CHOCOLATE SWEETHEART CAKE

This beautiful, layered cake rises very high and tastes like the real thing. Make this cake for you and your sweetheart as a sweet ending to a perfect meal and a lovely day. This recipe is in Low-Carbing Among Friends, Volume 1. Cake always looks tricky or difficult...but really it is just as easy as making muffins! Seriously. Just that much more impressive than muffins though!

Yet another GREAT recipe for CHOCOLATE CAKE - CLICK HERE!

2³/₄cups Gluten-Free Bake Mix 1 (675 mL) (Click for bake mix recipe) OR If you like, use
Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2 (use 1 1/2 tsp gelatin added to wet ingredients - easy!)

Liquid sweetener (sucralose or stevia) to equal ³/₄cup sugar (175 mL)

¹/₃cup Dutch cocoa (75 mL)

2 tsp baking soda (10 mL)

¹/₂tsp salt (2 mL)

6 eggs

³/₄cup sour cream (175 mL)

1/2 cup granulated erythritol (125 mL) - Don't worry - no cooling effect - cocoa takes care of that!

²/₃cup light-tasting olive oil (150 mL)

¹/₄cup Da Vinci^® Sugar Free (60 mL)

Chocolate Syrup, OR any low-carb pancake syrup (OR just use water, flavoring and extra sweetener!)

2 tsp vanilla extract (10 mL)

Ganache Frosting, BELOW

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). In large bowl, combine Gluten-Free Bake Mix, liquid sweetener, Dutch cocoa, baking soda and salt. Stir to combine well. In food processor or in bowl with electric mixer, add eggs, sour cream, erythritol, olive oil, Da Vinci^® Sugar Free Syrup, OR low-carb pancake syrup and vanilla extract. Beat on low speed until well combined. Add dry ingredients, processing one minute or so until it thickens, scraping the sides once.

Spread batter evenly in two greased and “floured” (use tiny sprinkle of bake mix) 7-inch (18 cm) heart-shaped nonstick cake pans or 2, 8-inch (20 cm) nonstick cake pans. Bake in oven 25 to 30 minutes. Test cake with cake tester in center of one cake after 25 minutes and check every 2 minutes thereafter, until tester comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pans on wire rack. Carefully run a knife around edges and lift underneath with a thin, flat spatula. Invert cakes, supporting with your hands onto cake rack and cool. Turn one layer of cake on its topside, so that the two flat sides meet in the middle. Frost when cooled with Ganache Frosting (below), OR frosting of choice (see my blog for ideas). If desired, place a heart-shaped patch of Crème Fraiche, page 52 on top of cake over chocolate frosting and garnish with 1 or 2 red candied cherries cut into tiny pieces for color. Sprinkle with unsweetened, grated chocolate. If desired, double the frosting recipe to have a really generous amount and use the rest as a treat to eat by the spoonful (it’s that tasty!) whenever. The frosting freezes well.

Helpful Hints: This cake recipe can be used to make cupcakes instead.

Yield: 12/16 servings

1 serving without frosting

287.5/215.6 calories

8.2/6.1 g protein

24.9/18.7 g fat

6.5/4.9 g net carbs

CHOCOLATE SAUCE AND GANACHE FROSTING

This sauce and frosting is beyond delicious!

1 cup sugarless chocolate chips (250 mL)

(sweetened), OR 6 oz of your favorite low-carb chocolate bar! (180 g)

1 can Thick Cream, (170 mL)

Carnation^®(25% M.F.)

1 tbsp Da Vinci^® Sugar Free (15 mL), OR water and extract flavoring

Kahuli Caffe, OR B-52 Syrup (optional)

In double boiler, melt chocolate with cream. Stir to combine well. Stir in Da Vinci^® Sugar Free Kahuli Caffe or B-52 Syrup, if using. *If using as a frosting, refrigerate or briefly freeze sauce, until it has a firmer consistency and spreads easily.

Helpful Hints: Use warm chocolate sauce for dipping fruits or as a topping for ice cream. This would make an awesome topping for a cheesecake or pour over a crust and then add a pie or cheesecake filling.

Use this thick sauce as a delicious, decadent drizzle over plain cakes or any other dessert that it would compliment.

Use this sauce as a frosting for brownies or cakes. It is also great for frosting cookies. Use as the basis of chocolate truffles as this sauce is similar to ganache (a smooth mixture of chocolate and cream).

Yield: 1 cup (250 mL)

1 tbsp (15 mL) per serving

74.2 calories

0.7 g protein

5.3 g fat

0.9 g net carbs

Variation: French Silk Pie: For a really decadent, famous pie, double recipe and pour over a low-carb crust and let set 24 hours in refrigerator. For a firmer pie, drain cream first over a colander and add extra drained cream from another can to make up for lost volume.

Yield: 10/12 servings. (350.2/291.9 calories, 6.5/5.4 g protein, 24.0/22.5 g fat, 4.4/3.7 g net carbs)

Helpful Hints: *The frosting is a little sparse for a double-layered cake; however, with a filling for the middle of the cake, such as custard, apricot fruit spread or cream whipped with cocoa and sweetener, it is then substantial and able to frost the entire cake comfortably. Otherwise double the recipe!