Chocolate cake, with a twist!

Are you craving a sweet treat after your lunch or dinner? Perhaps you have an event coming up and you’d like to prepare a celebratory dessert to enjoy with friends. This healthy, super tasty, five-minute-to-prepare chocolate cake is a healthier choice for those sweet tooth cravings.

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5-minute (prep) chocolate and avocado cake

Serves 12

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 25 minutes 

Ingredients

  • 200g baking chocolate (70% or 85% cocoa)
  • 200g pitted dates, (about 10 Medjool dates)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil
  • 60g almond flour
  • 1 whole avocado
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1–2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
  2. In a food processor, pulse the chocolate first then continue to add all of the other ingredients, pulsing in between.
  3. Transfer the batter into an 8 x 8 inch (20 x 20 cm) baking dish.
  4. Bake for approximately 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Allow to cool completely before cutting into 12 squares. Best served warm.

Optional: Add a handful of fresh berries with a dollop of Greek yoghurt for a probiotic kick!


The healthy bit

Dark chocolate is a source of magnesium, and a lack of magnesium might well be the reason you’re craving sweets and a sugary kick after dinner, or when feeling sluggish. Magnesium is responsible for more than 300 enzymatic processes that help keep you energised and healthy. So, if you’re deficient in magnesium, that’s more than 300 processes your body can’t effectively do! The end result is you feeling totally wiped. By adding dark chocolate with over 70% cocoa, you are increasing the magnesium content to the cake.

While the main source of energy in our cells is actually something called adenosine triphosphate, or ATP, magnesium is vital in ATP doing its thing (ATP is essentially the currency that runs your body’s economy, but it can’t make any real transactions without the banker - magnesium!)

Though ATP is the main source of energy in cells, it must be bound to a magnesium ion (Mg) to be biologically active. So, ATP is really Mg-ATP when it comes to making the magic happen in your body.

Additional foods containing magnesium include legumes, tofu, and fatty fish.

Never considered adding avocado to a cake? Well, I’m here to change your mind. In my opinion, avocados are the darling of the produce section. They’re the go-to ingredient for guacamole at parties, and are a staple in modern-day brunching. So, what exactly makes this pear-shaped berry (yes, avocado is classed as fruit!) so good?

Avocados offer nearly 20 vitamins and minerals in every serving, including potassium (which helps control blood pressure), lutein (which is good for your eyes), and folate (which is crucial for cell repair). They are a good source of B vitamins, which help you fight off disease and infection, and they also give you vitamins C and E, plus natural plant chemicals good for the whole body.

Avocados are low in sugar, plus contain fibre, which helps you feel fuller for longer. In one study, people who added half of a fresh avocado to their lunch were less interested in eating during the next three hours!

Avocados are also high in fat, but it's monounsaturated fat, a 'good' fat that helps lower bad cholesterol, so long as you eat them in moderation!


This article was published in Happiful Magazine (Issue 72). You can order print copies online, or read the e-magazine for free on the Happiful app.

Looking for more inspiration? Visit our Recipe hub.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author. All articles published on Nutritionist Resource are reviewed by our editorial team.

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Sutton, Surrey, SM1
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Written by Angelika Cutuk-Short, MSc Functional Nutritionist / Hormone and Weight specialist
Sutton, Surrey, SM1

Angelika has a masters in nutrition and is a qualified NLP mindset coach. She is a specialist in weight loss management. She combines nutritional science with motivational coaching to change her client's mindset and bad food habits so they can lose weight for good, feel sexy, more body confident and finally fit those favourite jeans.

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