BAKED SWEET POTATO CHOCOLATE CAKE (GLUTEN FREE)

I wanted to bake a "healthy" chocolate cake and in cases like that I usually make a Beetroot chocolate cake. But on this very day I didn't have any beetroot in my fridge and so with some tweaking and hoping and substituting this cake was born - Baked Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake.

You know what - it turned out better than my beetroot version ... and so this is the NEW chocolate cake in our house! It is softer and sweeter - even though the same amount of sugar is used. This is because the sweet potato is baked in the oven till caramelized on the edges and it is naturally sweet.   

Not to say the beetroot chocolate cake is no longer good enough, if I can't get sweet potatoes then it will be back on the menu shortly but this cake has really stolen the show.

NOTES*** 
I have made this cake many times over the years - its still a winner and used at every birthday and everything in between! Some things have been tweaked and changed ---

SUGAR: I now use half a cup of sugar instead of a whole cup. But use as much as you think your sugar tooth needs.

WATER: I have found the cake batter has got quite thick and I now add between half a cup to 1 cup of filtered water at the end of the batter if I find its a bit to thick for my liking.

SWEET POTATO: Bake a large sweet potato with its skin on in the oven at 180 degrees celcius (turn half way through baking). Bake until soft when inserted with a knife and the outside yields nicely when pushed with a thumb. Some of the outside may look dark (brown to slightly black in places) on the outsides as the sweet potato caramelizes inside its skin. Allow to cool and then peel and mash with a fork.


INGREDIENTS (BROKEN UP INTO 4 PARTS)

STEP 1:

50g dark chocolate (I used 70% cocoa dark chocolate)
a tiny pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons of cream (coconut cream or dairy cream - your choice) 

 combine the 3 ingredients and melt in a baine marie - stir until smooth and put to one side.

STEP 2:

1 generous cup /200g/250ml Jaggery or Brown Organic Sugar (READ NOTES about how much sugar I now use*)
3 Free range eggs
100ml coconut oil (melted down to measure)
100ml olive oil

Beat/mix together with a stand or hand mixer in a large bowl until thickened and the mixture has lightened a little

STEP 3:

1 cup /250ml baked and mashed sweet potato (roughly 240g when cooked) *see note above*

add to the egg/sugar mixture above and mix in then add the chocolate cream and mix in until totally incorporated.

STEP 4:

3 heaped dessert spoons of cocoa
1 teaspoon bicarb
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 and a half cups / 375ml Gluten Free flour mix

Gradually add each ingredient above one by one beating after each addition to the mixture. See if you need water - (please see NOTES above the recipe)
Place mixture into 2 buttered/coconut oiled and floured medium cake tins and place in the oven at 155 degrees celcius for roughly 40 minutes - until the cake springs back to the touch and the knife inserted into the middle of the cake come out clean.

 
ICING:
I usually make a chocolate ganache for this cake  - I melt dark chocolate with coconut milk, allow to cool then pour over the cake. or alternatively I blend dates (pips removed) with coconut oil and a pinch of salt for a caramel type of icing.