Sunday, January 10, 2016

Chocolate goodness without the guilt

I have been super procrastinating and know I've been saying I am going to keep up with blogging and have neglected to; however, I am determined to keep up with it lol!  Well today is such a beautiful day and the temperature has dropped back down to a really good soup/stew kinda day and plan to make a healthy version of a Hungarian beef stew.  My boyfriend and his best friend are going to be doing a 5k obstacle run in a few months which gives me even more of an opportunity to do more of my recipe/meal planning plus it also helps that he is so open-minded about food and has yet to really dislike anything I have made in the health department.

With the Hungarian beef stew, I wanted to make a good dessert; however, I want something that is sinful tasting but healthy.  Cesar is a massive chocoholic so it gives me the opportunity to work on a Chocolate Almond Torte that he can enjoy without any guilt.

Ingredients:


3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
1 Tbs Balsamic vinegar
3 large egg whites (at room temperature)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup sliced almonds

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, combine the almond milk and cocoa powder, and heat over medium heat 


Whisking constantly until smooth and just comes to a boil


Remove from heat; whisk in chopped chocolate and vinegar until smooth. 


 Cool down to room temp.

Preheat oven to 350, and lightly coat a spring-form pan with cooking spray.  In a large bowl stir the flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  


Stir in cooled chocolate mix into flour mix.



Stir well until combined.  Set aside



Beat egg whites with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form.  (your eggs must be a room temperature or you will not achieve the right texture/peaks).  



Gradually add 1/4 cup sugar, about 1 Tbs at a time, increasing speed to high until stiff peaks form (peaks should stand straight up). 



Gently fold in 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolate mix, **Make sure you do not stir or you will break the eggs and your cake will not be fluffy**)  



Fold in the remaining egg whites until combined.  



Spread batter into the prepared baking pain, and sprinkle almonds all over the batter.



Bake for 25 to 30 min or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (mine took 25 min).  Cool on a wire rack for about 20 min.  Run a small spatula or thin knife carefully around the edges of the cake to loosen from the sides of the pain; unlock the pain and remove the bottom.  Return to the wire rack and allow to cool completely.  Makes 12 serving.



What do the numbers look like? 

Calories 136
Fat 4.2 g
Cholesterol 0
Sodium 78 mg
Potassium 152 mg
Carbs 25.3 mg
Fiber 2.5 mg
Sugar 15.5 mg
Protein 3.5 mg

Also per my recipe analyzer this recipe is very high in Manganese and Zinc.  Sodium is way lower and the fiber is above the allowable per calories.  The sugar is a tad higher than the allowable but is okay considering you're only having one serving and are being mindful of everything else throughout the day.  Next time, I may try the coconut sugar to see how it tastes as this would change the sugar content considerably.



Can you say sinful?  Look at all those little bubbles created from the egg whites making this so light and fluffy as opposed to heavy and dense.  You can sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top if you like.

Until next time, Happy Eating!