We all know the drill, Valentine’s day is around the corner and you are driving yourself crazy over all the preparations you have to do in order to make that day special for your loved one.  Crazy stressful right?

You have the decorations all sorted, the menu layout, your shopping list is done and the house is all clean and tidy.  While looking at the last minute details you realize you still haven’t thought of the dessert part on your special menu and you know your loved one likes their chocolate too much but has started the gym and they have been trying to eat healthier to get that body ready for the summer so you have a very hard decision to make.  You want to encourage their healthy behavior but at the same time you want to serve all their favorite foods on the special day to make it memorable; at least for their taste buds 🙂

Well, after a lot of fussing and sassing around thinking and over thinking how am I going to get these two (healthy and chocolate) to work together in something really tasty and special; it hits me.  I finally have it.  Sometimes is all about imagination and free styling to get that perfect recipe perfect!

So me and my good friend The Queens Closet by_G decided to experiment a little bit and have fun in the kitchen over a warm cup of tea on a cold day as it is still February duh

So we thought to ourselves, now is the time TheWonderberry needs to put her knowledge of food and nutrition  into practice and create wonders that would look and taste as good to live up to her name.  So she thought and though and though to herself “How can you make a chocolate brownie healthy but still gooey and sweet on the inside and visually appetizing on the outside?”

Well here is your answer:

Our Valentines Special Chocolate Brownie Heart Cake – SUGARFREE, GLUTEN FREE AND NO ACTIVE CARBOHYDRATES.  Lets take a moment to just appreciate this miracle of a cake that tastes better than you could possibly imagine.  Our toughest judges tried it and approved so this should mean something right?

This masterpiece is here to make your tastebuds fall in love. A combination of chocolate, coconut and strawberries are a match made in heaven..

Now that we have your full attention I can finally share with you this recipe I have been working on and as you can clearly see the result is the one above and you can indulge without a single not even a tiny Winnie amount of guilt.  Have I won you over yet?

I think the answer is yes because if it is a No, then you aren’t human since we are serving you heaven on a plate.

So let’s roll, we have 2 versions of this recipe, one with agave nectar as a sweetener and the other version is sweetened with Stevia. so let’s start shall we?

Version 1 (STEVIA):

• 200g almond flour

• 4 egg whites

• 7 tbsp stevia sweetener

• 1 ½ tbsp unsweetened cacao powder

• 180ml coconut milk

• 45g light sunflower spread
• 1tbsp baking powder

• 20g desiccated coconut (optional)

Version 2 (Agave Nectar):

• 210g almond flour

• 4 egg whites

• 80g agave nectar (light)

• 60ml coconut milk

• 1 ½ tbsp unsweetened cacao powder

• 45g light sunflower spread
• 1tbsp baking powder

• 20 g desiccated coconut (optional)

*PS I love coconut flavor hence this recipe is flavored with chocolate and coconut.  You can substitute the desiccated coconut with 1tbsp vanilla or almond essence (or more to match your liking) and the coconut milk for unsweetened almond milk.

Step 1: Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius fan. Add your egg whites in the mixing bowl and start the mixer at high speed until your eggs start frothing up. Once they are frothy you start adding your sweetener ( Stevia or Agave) accordingly bit by bit and continue beating until a meringue like consistency is formed.

Step 2: Move your egg mixture in your mixing bowl and start adding gradually your almond flour stirring it in slowly in circle like moves.

Step 3: Add your cocoa powder, desiccated coconut and baking powder in the mixture while stirring slowly.

Step 4: Melt your light sunflower spread on bain marie and add it to the mixture together with the coconut milk and stir slowly until all your ingredients are incorporated in the mixture.

Step 5: Line with parchment paper the bottom of your baking tray ( we have used heart shaped trays ). Add your mixture in your baking tray and add in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.

Step 6: Take your tray out of the oven and leave it to cool before removing the cake from the form.

Step 7: Once cooled, you can finally go to the fun part and start icing your cake. *We have iced our cake with sugar free hazelnut chocolate spread (recipe soon on the blog), coconut cream from tinned coconut milk and strawberries.

*We have iced our cake with sugar free hazelnut chocolate spread (recipe soon on the blog), coconut cream from tinned coconut milk and strawberries.

Now scroll down to the video to give you an insight of how we did it ->

Nutritional Information:

Version 1 ( Sweetened with Stevia ) + hazelnut spread

“Calories – 196kcal; Fat 16,6g of which 2g Saturated, No Trans; Carbs – 7g of which 7,2g Fiber; Protein – 6,4g.” Iron 4,9%, Calcium 6,8%

*If the serving is eaten or served without the chocolate icing the nutritional information may vary (140kcal per serving).

Version 2 ( Sweetened with Agave Nectar) + hazelnut spread

“Calories – 239kcal; Fat 18,6g of which 4g Saturated, No Trans; Carbs – 14g of which 5g Fiber and 8g Natural sugars; Protein – 7.6g.” Iron 5,3%, Calcium 5,9%

*If the serving is eaten or served without the chocolate icing the nutritional information may vary (177 kcal per serving).

PS* All carbohydrates are sugars, either complex or simple. In the above recipe all sugars are naturally occurring sugars already present in the ingredients used in the above recipe. All ingredients are unsweetened.

Now, since we all know this is just too good to be true; you would be crazy not to go ahead and try this recipe at home. Just remember the secret is to have fun in the kitchen and not look at it as a chore. If you like cooking and experimenting with food as much as I do you will enjoy making this cake more than you think. It’s easier than it looks and tastier than you could ever imagine.

Don’t forget to experiment, and always add that little something that will make the recipe more YOU.

I hope you liked this blog as much as I loved writing it and I can’t wait to hear or see what you made out of. I have so much coming your way so make sure you stay tuned!

Love,

TheWonderberry

xoxo