Wholesomely decadent and not too sweet, this chocolate cake is simple to make and melts in your mouth. My husband John, who doesn’t like overly sweet chocolate desserts, gave me the thumbs up for this one! 🙂

Naturally sweetened with two ripe bananas, a bit of maple syrup and two tablespoons of granulated sugar cane, this cake is great for an afternoon snack. Made with natural Greek yoghurt and eggs, it is moist and spongy.

Should you want to make it vegan, you can substitute the eggs with whipped aquafaba (chickpea liquid) and the dairy yoghurt with soy yoghurt. For that extra chocolatey taste, I threw in a few handfuls of 70% dark chocolate chunks. Yum!! 🙂

The recipe is below. Enjoy!

Healthy, Moist & Melt-In-Your-Mouth Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS

Dry

• 11/3 cups white spelt flour, measured then sifted (farine d’épautre claire)
• ¼ cup + 2 full tablespoons (tbsp) 100% cacao powder, measured then sifted
• 2 tbsps brown Mascobado granulated sugar cane,* see note
• 1 teaspoon (tsp) baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp salt
• 50 grams (about 1/2 cup) 70% dark chocolate, chopped in small chunks

Wet

• 2 ripe & spotted bananas, hand-mashed until creamy (about 3/4 to 1 cup)
• 1 cup natural, unflavoured Greek yoghurt (for vegan: sub. with natural soy yoghurt) ** see notes
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla or seeds scraped from one vanilla pod
• ¼ cup 100% maple syrup
• 1/3 cup light tasting oil (e.g. canola, grape seed or vegetable)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork until yolks and whites are blended (for vegan: sub. with 1/3 cup liquid from 1 jar/can of chickpeas and whipped with electric beaters for a few minutes, until foamy but not stiff like meringue )** see notes

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* Note: You can use another type of organic brown sugar, like coconut or date sugar. With brown sugar, I often sift it prior to measure because it can be clumpy. You can also blend the sugar in the bowl of a small blender to make it finer and store leftovers.

** Notes: The yoghurt and eggs should be at room temperature. If very cold, transfer the measured yoghurt and cracked eggs into separate microwavable bowls and heat them up individually on a very low setting in microwave for about 5 seconds. Be careful, you only want to warm these up a bit and not cook them. 

PROCEDURE

One loaf pan: approx. 24 X 12 cm / 10 X 5 inch

(I used a silicone loaf pan. Line with parchment paper if your pan isn’t non-stick).

Oven (standard): 350°F /180°C

Measure the flour and cacao powder and sift these into a large bowl. Add the brown Mascobado sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Hand mix with a whisk until combined. Add the chopped dark chocolate chunks and hand mix again. Set this aside.

In a separate medium-size bowl, mash and hand whisk the bananas until creamy. Add the yoghurt and vanilla and hand whisk until the mixture is smooth. Add the maple syrup and oil and hand whisk again for a minute or so until blended. Add the beaten eggs or whipped aquafaba and hand whisk again for a few more minutes until completely incorporated.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and hand mix gently with a silicone spatula until the ingredients are completely incorporated. 

Transfer to a loaf pan and bake in preheated oven on middle rack for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick test comes out clean.

Allow to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Detach and loosen the sides of the cake using the blade of a thin dull knife and reverse the cake onto the rack to cool completely.

Enjoy as is or with fresh cream or ice cream of choice and fruit. Keeps well for several days in a sealed container in a dry place or in the refrigerator.