Craving for some of that dense and rich chocolate cake with a hint of espresso to satisfy your cravings for chocolates and desserts? Well we’ve got just the recipe for you and what’s more, it’s completely flourless! If you love chocolate desserts, this recipe is the perfect recipe for you and if you love coffee? Even better. This cake will definitely be your new favourite dessert.
Although it may not be a no-bake cake, this naturally stunning, gluten free chocolate cake is a fairly simple to make dessert that you can eat either as a snack, to satisfy your cravings for something sweet or even to share with your friends and family. If you’re looking to give something impressive for your loved ones on special occasions, what better way to show your love than to sincerely bake them something sweet to brighten up their day. As experts once said, stressed spelled backwards is desserts.
This delectable sweet little treat has been proven in studies that consuming a large amount of dark chocolate is able to stimulate your neural activity in areas of the brain which in turn boosts your mood and decreases stress.
Not only are dark chocolates the key to relieving stress, it also provides multiple health benefits! One of them is the fact that dark chocolates are able to help prevent heart disease as well as lower the risk of a person getting a stroke. In a journal published in 2015, researchers were able to find a connection between cardiovascular diseases and found that people who consume dark chocolate frequently have a lower risk of getting a heart disease as compared to those who don’t. Whereas in 2017, a study published by a researcher has proven that a certain chemical in dark chocolates, namely the flavonoids which is rich in antioxidants, helps produce a higher amount of nitric oxide, a type of chemical which helps lower blood pressure and causes blood vessels to relax.
Other than that, consuming dark chocolate may also help in improving blood sugar level and lowers the risk of developing diabetes. Of course, although eating chocolate everyday does not exactly sound like the perfect way to prevent diabetes, but studies have actually shown that a healthy amount of dark chocolate which is rich in cacao could actually improve the metabolization of glucose, otherwise known simply as sugar.
Besides that, here is some good news for you. Consuming dark chocolate is actually good for the gut and may help in promoting weight loss! Although eating normal chocolate is definitely not the way to help in losing weight, consuming DARK chocolate sure is. Through the consumption of dark chocolate before and after meals, it is able to help trigger hormones which send signals to your brain to indicate that you are full thus, helping out in your weight loss regime.
On top of that, consuming dark chocolate is also extremely beneficial to your skin. Did you know that dark chocolate is packed full of vitamins and minerals such as copper, iron, magnesium, calcium and more which is extremely helpful in repairing and renewing new skin as accordion to the American Academy of Dermatology, a human can shed off dead skin of up to 40 thousand cells in a day. Through the consumption of dark chocolate, you can keep your skin looking young and healthy easily.
Besides that, consuming dark chocolates will also be able to help in increasing the good cholesterol in your body and reduce the bad cholesterol. Bad cholesterol is the type of cholesterol that clogs our arteries whereas good cholesterol is the type of cholesterol which contains oleic acid, a type of monounsaturated fats, which is also found in olive oil, that helps in keeping our heart healthy. Although that may be so, researchers have stated that cocoa is not only high in monounsaturated fats but they are also high in saturated fats, which may be harmful to the heart if consumed in excess, unlike olive oil. Therefore it would be wise to consume dark chocolate in moderation.
To top it all off, dark chocolates are not only delicious but they are extremely nutritious too! In addition to the minerals and vitamins mentioned earlier, dark chocolates also contain a fair amount of soluble fiber, potassium, phosphorus, zinc and selenium in just a bar of 100 gram dark chocolate. All in all, although dark chocolate may provide us with various benefits, it is always advisable to consume them in moderate amounts as it also contains a moderate amount of sugar. Most of all, it is important to keep in mind that the benefits of the dark chocolates as mentioned above only applies to consuming dark chocolates with at least 70% cocoa content.
To make this dessert even better, you can upgrade your chocolate espresso cake with ice creams or even accompany it with some hot coffee! Now you may think that coffee on coffee might be a little too overwhelming but that is not the case at all for this dessert. Just imagine this, a cool dense chocolatey cake with a hint of espresso will take over your taste buds as you take a bite of it, then comes your hot coffee mixing up the sweetness of the cake and the bitterness of the coffee, creating a mild and gentle taste of chocolate mix coffee on your palette. Besides that, the chocolate cake can also be served warm like a fudge, all according to your preference.
Follow this recipe today and see for yourself how easy it is to cook using Thermomix®. It only requires a few steps. With this recipe, you won’t even realise it’s gone in the blink of an eye. Here’s how to make a flourless chocolate espresso cake of 12 serving slices.
Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake Recipe
Ingredients
150g Butter or Coconut Oil, softened. (Extra for greasing the inner walls of the mould/tin)
100g Walnuts, raw or activated
150g Coconut Sugar
200g Dark Chocolate (70% Cocoa), broken into pieces
2 tbsp Espresso
1 tbsp Rum or 1 tsp Rum Essence
5 eggs with the yolk and white separated
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
Cocoa Powder, for dusting
1 batch Cashew Cream, to serve (Optional)
Instructions
Before you get started, preheat the oven to 180°C.
Lightly grease the inner side of the springform cake tin which is approximately 21cm and line it with baking paper. Set aside the preparation and proceed to preparing the other ingredients.
Place the walnuts into a mixing bowl and mill it for 6 seconds at speed 6. Then, transfer the walnuts into a separate bowl and set aside.
Next, place sugar into the mixing bowl and mill for 20 seconds at speed 9.
After that, add in the chocolate pieces and grate for 10 seconds at speed 9.
Once done, add in espresso (according to the recipe or to your preferred taste, but be careful not to add in too much as it may overpower the taste of the chocolate), rum or rum essence and butter or coconut oil. Melt the mixture at 50°C for 3 minutes at speed 2.
Add in the reserved ground walnuts and combine for 10 seconds at speed 5.
Set the blades to rotate at a speed of 3.5. While the blades are spinning, add one egg yolk at a time through the hole in the mixing bowl lid. Make sure to allow a few seconds between the addition of each yolk.
Once done, transfer the batter into a large bowl and set it aside.
Thoroughly clean and dry the mixing bowl to prepare for the next ingredients.
Insert the butterfly whisk at the bottom of the mixing bowl and place the egg whites and cream of tartar into the mixing bowl. Whisk the ingredients for 3 minutes at speed 4 until a stiff peak is formed.
Gently fold the whipped egg whites into batter until just combined, taking care as to not overmix them.
Carefully spoon the batter into the springform cake tin that was set aside earlier and bake it in the preheat oven at 180°C for about 40-50 minutes or until a wooden skewer comes out clean after being inserted into the centre of the cake.
Once done, leave the cake to cool in the tin for approximately 20 minutes before separating it from the springform tin and transferring it onto a wire rack to cool completely. The cake may break and sink a little in the centre as it cools.
You can either have it warm or cooled according to your preferences
Tips:
?: This cake will be slightly crumbly if cut while warm, so patience pays off if you wait until it is fully cooled before serving. It improves texture when stored in a sealed container overnight at room temperature.
?: To upgrade the taste or texture of the cake, serve with ice cream on the side or with a tangy fruit jam.
This recipe is adapted from Quirky Cooking by Jo Whitton.