Chocolate decadence cake

It has been a banner year for berries! Each week at the farmers' market I've come across a new berry I'm yet to try. The sweet little lady who I purchased my currants from last week had a few containers of gooseberries. I fell in love with the colours, shape and lines. The berry itself is not overly sweet, you could compare it to a blueberry. Gooseberries are full of vitamin C, fibre and potassium. So they add a healthy little kick to your day. This cake is gluten-free, sugar-free, soy-free and peanut-free, as well as vegan. Overall, it's one of the healthier desserts, let alone chocolate cakes, you could make.

• serves

  8-10

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 10 medjool dates, soaked overnight
• 1 ripe banana
• 3 flax eggs (see Note)
• ½ cup softened coconut oil
• ½ cup strong brewed coffee
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• ½ cup coconut flour
• ½ cup double Dutch dark cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp Celtic sea salt

To serve

• chocolate ganache (see Note)
• handful gooseberries or cherries

Soaking time overnight

Resting time 10 minutes

You will need to begin this recipe 1 day ahead.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

In a food processor fitted with an S blade, puree the drained dates. Add banana and flax eggs and process until well combined. Transfer the fruit puree to a medium bowl, whisk in coconut oil, coffee and vanilla until well combined. 

Put the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl and add the dry mix to the moist fruit mix and combine until you have a smooth batter. Grease 2 x 15 cm round cake pans or 1 x 20 cm round cake pan with coconut oil. Evenly divide batter among the pan/s, smoothing the top with a spatula.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a cake tester or wooden skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Allow the cake/s to fully cool on a wire rack prior to removing from pan/s, then top with chocolate ganache and the gooseberries or cherries.

Note

• This recipe has been modified from Paleo Spirit. 

• To make 1 flax egg, combine 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseeds with 3 tablespoons of warm water. Alternatively you can use 3 tablespoons of of chickpea brine (the liquid from a can of chickpeas).

• The chocolate ganache I made was similar to the vegan chocolate ganache on Elana’s Pantry. 

Recipe from Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes by Heather Poire, with photographs by Heather Poire.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.