I. Need. Chocolate.

Ladies, for the most part this post is for you.  We all have those times of the month where we want to consume anything that’s chocolate.  Your kids Easter bunny?  Yes please.  Those M & M’s that have been in the back of the cupboard for…well, you aren’t sure how long?  Why not?  We have no shame when it comes to how or where we get our chocolate.  In my case, the shame normally comes after the indulgence when I look in the mirror and see that gooey goodness stuck to my front tooth.  My reaction is that of an over-acting old-time film star: “My God!  What have I done?!?  Oh the HUMA”…ok, maybe it’s not THAT bad.  But I used to feel terrible after the monthly chocolate fiasco.  However, now that I have gone Paleo, I can have my chocolate and eat it, too.  Enter the dark chocolate coconut flour cake.

This was originally a recipe for Fudgy Coconut Flour Brownies.  I have not had a chance to delve into her entire blog site, but it looks amazing!  You should all go have a peek.

I am going to go ahead and throw in a disclaimer here.  You have probably begun to realize that for the most part, I follow the linked recipes as written, but with an ingredient tweak here or there.  This is because I am a firm believer in making do with what I have on hand, and seeing if I can make it work.  If I try it and I think it’s terrible, I won’t post it, unless I’m specifically asking for help figuring out what may have gone wrong.  On the other hand, if I make it and it’s pretty good and nobody in my house died from eating it, I’ll put it up here and see what happens.  And I am always open to suggestions, as I am new to Paleo and may not always get it right.  Also, you will never see me throw in words like “grass-fed”, “USDA certified organic”, or “honey from my personal hive”.  I, for the most part, cannot afford grass-fed beef.  I try to buy organic when I can afford it.  I will probably never have bees in my own hives.  But if you can afford these things, by all means, do it.  I just get a bit bothered by blogs that list ingredients like a status symbol, whereas I am about making uncommonly good HEALTHY food out of ingredients affordable to the common man.  Disclaimer ended.

Now where were we?  Ahhhhh yes, chocolate.  Whisks at the ready?  Here we go.

You will need:

• 1 and a half sticks butter (12 Tbsp or 3/4 cup) or 3/4 cup Ghee, melted *I used unsalted butter*
• 1 Ghiradelli 100% Cacao Unsweetened Baking Bar, minus 1 square, chopped
• 9 eggs
• 1 cup honey
• 3/4 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 3/4 cup coconut flour

Preheat oven to 350° F.  I greased two 9 inch pie dishes here.  You can either do that or grease a 9×13 cake pan like the original recipe.

Put your butter or ghee into a saucepan on very low heat.

You want it to melt slowly and not burn.

Once butter is melted, add your chopped chocolate, and whisk whisk whisk as it melts so that it does not burn in the saucepan.

Once your chocolate has melted, remove the pan from the heat and set aside, preferably on a hot pad (your counter tops will thank you!) or a cool burner.  At this point, it will look like chocolatey goodness, and you will be tempted to dip your finger in and give it a taste.  Unless you love really dark bitter chocolate, don’t do it.  I’m pretty sure my face was frozen in a weird pucker type grimace for about 20 minutes after.

Now, grab a clean bowl and whisk.  It’s time to get crackin’!  Get your eggs all into the bowl and whisk until they are well blended.  Add in your honey, vanilla, and sea salt, and whisk again.

Now for the coconut flour.  All Paleo bakers know what a finicky ingredient coconut flour can be.  Measure out 1/4 cup, using the spoon and level method, which means use a spoon to place small amounts in the measuring cup until it’s overfilled, then use the handle of the spoon or a knife to level off the top.  Sprinkle the 1/4 cup over your egg mixture, then whisk well.  You don’t want any lumps.  Repeat this 2 more times until the full 3/4 cup of coconut flour is well blended with the other ingredients.  It should look very smooth, like this:

Finally, last but not least, grab your saucepan of buttery cacao off the stove and add it to your bowl.  Whisk well one more time, scraping the bottom to be sure everything is blended.  As the original recipe states, if you don’t mix it well enough, you’ll end up with yellow spots in your lovely dark chocolate cake.

Divide the mixture evenly between your prepared pie plates or put it all in your cake pan.  Spread the mixture with a spatula til it reaches the edges and smooth the top.  Then lick said spatula clean.  Better get the whisk, too.  And I think there’s some left in the bowl…

Place on the center rack of your preheated oven and set your time for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, check the doneness of your cake with a cake tester or a toothpick in the center.  When it comes out clean, it’s done!  My cakes only took 20 minutes, but I’m sure this will vary oven to oven.  If your cake isn’t done, I would test it every 2 minutes after the 20 minute mark til it is.

Remove from oven and let cool for as long as you possibly can before digging in.  I served this with a dollop of ice cream on top for my daughter and hubby, and some coconut whipped cream on top for me.  This would also be great with a raspberry sauce over top of the whipped cream.  I am considering this as an option for my daughter’s birthday cake if I can find a nice cream cheese frosting for between the layers (we’re kind of lacto-paleo in our house if you haven’t noticed).

A note on storing:  Remember this is an egg based cake.  It should be stored in the fridge and eaten as quickly as possible (which shouldn’t be too hard!)  I froze one pie plates worth last night, so when I defrost it I will let you all know how well it freezes!

Go make this cake!  Or at the very least, try the original recipe.  It will satisfy any chocolate lovers’ cravings!

 

 

 

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