Once again, we ran out of baking halfway through the week and I had to whip up something else to keep us going. I found these little chocolate cakes in Donna Hay’s cookbook, Modern Classics 2. I had to adjust the sugar and cooked them for a lot less because my cakes were smaller. These cakes are rich so I had to make sure they were small enough to not cause me problems. I am being extra specially careful this week because last weekend I made a big mistake.
On Saturday night, Adriano made pasta with pesto and there were leftovers of both the wheat-free version and the wheat version. On Sunday, I decided to eat the leftover for lunch. When Adriano got home from his usual mountain biking session, he asked about the empty dish where the pasta had been and I said I had eaten it. He asked since when I had decided to eat wheat again. My mouth dropped open at the realisation of what I had done and at the sudden understanding of why my stomach hurt so much. Well, I have suffered for my mistake. All the symptoms I had lived with all my life came rushing back and stayed around all week. Tonight (Friday), I am finally starting to feel better. It also gave a fresh view of what I have put up with for so long and how blissful it is to be able to not suffer any more. As long as I don’t make wickedly stupid mistakes. I will be super careful in the future.
Oh, and why this quote? Because, pre-diagnosis, if chocolate was put in front of me, I used to eat it until I was almost sick. I never bought it myself but if someone gave me a box of chocolates, I wouldn’t stop eating them until the box was empty or I would be on the verge of puking. That always gave me a peek into the world of the addict. I understood them for that period while I still had chocolates left and I battled with myself to use self-control to stop eating, but failed every time. Nothing else does this to me, thank goodness.
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Flourless Chocolate Cakes
Ingredients
180gms/6 oz chopped butter
220gms/7.5oz 70%- 75% dark chocolate BUY HERE
1 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup almond meal BUY HERE
1 cup cocoa powder, sifted BUY HERE
5 eggs
Method
Preheat the oven to 140°C/280°F.
Melt the chocolate, butter and sugar in a saucepan until a smooth liquid is created.
Mix the almond meal and cocoa in a bowl and add the wet mixture.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating them into the mixture until smooth.
Grease 2 x 12-cup muffin tins. BUY HERE
Spoon the mixture in and bake for 13 minutes.
Cool in the tins.
Serve with whipped cream and strawberries.
Makes 24.
I could not control my eating around this babies 😀
LOL. It has been difficult to control mine too.
Gosh, I know you had no doubt that wheat gluten was causing you problems, but if there was an lingering uncertainty, you’ve put that in rest in a rather painful way! Nice thing about chocolate cakes is there are quite a few flourless versions (though I know with some of them some of the ingredients would cause you problems). This looks terrific – and we have tons of almond flour on hand (ever since my wife discovered it, we have some in the freezer at all times!). Really nice recipe – thanks.
John, that is the one good thing about the mishap – I now have no doubts about wheat. I was just surprised how much damage it did and how long it took to even out again.
I am okay with small amounts of nuts, which is why I made these pretty small. Adriano and Dario ate two at a time to compensate for the size.
Oh dear – what a terrible mistake. How awful that you have been ill for a week all because of a plate of pasta! I have been unwell for six weeks. It’s driving me crazy. I have a thyroid issue and my TSH levels went to over 130 and they have to come back down to under 2. It’s a very gradual coming back down and so it will be a few more weeks until I’m well again. The worst is the lack of energy and the overwhelming fatigue. Love your little cakes xx
A stupid mistake, yes.
I am sorry to hear about your woes. My mother has low thyroid activity and is on permanent medication. She had terrible tiredness before being sorted out. It took a while though. I hope they get onto you quickly, and it all levels out soon.
I love flourless cakes, these are the perfect size! So sorry about the pasta mishap, that would not be a pleasant experience!
Thanks, Laura. It wasn’t pleasant but it’s all good again, thank goodness.
Such beauties! And I love that they are bite sized…perfect after dinner nibble. So sorry to hear about the setback…but glad it was short lived 🙁
At the end of the day, Liz, it’s up to me to be alert and not make mistakes but a slap on the hand would be enough of a punishment I would have thought. I am on pasta alert now.
Hi Suzanne… loved your shots drooling over the muffins….slurp …….
I love that you love them that much. LOL.
These look so good and cute, too 🙂
Cute is always good with baking.
These are stunning! I would end up inhaling the whole plate!
I’m pretty good at inhaling food when it’s delicious too.LOL.