Flourless Black Forest Cake : A Gluten Free & Sugar Free Birthday Cake

Black Forest Cake (BFC) is the most sought after cake among my nieces and nephews.In the past I have baked them the cake for their birthdays or otherwise. It was my nephew's11th birthday last week. I called him to wish him a happy birthday and asked him what he would like for his birthday. As usual, he said that he would love the black forest cake. Recently it was found that he was allergic to gluten and apart from that he had to stay away from sugar, yeast or anything that increased candida in the body. So making this cake with regular flour or sugar was out of the picture. I felt a little sad that I could not make him the cake. But then I remembered watching a cooking show where they made mini cakes with no flour.Using the recipe from the cooking show I decided to make him the cake. The recipe required honey which I could not use.. I was looking for a sugar substitutes and was informed that Xylitol was great for people with candida as mentioned here. So using xylitol in the recipe I was able to come up with a perfect flour less and sugar less birthday cake.

Judgement: I loved the cake. Without the icing it tasted like a brownie. With the whipped cream topping it tasted pretty good. It was dense but moist and had a pie/ ice cream cake like feel. For all those who have diet challenges here is one from my kitchen.

Gadgets:

Food Processor
Electric Hand Mixer
Bowls
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Spatula
9 inch Spring Form Baking Pan
Pressure Cooker

Ingredients:

Sweet Potato Medium Size - 3 pressure cooked
Banana - 1/2 ripe
Chocolate with Maltol - 2 bars ( from Trader Joes ) plus 1 piece
Eggs - 4
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1 tsp
Vanilla Essence - 2 tsp
Butter - 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp for melting chocolate
Xylitol - 3/4 cup

Icing:

Cherries - 1 bottle
Heavy Whipping Cream - 1 pint
Xylitol - 1/4 cup

Preparation:

1. Separate 3 eggs and add only the whites in a bowl. Add the yellow into a food processor. Whisk the whites until it forms a peak.

 2. Add the cooked sweet potatoes( without skin), banana, vanilla essence, baking soda, baking powder, egg, xylitol and blend. Transfer this puree into a bowl.

3. Place the chocolate pieces along with butter into a bowl. Melt them in a microwave for a minute or two.

4. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

5. Add the melted chocolate to the puree. Mix well. Add a little of the egg whites and mix evenly. Then add the rest to it and fold in.

6. Bake in a parchment lined baking pan for 1 hour or until the it comes out clean when a tooth pick is inserted.

7. Allow this cake to sit for 10 minutes. Then remove it from the pan and allow it to cool.

8. Place the bowl and electrical whisk in the freezer for an hour. Add the whipping cream to the bowl and whisk it half way through and then add xylitol . Whisk until peaks form.

9. Cut the cherries into half and place on the cake. Add the whipped cream and spread them evenly. Place some cherries and then spread the shaved chocolate on top.