Easter treat: Aduna’s Super-Cacao Cake
At first glance, this rich, chocolate creation from Aduna might look like your typical Easter treat – but there are some clever twists. Made with heart-healthy cacao powder, plus low-GI sweet potato, this is a naughty-but-nice variation on chocolate cake.
READ MORE: 7 surprising health benefits of chocolate
Serves 10-12
Ingredients
Chocolate sweet potato cake
60g Aduna Super-Cacao Powder
300g diced, cooked and cooled sweet potato
150g maple syrup
235ml + 2 tbsp water
1 tbsp vanilla extract
85g coconut sugar
250g spelt flour
3/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
Chocolate mousse filling
2 tbsp Aduna Super-Cacao Powder
2 x 160ml cans coconut cream, or cream removed from 2 x 400g cans refrigerated coconut milk
2 tbsp maple syrup
100g 70 per cent dark chocolate, chopped
Chocolate ganache
100g dark chocolate, chopped
125ml coconut milk
Marzipan eggs
50g ground almonds
1 1/2 tbsp honey
A few drops almond extract and vanilla extract
Fruit/vegetable powders for colour (I used raspberry powder, Aduna Moringa Superleaf powder and ground turmeric)
Toasted coconut, for topping
Method
To make the cake:
1 Preheat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas mark 4 and lightly grease 2 x 20cm round cake pans with coconut oil.
2 Place the cooked sweet potato, maple syrup, water and vanilla in a high-powered blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
3 Sieve the flour, salt, super-cacao, baking powder and baking soda into a large bowl. Stir in the coconut sugar until well combined. Add the sweet potato mixture and mix until just combined.
4 Pour into the prepared tins and bake for 20-22 minutes. Leave to cool fully before removing from tins and topping.
To make the chocolate mousse filling:
1 Using an electric or hand whisk, beat the coconut cream until fluffy.
2 Melt the dark chocolate in a bowl over a pan of boiling water and add to the whipped cream, along with the maple syrup. Mix gently to combine and refrigerate for 20 minutes to thicken.
3 Sandwich the two cake layers together with the chocolate mousse (you may not need quite all of it).
To make the chocolate ganache:
1 Heat the coconut milk in a small pan, until steaming hot but not boiling. Remove from the heat, add the chopped chocolate and stir to melt.
2 Leave for 15 minutes to thicken, until pourable but not too runny. Pour ganache over the cake and spread evenly.
3 Top with toasted coconut and the marzipan eggs (use a little spare ganache to stick the eggs in place).
To make the marzipan eggs:
1 Add the ground almonds and honey to a food processor and process briefly until it comes together when pressed between finger and thumb.
2 Divide into three and add the fruit/vegetable powders to colour. Roll into 15-20 small ‘eggs’ and refrigerate until ready to use.
Love this recipe? Tweet us photos of your home-crafted creations @healthymag – we love to hear from you!
