CHOCOLATE MOUSSE LOAF CAKE

Kind of moist, kind of mousey, a little bit cakey.... low in sugar... what more could you ask for in a cake?

Pink and Chocolate cake

I thought I would share some photos of the birthday cake I baked for my kids 9th birthday in February. I used the all to popular Sweet Potato Chocolate cake recipe (gluten-free) and iced it with a

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.

CHOCOLATE BEETROOT CAKE

This cake was originally inspired by Ross Burden's Beetroot Choc Cake - having seen it on the internet I gave it a look through and then proceeded to do a re-hash (kind doing my own thing) - Gluten-Free of course 

INGREDIENTS (BROKEN UP INTO 4 PARTS)

STEP 1:

50g dark chocolate (I used 70% lindt)
a tiny pinch of salt
3 Tablespoons of cream

 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 Brown Organic Sugar
3 Free range eggs
180/190ml Sunflower Oil

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

STEP 3:

1 cup /250ml cooked and pureed beetroot (roughly 450g when raw and peeled)

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
2 cups/ 500ml Gluten Free flour mix

Gradually add each ingredient above one by one beating after each addition to the mixture.
Place mixture into 1 buttered and floured  ?? cm cake tin and place in the oven at 155 degrees for roughly 48 minutes - until the cake springs back to the touch and the knife inserted into the middle of the cake come out clean.

 
Ice as desired - I used a chocolate ganache :)

Aunty Jenny's Chocolate Cake

This chocolate cake is sooo moist and delicious i just love it! I ve been baking it since a teenager and got the recipe from my friends mom who we all called - Aunty Jenny. She was the best cook (still is a brilliant one) in our church. We loved to go eat at her house and it was always a treat to chat to her in her kitchen while she cooked :) This cake is always asked for by my husband whenever i ask him what cake he would like for his birthday or he'll ask for it sometimes when he just feels like something nice and baked and chocolatey. And so of course I used this as one of the cakes for my daughter's fancy tea party.

The basis of this cake is a good mayonaise -which sounds disgusting to be put in a chocolate cake! I have even had people refuse to try it because they heard mayo is in it! but once they do - there is no turning back and they come back for seconds. It is really that good.
It is better made with a normal (wheat) self raising flour but can be made with a wheat-free flour of  your choice. The cake itself keeps well in an airtight container for 5 or so days. And really is nearly as delicious on the 5th day as on the 1st!

AUNTY JENNY'S CHOCOLATE CAKE
2 cups self raising flour (or wheat free flour)
2/3 cup of cocoa
1 & 1/4 teaspoon bicarb
1 & 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 & 2/3 cup of sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla ess
1 cup (good quality mayonaise- like crosse and blackwell)
1 & 1/3 cup cold water

METHOD
Sift and combine the first 4 ingredients and set aside.
Beat sugar, eggs and vanilla on high speed for 3 minutes or until light and fluffy
Now beat in the Mayonaise slowly
Beating constantly add the flour mixture and the water alternatively - Beginning and ending with flour
Pour into 2 cake tins (roughly 22cm) greased and floured
Bake @ 180 degrees celcius for 30 - 35 min or until the sides start to pull away from the tin
Cool in tins for 10 min before turning out onto racks
Once cooled decorate as desired

Enjoy


Betty :)