SCD “chocolate” cake

“Chocolate” Cake (an LSCDL recipe)

Recipe from Louisiana SCD Lagniappe (forthcoming) by Marilyn L. Alm. Shared with permission from author.

This is one of the very few recipes I have which requires a food processor. It is, quite literally, the result of experimentation for more than nine years, because even before I was completely SCD, I was trying to find a way to replace my beloved chocolate cake. This does.

16 large Medjool dates
6 ounces (171 grams) pecan flour
4 ounces (113 grams) cocoa butter, melted[1]
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 milliliters) baking soda
1/2 teaspoon (2.5 milliliters) salt
1/4 teaspoon (1.25 milliliters) finely ground black pepper[2]
1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) legal vanilla extract
1 jumbo egg

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Place the pecan flour, salt, and black pepper in the food processor. Process to mix well.

Pit the dates and chop, by cutting lengthwise and then crosswise, and crumble the date pieces into the food processor. Process for several minutes until dates and pecan flour are well mixed.

Add the melted cocoa butter and vanilla. Process again for several minutes. The date/pecan mixture and the cocoa butter will slosh around in the food processor and will not incorporate with each other – but you need this processing to really chop up / puree the dates.

Scrape down the sides. Add the egg and the baking soda and process again. It’s rather amazing to see how this mixture suddenly turns into a very chocolate-cake-looking batter. You may wish to scrape down the sides once, and process a second time until very smooth.

Pour batter into four well-buttered mini-Bundt pans or one well-buttered 8” cake pan. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool cakes(s) and turn out. The mini-Bundts can be topped with vanilla half & half yogurt and cherries for a to-die-for dessert. The cake tastes even more chocolaty if it chills over night before you eat it.

Note: This is a very dense, firm, almost brownie-like cake. Be very, very careful. The tendency is to want to eat the entire recipe. Still working on a “chocolate” frosting, but as heretical as it sounds, “chocolate” frosting on this cake might almost be overkill. If you have a frosting you like, you can make two layers by doubling the recipe.

[1] Cocoa butter is the pure fat and is SCD-legal, even though cocoa powder or chocolate is not. If you are concerned about it, use coconut oil or butter. It won’t be quite as “chocolaty” but it will be very good.

[2] Yes, I know. Pepper? In a sweet cake? Are you crazy? (Well, yes, probably….) Actually, this was a trick I picked up to give sweet spices and things depth: use pepper as the “bottom note.” I tried any number of ingredients to get that slightly sharp “bite” of dark chocolate, including a tablespoon of very strong coffee, but nothing worked the way the pepper did. And, since I am not a coffee drinker, and my husband is allergic to it, the pepper is significantly more convenient.