Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake

I know it may seem like all I ever do is bake sweet things (mostly chocolate sweet things) and eat them, but I really don't... I do love to bake, but generally I only make decadent things like this for special occasions, like Mother's Day or birthdays or when friends come to visit. And I only eat a tiny bit - there's always plenty of people willing to help eat it. And I tweak them to make them healthier. So I hope you'll excuse me for posting another one, and I promise to post something healthier next time! :)

This is my take on the classic French flourless chocolate, coffee and almond cake. I love it, because it's grain free, and I love nut flour cakes as they stay moist for days. I made mine with walnuts instead of almonds - you could use almonds, walnuts or hazelnuts, and pecans would probably work well too.  Unlike my Flourless Pecan Cake, however, this one isn't a light cake - it's a dense, fudgey cake, delicious for dessert with some berries and maybe a drizzle of cream (cashew cream, for me!)... And just for fun, you can also make mini Flourless Espresso Cakes like these ones I made for my friend's 'birthday cake', covered in chocolate ganache. She loved them!

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (350 F). Butter (or grease with coconut oil) a 20cm round cake tin, sift cocoa over the butter so cake won't stick, and set aside.

1. Insert the butterfly into the Thermomix bowl and whip the egg whites and cream of tartar on speed 4 until stiff - about 3 minutes:

- 5 egg whites

- a pinch of cream of tartar

   Set aside and clean out Thermomix bowl, drying well.

2. Grind up nuts on speed 9 until fine - don't overdo it, or they'll be too oily. About 8-10 seconds should be enough. Set aside.

- 100g raw walnuts or almonds or hazelnuts

3. Grind up Rapadura until fine, about 30 seconds on speed 9:

- 150g Rapadura

4. Add the chocolate, broken into pieces, and grind on speed 9 until fine:

- 200g dark, bitter chocolate (I use 70% cocoa Lindt chocolate)

5. Add coffee, essence, and butter/ghee and melt at 50 degrees, 3 minutes, speed 2:

- 2 Tablespoons very strong espresso coffee, liquid not instant (or 3 Tablespoons instant coffee)

- 1 tsp rum or brandy essence (or a tablespoon of the real thing)
- 150g butter or coconut oil

6. Add ground nuts and mix well on speed 5 for 10 seconds.

7. With motor still running on speed 5, add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well between each one:
- 5 egg yolks

8. Add a couple of spoonfuls of the beaten egg whites to the mixture and mix in on speed 3. Scrape mixture into a large bowl, and gently fold in the rest of the egg whites with a rubber spatula.

Before folding in egg whites

After folding in egg whites

9. Turn mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 - 50 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Leave to cool before removing from cake tin. Don't worry if the crust cracks and collapses a bit, that's normal.

10. Dust with a little icing sugar to serve (made in the Thermomix, of course!)... and I like to top it with some raspberries and mini rapadura-sweetened choc chips too. :)

Almond Butter Choc Chip Cookies

Everybody loves chocolate chip cookies! But how to make them healthy? I was so excited when I found Rapadura sweetened dark chocolate chips in a local co-op store! This is a recipe I developed that I make now and then for a treat - they're wheat free, dairy free and naturally sweetened, and really yummy - just ask the kids :)

The almond butter adds some protein and calcium, which is a plus. I make the almond butter first, in my Thermomix, then add the other ingredients. You could use any nuts, or pre-made nut butter - macadamia, cashew, peanut - (preferably not the horrible 'hydrogenated' bought peanut butter though), and you could also add some chopped pecans or walnuts if you like - yum! (Note: if you use other nuts, you may need less oil to make the butter - macadamia nuts may not need any oil at all.)

This recipe makes a lot, so you could half it, or just roll some of it up in plastic wrap and keep it in the freezer until you 'need' some cookies. You just have to thaw the dough out for 10 minutes or so, then you can slice it into rounds, place on a baking tray and pop them in the oven. It's great to have some in the freezer when visitors drop by!

(Preheat oven to 175 degrees celcius)

1. First, make your nut butter (or you can use a bought one)...
Grind on speed 9 for 30 seconds, then scrape down sides with spatula:
- 250g almonds

2. Add and mix on speed 9 for 20 seconds:
- 50g macadamia or light olive oil
Scrape down sides of bowl again.

3. Add and mix on speed 6 for 30 seconds:
- 150g Rapadura 
- 180g raw honey (1/2 cup)
- 3 medium eggs
- 230g macadamia, coconut or light olive oil (1 cup)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

4. Add and mix on speed 6 for 10 seconds (using spatula to help mix):
- 500g plain spelt flour (can be a mixture of wholemeal and white, and may need more or less than 500g - you should be able to roll the dough into balls)
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 2 tsp baking soda

5. Turn dough out into a large bowl, add a little more flour if needed. (I do this in a bowl as the Thermomix is a bit too full at this stage, and the heavy dough slows down the blades.) Add choc chips and mix in with spoon:
- 1 cup mini dark choc chips, Rapadura sweetened (or malt sweetened) *


6. Drop dough by spoonfuls onto greased or papered baking trays and bake in oven at 175 degrees celcius for about 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. (Or you can roll dough into balls and flatten with a fork.)

7. Cool on the trays for crispier cookies, or remove to a rack while warm for softer cookies. Or just eat them all while they're warm, and lick the chocolate off your fingers! :D

(If you do cook the whole batch at once, store them in the freezer so they don't go stale.)

* Note about Rapadura sweetened choc chips - I bought these at a co-op store in Cairns (Qld) - they are made by Rapunzel and can be bought online. Another naturally sweetened, allergy free brand is 'Enjoy Life Foods' - these ones are great as they don't contain soy, but are pretty expensive.  I know in the USA you can also get malt sweetened choc chips, but I haven't been able to find them here.