healthy chocolate cake Archives - Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Chocolate Cake – No Eggs

Chocolate cake that’s healthy exists! And it’s not Devil’s cake with all the calories.

Like these chocolate cakes in ice cream cone cookie cutter shapes you can make without any egg.

These are topped with healthy Greek yogurt “frosting” in colors like a pairing match spumoni ice cream with no eggs. 🇮🇹

It is anti-inflammatory healthy with the ingredients in the chocolate cake recipe below 👇… but don’t let the healthy fool you.

Because this is a DELICIOUS and moist cake (you’ll see the batter below) that smells chocolate amazing from the oven when baking.

You may be surprised at the good food tastes and healthy, plant-based ingredients… and this may tip you in favor of becoming a healthy chocolate cake convert. 🧡

…Plus this chocolate cake has a melt-in-your-mouth soft cake texture like that from an ice cream sandwich or a packaged dessert with cream in the middle… 😋

On that note, you can add a cream in the middle or on the top… and maraschino or glace cherries too like in this ice cream illusion trio. 🍒🍦

Based on the previous descriptions, it’s hard to believe that mostly gluten-free flour is part of the chocolate cake mix.

Gluten-Free Flour

Since non-gluten flours are softer (and mostly used in this healthy chocolate cake recipe), you will need more gluten-free flour than if you were using all or mostly gluten flours like all-purpose flour commonly used.

Gluten-free flours will make a soft batter without gluten. So you will not need to use a mixer. All you need is a spoon to combine the wet and dry ingredients.

It’s so easy to mix that I even just used one of the plastic teaspoons I was using to measure in ingredients to mix, that works just fine. Less cleanup. 😊

This is the perfect lazy day bake!

And you can use a silver spoon (or messy whisk) to mix ingredients if you prefer (or whatever makes you happy!).

The batter consistency almost looks like chocolate ice cream. How fitting!

And what makes this cake special and low-sugar healthy is the special sugar choice…

Maple Syrup

Table or white sugar is not needed for most bakes to add sweetness. And it’s not needed in this cake recipe, as the more healthy sugar choice is maple syrup.

A little maple syrup goes a long way to sweeten… and is low glycemic which means it won’t spike your blood sugar the way table sugar would.

That’s good for anti-inflammatory benefits.

Vermont Grade A maple syrup is one of the best.

And you can easily source maple syrup all over the Northeast. Maybe even around their sugar maple trees. 🌳

I used maple syrup from the Adirondacks for this recipe below. But our Canadian friends are also well known for their maple syrup that’s part of the country’s tradition.

…It’s not just GOOD for pancakes. 🥞

Maple syrup is also a cooling food, so it’s a great sweetner choice for warm days, your Pitta stress and irritations you have in your life. 😊, and for ice cream cool chocolate cake…

This is where it gets happy and fun!

Pick Your Flavors

For your chocolate cake batter, you can lean into pure chocolate with just the cocoa in the recipe, or you can add sophisticated adult tasting vibes with ginger, coconut flour, or dark cocoa (more like an Oreo cookie vibe).

You get to choose your flavors before you bake… like when you’re in an ice cream parlor shop picking out flavors.

If you want a dark cocoa vibe, you can add black cocoa that will be a more intense cocoa. Think of the blackish color from the black cocoa as dramatic chocolate like in your cookies and cream desserts.

Keep in mind, adding dark cocoa will mean that it’ll take longer to bake as any time you have dark (blackish) color bakes (cakes, cookies, bread, etc.), they take longer than lighter bakes to bake.

And for this healthy cake, if you prefer more chocolate and pure chocolate tastes, you can add chocolate chip morsels (approx. 1-2 tbsps) where you’ll get pops of chocolates in your baked bites like a chocolate chip cookie. 🍪

And if you want to make this cake with chocolate coconut-y vibes 😋, you can include 1 tsp of coconut chips. And substitute the almond flour in the recipe with coconut flour that’s also gluten-free.

And for more choices and variety, if you don’t mind a spicy kick… pair with pungent ginger (that’s delightful!). You can add a teaspoon of ginger powder. Red (chili) pepper flakes also go great with chocolate.

There are very few baking spices that don’t pair well with chocolate! 🍫

Other Tips:

Flatten and even out your chocolate cake batter with a plastic lid. Dust with cocoa (or a little flour) so that it doesn’t stick. Easy peasy! No need for a rolling pin.

Also, you can pre-score cut your cake shapes before baking. Or use a round springform pan for a traditional cake if you will be making a round cake to more easily pop the cake out since the cake won’t be as springy like with a mostly gluten-flour cake.

You’ll know when it’s baked done when you can lift the bottom in one baking piece. Don’t over bake this one or you’ll have cookies! 🍪🍪

And technically, you could eat this without baking like a chocolate mousse and don’t need to bake this cake batter because there’s no egg, BUT for the decadent light chocolate cake texture (and not no-bake cocoa balls), pop it in the magical oven.

And if you want to use egg, you can. I did an experiment to see the rise difference and there wasn’t much. Can you tell which ice cream chocolate cake has egg?

…Didn’t think so.

It’s the one on the right that’s slightly fuller and higher but only by comparison. 🐣 You’d not notice the difference on a ready-to-eat plate.

So the choice is yours… to egg or not. Either way, enjoy these crowd pleasers for your next table party!

Healthy Chocolate Cake

Healthy chocolate cake where you can make one 8" or 9" round cake or 4 - 3" wide cakes shaped in ice cream cone or fun cookie cutter shape (your choice). Great for parties and all ages!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Ingredients

1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup almond milk, plus additional (add as needed)
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp cocoa powder + 1 tsp
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp light olive oil (or neutral oil)
pinch of salt

Instructions

Mix ingredients by hand with a spoon. Almond flour is a gluten-free flour that will make a softer batter. Work in enough wet ingredients so the batter falls off the spoon together. The batter will be noticeably more grainy and less gloppy/smooth than a full gluten flour batter. For chocolate cake sandwiches, roll out to about 1/4 inch thick.
Bake at 325°F for about 20 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out clean). Don't overbake or you'll get cookies.
Sometimes the bottom is still moist, so if you use a springform cake pan, you can take a small peek or simply add another 5-10 minutes to ensure it's dry at the bottom. When you bake at low temps and slow, you don't have to worry about burning your cake and still getting a little rise.
Let cool, frost, and enjoy!

Matcha Cake – Chocolate Healthy

Matcha cake is a healthy cake. And this one is made with almond flour and healthy delicious ingredients… that’s hard to match-ah. The recipe is below.

It’s a star that glows on a plate. 🌟

It could be the caffeine because matcha is a green tea.

The green comes from the chlorophyll pigment that’s anti-inflammatory. 🍵 (along with the EGCG catechin).

Green tea is not a sweet ingredient, so if you’re not a fan… you’ll love this matcha cake that turns out sweet with chocolate chips!

And it has just a small amount of the matcha tea that’s more for the color and healthy ingredient, like you would add to a drinking cup.

You could also think of it like adding a smidgeon of anti-inflammatory spice.

And matcha tea has another anti-inflammatory L-theanine element that’s shown to be good for calming, sleep, and mental focus.

So all these anti-inflammatory benefits help make green tea and matcha green tea the healthiest tea out there!

…Then when you also add a drop or two of Pandan gel, you get a plant-based cake that has a vanilla and somewhat earthy taste. 🌱

To complement those tastes, you can use almond milk with vanilla (or vanilla extract).

Then add other healthy ingredients like apple cider vinegar that will help the cake rise with the baking soda.

And of course, spices that’ll help dry out the batter because if you add enough liquid, you’ll get a moist batter… that’s a good idea.

Because this green matcha cake batter may not look like a cake batter at all or that it will transform into a cake in the oven, but it turns out like a packaged sponge cake with cream in the middle you enjoyed as a kid (or yesterday 😁)… ah, but remember this matcha cake is healthy!

And when it look as wet as a guacamole dip and barely falls off a spoon, it’ll be one great cake. 😊

In the magical oven process, it will dry out and rise like this star on a plate that it’s meant to be.

With cocoa and chocolate chips infused, if you love the idea of a chocolate matcha cake, then you’ll love a chocolate chip matcha cookie recipe too. You can split the dough/batter in half and make cookies in the easy prep steps.

Matcha Cake

Ingredients

1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup milk, almond milk plus additional
1 egg
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp powdered matcha tea
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger (optional)
1 tsp cocoa powder and more for cake zhughing/dusting
1-2 drops Pandan gel
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp all purpose flour
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp neutral oil
1 tbsp chocolate chips

Instructions

Mix ingredients by hand with a spoon. Almond flour is a gluten-free flour that will make a softer batter. Work in enough wet ingredients so the batter falls off the spoon together. The batter will be noticeably more grainy and less gloppy/smooth than a full gluten flour batter.
Bake at 325°F for at least 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Sometimes the bottom is still moist, so if you use a springform cake pan, you can take a small peek or simply add another 5-10 minutes to ensure it's dry at the bottom. When you bake at low temps and slow, you don't have to worry about burning your cake.
Let cool and dust with matcha and cocoa powder.
You can cut the cake in half with a serrated knife and add a frosting or filling. This one is filled with mascarpone mixed with almond extract to add a complementing taste. Then use a cookie cutter to cut out the cake in a star or any whimsical shape to your heart's fancy.

Tartufo – Individual Birthday Cakes

Tartufo can be your next dessert or even birthday cake you’ll be dreaming of. It’s kinda like an ice cream cake with an Italian vibe.

The recipe below is made with love and a mascarpone ice cream fitting for tartufo individual cakes that you and party guests will love. 💗

Tartufo is not a common dessert.

You don’t hear people talking about it much in everyday life, but this spumoni resembling one inside is a delicious party dessert! 🎉

As the name sounds, tartufo has Italian roots. Not only is it an ice cream cake, but it’s also a truffle or edible fungus.

And with a dome shape, it’s fitting for both.

It also has spreads its wings into other continents as others (like me) can’t resist…

And anyone who gets like a giddy birthday party girl over ice cream cake. 🎈

Facts about Tartufo:

First off, tartufo is usually made with gelato, but the cheese ice cream (recipe below 👇) I think is as delish and simple to make…

The ice cream is made with mascarpone cheese and yogurt and didn’t need an ice cream maker.

Mascarpone is a smooth and creamy cheese that when frozen has an ice cream texture. It’s kinda like cream cheese but more smooth and less sticky.

And if you’re looking for a dairy-free version, a tartufo with spumoni ice cream made from coconut oil is another delicious option.

Either way, the sweet and fresh pairing flavors add a tasty-dreamy reality. If you’re looking for spring color inspiration, this dessert could be the one! 🌱

And in the middle, what makes a tartufo extra special is biting into the surprise center that’s often a cherry, like in a cherry cordial… where the effect is different than a cherry on top like on a sundae that’s usually eaten first or put to the side. 🍒

If a cherry alone excites you (like it does me)… then you may want to stop reading and start making this! 💕

And if you aspire to healthy desserts and low-sugar 🙋🏻‍♀️, the healthy ingredients include Greek yogurt, pistachios, Pandan, cherries, coconut oil, and honey…

So you’re getting adult ingredient tastes and low-sugar healthy sensibilities that good for longevity and especially if you follow an anti-inflammatory or Mediterranean diet.

And it’s not just the healthy dessert aspects you’ll love… it’s an easy (no bake dessert recipe) to make that can easily be shared!

And the last bit that everyone will love is the hard chocolate shell that gives a dessert ice cream bar vibe that always put smiles on faces of all ages.

The best way to melt chocolate I have found works for this dessert too.

Tartufo Dessert (Individual Dessert Serving)

This recipe is for a dessert plate to share for 1-2 people.

Course Dessert

Cuisine desserts

Author Brandy@HealthyHappyLifeSecrets

Ingredients

1/4 cup Greek yogurt, plain and unsweetened
1/4 mascarpone
Pandan gel
2 tbsp pistachios, chopped
extra pistachios, finely chopped for topping
1 tbsp raw honey
2 tbsp chocolate for top coating

Instructions

Mix mascarpone with chopped pistachios and a drop of pandan gel until you get a consistent green color.
Add plastic wrap inside your small bowl with an overhang for easy pullout so that the cheese doesn't stick to the bowl. Add the mascarpone cheese to the bowl. Freeze for at least 30 minutes. Then add a layer of the Greek yogurt that will be the bottom layer. Add the surprise cherry or sweet treat in the middle. Freeze again. Make your melted chocolate. Onto plate: drizzle honey at the bottom and add your tartufo.
Pour melted chocolate quickly ontop of the frozen tartufo, and add fine pistacho crumbles before the chocolate sets. Freeze again.
About 30 minutes before you're ready to eat and enjoy, bring out to room temps from the freezer. Serve and enjoy.

Healthy Fall Chocolate Cake (Gluten-Free)

Healthy fall chocolate cake like this reminds me of special events I planned. These type of individual cakes were always a hit!

The gooey oozing middle gluten-free chocolate cakes were served individually (as in no sharing!) in their own ceramic baking cups. They were called fallen chocolate souffles.

And they were made while guests were enjoying dinner, so there was a timing component. Luckily… for this decadent dessert, you can make them anytime to put smiles on faces whether it’s a wedding or a relaxing weekend. Most likely it’s the latter. 😊

The recipe below is a low-sugar, healthy chocolate cake made with gluten-free flour. 🧡

It’s a simple to make recipe and not complicated considering how satisfying they are.

Jump to Recipe

And to show how relaxed you can be, I was in yoga rest pose waiting for the baking to finish… that almost never happens as I’m busy in the kitchen with my hands.

And in catering, we never got off our feet… good shoes were a must as some events, we walked miles within our venue.

So the great cake turn out and mini yoga session in between was a nice surprise… we used to say “kill two birds with one stone.” Not sure who came up with that proverb as it sounds violent when the intent is you’re being productive and multi-tasking. 😊

And Savasana pose (pronounced Sh-avasana) is a great Hatha yoga way to be productive to reset new intentions for the rest of this year, so you can enter your new year with a bang! 🎉

So while making this healthy fall chocolate cake, I was reminded how often we stand stationary with some kind of tool in front of us, whether it’s a standing desk computer or a kitchen tool like a mixer. Or we’re sitting all day. It’s often all or nothing.

If we measure our standing time vs. our sitting time, one day can be too much of either. And we often forget to add in some calming awake resting time.

So rest pose is a good balancing pose for this that’s relaxing and restorative and you can do on a daytime mat to get calm and peaceful.

Taking a few extra minutes to not rush around can revive your entire day. Those moments are enhanced when there’s no distraction like a computer or a television. Be in calm silence until your cake buzzer goes off.

Laying down, you’re looking at the ceiling or sky above you, or optionally you have your eyes closed.

The Savasana pose benefits are:

You’re almost like a frozen angel in the snow but not moving your arm wings up and down.

You notice any normal body twitches and sensations. You’re sensitized to your being and body.

Rested, your heart is also rested and your blood pressure drops in the seconds and minutes you’re in this pose.

Not being in a hurry, all the tension is left behind at least for the minutes you’re in this calming pose.

You can eliminate temporary headaches as you think calm, positive, and happy thoughts.

And as more minutes go by, you’ll also feel your body temperature drops especially if you’re the Vata or Kapha body type. Or if you’re leaning into Vata season and your Vata-ness!

This Savasana pose is commonly done as an ending close in an in-person Hatha or more relaxed yoga class.

And maybe even the teacher came around spritzing with a light lavender spray mist to get you in the mood of laying still and quieting the mind. How nice especially for the Pitta mind still running lists in the mind!

The lavender scent calms your mind and the fine mist feels like a refreshing soft touch. It’s a nice way to bring special joy to your day.

Laying stretched out without moving on a mat, you can do this pose anywhere that helps melt the stress away.

It gives you a few moments of peace (that can’t be emphasized enough) to gain your second wind and ground you for the rest of the day.

It’s good to remind yourself to slow it down.

And when your healthy fall chocolate cake baking timer goes off, you’re refreshed and ready!

A few Savasana Pose tips:

🌱Have a folded blanket near near you if you’re using props. Your body temperature drops, so you’ll want the comfort of a blanket or thin yoga top layer you peeled off earlier, especially if it’s typical fall or cooler season weather.

🌱Remember to breathe normally. You can pinpoint if your breath through your nose is naturally shallow or deep and could you use some sinus tips.

🌱Keep your phone off your mat! 😉 That’s one of the rules that will help with your balance of 80/20 real life vs. virtual world digital life.

Slowing down our tempo gives us advantages so we can keep up in the world with the all the busy chaos.

That’s what Savasana Pose can do as a good reset reminder.

We can make better lifestyle choices to live longer, happy quality lives.

And baking healthy chocolate cake can be one of those changes. 😋

And with that thought, I’ll leave you with two questions to think about:

At this point, what would make your year optimal? Idea: you can make an appointment with yourself in Shavasana Corpse pose to think about this.

And, what would help you to make your next year (or the rest of the year) brighter? Think of what change or improvements in you would make things different and better.

And in between noodling self-thoughts, you can make this healthy fall chocolate cake,

It’s simple to make and the timing will determine an oozy middle or a gooey center where either are good. The center is a good metaphor for centering yourself with new positive perspectives.

And if the first one flops, you can always (no sweat) make this again.

Print Recipe

Healthy Fall Chocolate Cake - Gluten-Free

This cake is all about timing. You don't want to bake too long so that you preserve the gooey goodness!

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets

Equipment

muffin tin

Ingredients

2 oz dark chocolate (70% cocoa for antioxidant-rich), melted
1 large egg
1 egg yolk
1/8 cup monk fruit sugar (low glycemic index optional) or sugar
pinch of salt
1 tbsp almond flour
2 tbsp butter

Instructions

Combine all ingredients together except gently fold in flour last. No leavening agents needed.
Bake at 350°F for about 12 minutes. Don't overbake for a gooey chocolate center!