Everyone attempting the Banting-type lifestyle, needs something sweet and satisfying during their health kick at some point. This recipe was a revelation, arising during a time of need, while living according to the “Noakes Diet”. The recipe has been altered from one of the greats: Nigella’s Chocolate Olive Oil Cake. Don’t be put off by adding the olive oil, it gives the cake a wonderfully moist texture, and does not dominate the flavour in the cake.
The xylitol used to sweeten this cake in place of sugar is a polyol, which contains 40% of the calories of sugar; although it exhibits a much lower glycaemic response than sugar and is considered low GI. It is the only sugar substitute recommended by Patrick Holford, and is on the list of acceptable sugar substitutes in Tim Noakes recipe book âThe Real Meal Revolutionâ.
- 6Â Tbs. Cocoa Powder (good-quality, unsweetened) –Â we used Organic Dutch Process Cocoa from CocoĂĄFair
- ½ cup boiling Water
- 1 ½ cups Almond Flour
- 150ml Olive Oil (plus more for greasing) – we used Mount Cedar Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 2 tsp. Vanilla Extract/ Paste
- ½ tsp. Bicarbonate of Soda
- 1 pinch of Salt
- 1 cup Xylitol, powdered – we âblitzedâ the xylitol so that it became fine like castor sugar – we used Sweet Nothings Xylitol
- 3 Eggs
Add the boiling water to your cocoa powder and mix to form a paste. Beat the sugar, olive oil and eggs in an electrical beater for 3 minutes until your mixture is creamy and thick. Mix in the cocoa mixture and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients and mix gently into the batter.
Pour the batter into greased 23cm tin (line the base with baking paper)/ silicone cake mould. Bake at 170°C for 45 minutes, the cake tester should come out with sticky crumbs attached, but no wet batter.  Allow the cake to cool in its mould. Leave to cool completely before slicing.
We served ours with fresh cream drizzled with our tart berry compote, and fresh raspberries dipped in metallic silver and gold Nicoletta Shimmer / sprayed with silver and gold Nicoletta Graffiti for Cakes
Unsweetened berry compote – We made a sugarless berry coulis using mixed frozen berries, which we heated and boiled in a saucepan for 30 minutes, till the right sauce consistency was reached.
