Five spice chocolate cake with date caramel

YES! You read that right. Chinese Five spice. In chocolate cake. You aren’t dreaming, this is a real thing and it’s gorgeous, moist, springy and delicious. A chocolate cake recipe you’ll want to visit over and over again. It’s gluten free, dairy free, refined sugar free. Wow! A blend of gluten free flour and oat flour make for a sumptuous duo that will make you forget the cake doesn’t even have regular flour in it. Monk fruit, a legendary ingredient that I use often in desserts that I want to “healthify,” allows for this cake to be free of sugar (extra calories) and is an easy 1:1 swap. Five spice adds in something extra and unexpected, and pairs astonishingly well with chocolate and salt in this cake. And finally, the date caramel is the star of the show — with three ingredients, it’s much less finicky than a regular caramel and it’s actually — dare I say, good for you! In this recipe I top the cake with persimmons, pomegranates, and toasted nuts. But you could easily swap those things out for something like whipped cream, or a homemade frosting. It’s all delicious and it’s all here. Follow the recipe below and thank me later.

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS
1 ¾ cups lakanto monk fruit sweetener, golden

1 cup Bob’s red mill gluten free AP flour

¾ cup oat flour 

1 cup unsweetened cocoa/cacao powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1.5 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chinese five spice 

2 eggs

1 cup oat milk

½ cup olive oil

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup boiling water

For date caramel:

Soak 1 package of pitted medjool dates in boiling hot water, just enough to cover them with a little extra, for about 20 minutes. Then add everything to a blender with ½ teaspoon of salt, and a spoonful of ghee (or coconut oil). If the mixture is too thick, you can loosen it up by adding a splash of oat milk as needed. Set aside to cool.

METHOD:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line a baking pan with parchment paper

In a mixer, add together the sugar, flours, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set Then add the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed until combined. Stir in the boiling water last. Batter will be thin. Pour evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake for 35 minutes in the center of a preheated oven, until the cake tests done with a toothpick. Cool in the pan completely, then remove to a wire rack to rest and cut.

Cut into squares and serve with date caramel, persimmon, pomegranate, and crushed toasted peanuts.

Enjoy!