An aubergine chocolate cake that tastes surprisingly delicious (and not a bit of aubergine/eggplant)! Fudgy, rich, flourless, gluten free, dairy free, and more-ish.
- 300 g (10.5 oz) aubergines
- 200 g (7 oz) 85-90% dark chocolate, roughly chopped
- 35 g (1/3 cup) cacao or cocoa powder
- 100 g (1/2 cup) xylitol*
- 50 g (1/2 cup) ground almonds or hazelnuts
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 2 medium eggs
- pinch sea salt
-
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4. Lightly grease and line an 8” (20cm) cake tin. Meanwhile, wash the aubergines, chop roughly into small cubes (no need to peel) and steam until soft (about 20 minutes). Strain through a sieve, pressing down lightly to get rid of any excess water, then add to a food processor and blitz until pureed and smooth. Add the chopped chocolate and place the lid on the blender but don’t turn it on - just leave it to melt the chocolate for a few minutes.
-
When the chocolate is melted, pulse to combine, then add the remaining ingredients and blitz until smooth. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake is coming out just clean (if you want it even gooier, take it out when there are still a few crumbs sticking; if you want it more cakey, wait until the skewer is clearly coming out clean). Allow to cool before serving with crème fraîche or thick Greek yogurt and a handful of berries or sliced stonefruit, if you like.
*You can use the same amount of coconut sugar or even brown sugar, but please bear in mind this will up the sugar content of the cake from 2.6g (just over 1/2 tsp) per serve to 15g (almost 4 tsp) per serve making it just over the recommended allowance for kids for the day, and about 2/3 of an adult’s - although still a fraction of other aubergine chocolate cakes. Alternatively, use a baking blend of sugar and stevia and use half the amount to make it more like 7-8g (2 tsp per serve).