It's not impossible to make a low sugar cake that tastes good! It's actually pretty easy, but the texture of the cake will be different than traditional cakes. In this case, the chocolate almond cake is denser and moister than what you might expect in a traditional layer cake. That's okay with me. I like dark, dense cakes that are more brownie-like than cake like. This cake also delivers a significant amount of nutrition, making it great for kids and diabetics (or anyone, really). The cake is sweetened with date paste/puree rather than artificial sugar (see below), and silken tofu and plenty of nuts keep the protein content of the cake high. The batter includes oats but no wheat flour. Although I don't usually include chocolate chips in the cake, feel free to stir some into the batter just before air frying it, if you'd like. The cake is great "as is," dusted with toasted almond crumbs, or serve it with a fluff of whipped cream or light whipped topping for a special treat. Enjoy!
Low Sugar, Diabetic Friendly Chocolate Almond Cake -- Makes a Tall, Six-Inch Cake
8 ounces of silken tofu (about a cup)
1 large egg
1/4 cup of canola oil
1/3 cup of date paste (see below)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3/4 cup of almonds, divided
1/2 cup of oats (old fashioned)
1/4 cup of cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1-2 tablespoons of toasted, finely chopped almonds, optional
To the bowl of a large food processor add the tofu, egg, oil, date paste, and vanilla and pulse/process them until they are blended and smooth. Add the salt, 1/2 cup of almonds, oats, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon and pulse/process them into the mixture until everything is blended and the oats and nuts are well incorporated into the batter. Pulse in the remaining 1/4 cup of almonds just to lightly chop the almonds, not to completely blend them into the batter. Spritz a 6-inch round, 3-inch deep cake pan with non-stick cooking spray and line the bottom of the pan with baking parchment (if you don't have a tall cake pan, you can use two 6-inch round cake pans, dividing the batter between the pans and reducing the cooking time a little). Spritz the parchment and pour the cake batter into the pan. Air fry the cake at 320 degrees for about 25 minutes or until a pick inserted in the cake comes out with no wet batter clinging to it (it will have crumbs). Let the cake cool in its pan for 10-15 minutes or until you can handle it. Flip the cake out of the pan, then flip it right-side up onto a plate. If you'd like, dust the top of the cake with toasted, finely chopped almonds.
How to Make Date Paste/Puree
Date paste or puree is available commercially, but I make my own because it's cheaper and really easy. If you want a large batch of puree (date puree is good to make a variety of baked goods and as a "healthier" sugar substitute because of the fiber, vitamins, and minerals in dates), simply cover 24 ounces of dried dates with 2 cups of boiling water and let the mixture sit until it cools and the dates are fairly soft (you can let the mixture cool and refrigerate it overnight, if you want). Put the dates/water (the dates will absorb a lot/most of the water) in a food processor or blender and process them/puree them for a few minutes. You should have a thick, dark caramel-colored paste. You can add a little more water to the paste, if it's too thick for your liking. If you refrigerate the paste, it should keep indefinitely. If you want just enough puree for this recipe, cover a third of a cup of dates with boiling water and let them sit for about 10 minutes or until soft. Pour off the water and mash the dates well with a fork or puree them in a mini-chopper (I go the fork route, because I don't want to wash the chopper).
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