I get rave reviews for cakes made from this recipe and suggestions that I post this to the market blog. I initially resisted, as I did not think of this recipe as having local ingredients. I was thinking about the chocolate, I guess, not the eggs or the honey.

Although honey tastes great straight, sometimes its flavor can be overwhelming when used alone in a recipe. To balance out the flavor I decided to use half maple syrup instead. I found half each to be just right, but change it up according to what you prefer.

Honey is often found in “healthy” recipes, though you can probably find as many arguments against the idea that honey is healthier than sugar as for it online. One thing is for certain: sugar cane does not grow locally, but you can buy local honey and maple syrup at the market.

One way I did make the original recipe a little healthier is to further reduce the sweetener in this already “less-sweet” recipe. The original recipe calls for ¾ cup of honey, and even gives an option for making it sweeter. I do like my chocolate very dark, so you may want more sweetening.

Recently, while grating the ginger we bought at market, I wondered how it would taste in this cake and decided to give a it a try. Not only was the flavor fantastic but the ginger added back some moisture that reducing the sweetener took away. In the future I’m planning to try the same amount of unsweetened applesauce or some heavy cream in place of the ginger.

Another option for upping the moisture in the final cake – and the decadence – is to use your milk-share cream for a ganache topping. Find a ganache formula from Brown Eyed Baker. When I find a honey-sweetened ganache recipe worth sharing I’ll update this post.

The original recipe calls for a springform pan, but it is not necessary. It is helpful for slicing the cake and getting at least the first few pieces out of the pan. This time I used a pie plate, and a cake pan would work as well. For best results as far as taste and texture go, make this a day ahead and let it rest, tightly covered, before serving. It’s great straight out of the oven, too, though. (Chocolate cravings don’t wait!) For photo-perfect slices dip your knife in hot water and wipe dry between cuts.

Enjoy!

Flourless Chocolate Cake

Adapted from Healthier Flourless Chocolate Cake by Detoxinista

Ingredients:

• 4 oz unsweetened baking chocolate
• ½ cup butter
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ cup honey
• ¼ cup maple syrup
• 3 eggs
• ¼ cup grated fresh ginger (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F, and grease an 8″ springform pan – or other round pan – with butter.
2. Melt the baking chocolate and butter together, stirring until completely smooth. I do this in the microwave, but you can do it in a double boiler or in the oven.
3. Combine the melted chocolate/butter with the salt, cocoa powder, honey, and maple syrup, and whisk well. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Whisk in ginger (optional).
4. Pour the batter into the greased pan.
5. Bake at 325°F for 20-25 minutes, until the center looks firm. Cool completely before serving. Keep covered tightly once cool.

Original Recipe Notes:
This makes a less-sweet, dark chocolate cake (with the original ¾ cup of honey). If you’d like it to be a little sweeter, I’d recommend using 70% dark chocolate instead of the unsweetened baking chocolate.

Heather’s Recipe Notes:
This is an even less sweet version. The reduced sweetener can make the cake drier, though still quite yummy. The optional ginger takes care of the missing moisture but you have other options if you prefer.

Topping the baked cake with ganache is a bit decadent, but I recommend it! Ganache is basically equal amounts of cream (by volume) and sweetened chocolate (milk, semi-, or bitter-) (by weight). For example: ¼ cup cream and 4 oz semisweet chocolate. Heat the cream to simmering, remove from heat and add the chocolate. Let sit for 5 minutes, then stir until blended. Pour on your cake. If you have too much, eat it with a spoon or save for later. Not enough? Make a little more. It will firm up as it cools.  I do not have a reliable recipe for ganache using honey and/or maple syrup as sweetener with unsweetened chocolate but I’m working on it.

nother potential option for adding moisture to the cake is by adding a ¼ cup applesauce. I have not tried this version yet but will update when I have. A ¼ cup of cream is one more idea I’ve had that I plan to try in the future.

Printable recipe here