Can’t eat cane sugar, coconut sugar, or any granulated sugar? Or gluten? Or dairy? Need a chocolate cake? Try this recipe, sweetened with honey and applesauce. The result is a moist, dense, chocolatey intersection between brownies and cake.
- 1 cup GF flour blend Hagman blend works well, or any GF blend for baking
- 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 2 eggs
- 3 egg whites beaten to soft peaks
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 teaspoon liquid stevia
- 1/3 cup applesauce no added sugar (use homemade if you can't buy it sugar free)
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup coconut oil, softened
- 1 teaspoon GF vanilla
- 5 generous Tablespoons unsweetened dark cocoa powder high quality organic brand like Rodelle Organic Baking Powder
- Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9 x 9" baking pan on bottom and sides with coconut oil, and dust lightly with cocoa powder.
- In a small bowl, blend flour and xanthan gum and set aside.
- In a mixer, beat 2 eggs, honey, and salt until thick and uniform.
- Add coconut oil (preferably soft but not liquid), vanilla, applesauce, and stevia to the honey mixture and blend well.
- Add cocoa powder and stir until evenly blended, then stir in GF flour blend.
- Separate whites from 3 eggs. Blend the whites to soft peaks in a separate bowl. You don't need the yolks for this recipe. Store them in refrigerator for another purpose, and use with 48 hours.
- Fold egg whites gently into the rest of the batter until evenly mixed; stir as little as possible to blend these in.
- Bake at 350 x 35 minutes or until knife in center comes out clean. Serve warm with coconut whipped cream, fresh raspberries, or cherry-raspberry sauce. No frosting needed!
This recipe emphasizes the flavor of dark cocoa over the sweet. Adjust it to your taste by increasing stevia; for a sweeter version, try 1/4 teaspoon of SweetLeaf Organic Stevia Powder if you prefer. For serving with coconut whipped cream, try this recipe - though I like it with much less stevia (5 drops instead of 25 drops). This Cherry-Raspberry sauce is also delightful with Honey Brownie Cake. For a Paleo-friendly version of this recipe, substitute 1/2 cup coconut flour and 1/2 cup almond flour for the GF flour blend.