g Wholemeal Flour (I used Spelt)
· 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
· 45g Walnuts – chopped
· A pinch of Salt
For the Raspberry Chia Jam
· 300g Frozen Raspberries
· 40ml Water
· 4 tbsp Chia Seeds
· ½ - 1 tbsp Xylitol (or sugar) to taste depening on how tart the fruit is
METHOD
For the cakes
· Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
· Chop the apricots and place them in a small saucepan.
· Add 150mls of water and bring to the boil.
· Keep cooking until most of the water has evaporated and then mash well. Set aside to cool.
· In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add the apple puree, vanilla extract, melted butter, flaxseeds and milk.
· Crack the egg in the middle and combine well.
· Sift in the flour and add the baking powder, baking soda and a touch of salt.
· Add the warm mashed apricot to the bowl and mix well.
· Finally add the walnuts and chocolate chips and mix again. NOTE – you want the chocolate to melt into the mixture due to the warmth from the apricots.
· Spoon the mixture into one greased large springform tin or several mini tins, and bake until a skewer comes out clean.
· This is roughly 25 minutes for the mini cakes, and 45 minutes for the larger ones.
For the Raspberry Chia Jam
· Place the frozen berries in a small saucepan with a little water to coat the bottom, heat gently.
· Add a splash more water if required.
· Mash when soft and add 4 tbsp Chia Seeds.
· Continue to cook on low heat for 5 more minutes.
· Turn off the heat and add a little xylitol (or sugar) to taste, depending on how tart/sweet you like it
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION (with the chia jam filling)
Calories – 269
Protein – 7g
Fat – 13g
Carbohydrates – 32g
Fibre – 8g
Vitamin C – 14%
Vitamin A – 13%
Iron – 18%
Calcium – 12%