Yay chocolate! For better or worse, this was the month of the chocolate cake, and this chocolate torte was quite stunning and super easy. The recipe is adapted from Carol Fenster to be chocolat-ier and sugar free. Agave nectar and flourless tortes are often mutually exclusive, but this was a winner! Next time I may try with a different nut.
I stumbled by Amy’s blog and Slightly 
Indulgent Mondays event and this seemed like a good fit, and a good excuse for me to post another recipe! It’s indulgent because, hey, it’s a chocolate cake. But with the sources of fat from olive oil, pecans and eggs, it’s much kinder on your body say, the standard cake with butter and loads of sugar. It’s dairy free and low glycemic. And, like all of my recipes, the ingredients are wholesome, healthy gluten free foods, just with a rockin’ taste. And now no sugar. Life is good.
Also, of course, check out the other fun recipes entered, too!
2 cups of pecans
5 eggs, separated
1/2 cup olive oil
1 TBSP mesquite* + the rest of a 1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp stevia powder
pinch of salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup agave nectar
Grease a 9 inch springform, line with parchment and dust the sides with cocoa powder. Grind pecans into pecan meal in a food processor, add in cocoa, stevia, salt, vanilla, oil land yolks and grind a minute more. Add the agave last and BRIEFLY let it mix in. Whip whites to stiff peaks, and gently fold the pecan mixture into the whites
Pour batter into the pan and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes or until the top starts to brown. Allow to cool a good 10 minutes before unmolding from the springform. You can frost or not, depending on your mood. I made a simple macadamia cream/cocoa ganache and sprinkled raw cacao on top.
*If it’s for Passover, skip the mesquite and use all cocoa powder.
Stumble It!
Hooray!! A treat for the chocoholic, like me 😀
Yum! Looks beautiful, too. 🙂 I’ve seen mesquite mentioned in a few blogs lately–is it a powder? Where do you get it, and what flavor does it impart? I’ve never seen it here.
Thanks VG, from one chocoholic to another!
Ricki,
I LOVE mesquite, it is a powder. It has a great, caramel-y taste and is a fabulous source of fiber and is low glycemic.
I get it here http://www.therubyrange.com/ or here http://www.barryfarm.com/nutri_info/flours/mesquiteflour.html
If you don’t have mesquite, I’d use carob.
Yum! Your chocolate torte looks wonderful. I enjoy your great blog!
I’ve got to get my hands on some mesquite powder/flour…Heidi Swanson has a recipe for mesquite chocolate chip cookies that I’ve been dying to try. This sounds good as well. I’m all for less sugar, and more chocolate 😉
Yummie!
This looks divine and is going on my to-make list for sure. It looks incredible, and I bet there are so many things you can make with the batter. This is my kind of dessert. Wow. I could actually eat at your house!! 🙂
Thanks so much for participating in Slightly Indulgent Mondays!! I love your addition to the other great recipes there.
Thanks, Trish!
Cinnamon girl–her cookie DO look divine and mesquite complements chocolate so beautifully.
Amy-
Thanks a bunch! I bet the batter is pretty versatile.
Yum! I love chocolate cake, and a nutty torte sounds like a perfect treat =D.
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seems delicious
Yum, I made this for my mother-in-law’s birthday and it was a success! So so so delicious, not too sweet, very chocolaty. I had soaked the pecans for several hours and dried them in a warm oven for several more (ala Nourishing Traditions) so they would be even more flavorful and digestible. I omitted the mesquite since I didn’t have any on hand, and it was still fabulous! I was amazed that the stevia taste didn’t come through at all — something that is important to me. It was perfect with the coconut oil/cocoa/agave chocolate frosting. I think next time I might use butter or coconut oil instead of olive oil, since I don’t have a problem with butter and that could make it even more rich. Almonds would be very good in this as well and it would be easy to use this as a base to make other flavors of cake (chocolate almond, chocolate coconut, mocha, etc). Thanks so much for this recipe, it is my new favorite chocolate cake!