There are a few recipes everyone should know how to whip up quickly and this refined sugar and gluten-free chocolate cake is one of them! We discovered this inspiring plant-based food blogger’s Instagram through our mouth-watering #thechalkboardeats feed and fell in love with the colorful and healthy desserts, bowls and other creations void of refined sugar and gluten.
Though Bettina Campolucci-Bordi’s journey started out of necessity, it quickly turned into one of passion. Bettina first started on her road to better health when she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome and endometriosis. After being told that the likelihood of her ever conceiving was next to none, she decided to delve into healthy eating and natural solutions and blogged through her journey on Bettina’s Kitchen.
Now a mum to a healthy three year old and living in Marbella, Spain, Bettina spends her days blogging and cooking beautiful plant-based foods for workshops and wellness retreats to help others find solutions to the most common allergens. Bookmark her inventive and delicious dessert…
This is one of my favorite chocolate recipes. I have made this cake for my very fussy three year old, my chocoholic mother-in-law and for friend’s birthday celebrations. It is perfect for anyone that has a gluten intolerance or anyone that is trying to stay away from white refined sugar. One should be able to indulge and have a guilt-free treat sometimes, don’t you think?
GULIT-FREE CHOCOLATE CAKE with Strawberry Icing
Ingredients:
1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 cup of coconut sugar
3/4 cup of coconut oil
1 cup of buckwheat flour
1 cup of almond flour
4-5 Tbsp of cacao powder
1 tsp of baking powder
vanilla pod (scraped)
pinch of salt
For the strawberry icing:
1 cup of coconut oil
1 1/2 cup of strawberries
2 Tbsp of agave syrup
1 vanilla pod (scraped)
For the topping:
fresh strawberries
edible flowers
Directions:
Start by preheating your oven to 350 F.
Peel and boil your pumpkin until soft and let it cool down. Once cooled, blend into a puree and measure out a cupful and set aside.
In a blender, add pumpkin puree and the rest of the cake ingredients and mix well together until you have a nice smooth cake batter.
If you are using a cake form, pre-grease with some coconut oil (if you are using a silicone mold that usually won’t be necessary).
Spread evenly and stick in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until you get a hard outer shell but inside is still nice and moist. Test whether the cake is done by sticking a toothpick in the middle – it should come out dry.
Let cake cool when it is done.
For the icing, blend the strawberries, coconut oil, vanilla and agave altogether until you get a smooth bright pink icing! No nasties involved. Drizzle the icing on top – I like it when it runs over the sides – and decorate with fresh strawberries and pretty flowers.
