My son just had his 3rd birthday and for the first time in his life he got to have a birthday party. And we all know that birthday parties mean birthday cake. Yum! I’m all for a delicious dessert, but I prefer to have a delicious dessert that’s good for me, even when it comes to birthday cake.
So as an ND momma I took on this challenge full force.
My son’s cake needed to be construction themed, so chocolate cake was a must and the Dark Chocolate Cake recipe from Joyous Health was the perfect fit.
The main reason why this recipe is so fantastic is the amount of protein and fibre in this cake. When carbohydrates are paired with protein and fibre they digest slower. This helps us to avoid a spike of sugar in our blood stream. Most cakes and desserts are simply a huge rush of sugar into our system. When sugar spikes so does insulin and high insulin can result in excess belly fat and irregular cholesterol levels. Protein gives us energy and keeps us feeling full for a longer period of time.
Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients that make this cake great:
- Eggs – no surprise here. Of course a cake has eggs in it, but this recipe calls for 4 eggs. That’s 40 grams of protein! To put that into perspective the recommended daily allowance of protein is 0.36gm per pound of body weight.* Therefore if you weigh 150 pounds you would target 54 grams of protein total in your day. Now, of course I don’t recommend you get your daily amount of protein from eating cake.
- Raw cacao powder – This is chocolate in its truest form. No sugar or preservatives added. Raw cacao is a superfood loaded with antioxidants, magnesium, fibre and even protein!
This recipe calls for 1 cup of raw cacao powder, which amounts to 852 grams of magnesium. Most adults are deficient in the incredibly important mineral. Magnesium helps with adrenal function, reduces muscle cramps, calms the nervous system and can help with sleep. This one cup of cacao also provides 37 grams of fibre and 26 grams of protein.
And the most shocking ingredient…
- Quinoa – yes, you read that right, this cake contains quinoa. 2 whole cups of cooked quinoa adds protein and fibre in great quantity (40 grams of fibre and 16 grams of protein).
Don’t be fooled with all the protein and fibre talk, this cake is not lacking in sweetness. It gets this from coconut sugar and real maple syrup. Coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index than white sugar, due to its mineral content. Real maple syrup is as natural as it gets and is also mineral rich – especially high in manganese and riboflavin.
To summarize this cake has 82 grams of protein and 77 grams of fibre. To create the cake for my son’s birthday I needed to quadruple this recipe – it was a heavy beast of a cake, but was also delicious!
To access the full recipe for this delicious dessert go to Joyoushealth.com and search for chocolate cake.
* https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/how-much-protein-do-you-need-every-day-201506188096