…I’ve got some Irish in me!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
Leave it to the Irish to turn a holy day into a day associated with BEER! Not that I’m complaining, I am planning on enjoying a Guinness float in honor of my Irish Pappy.
If there are any Irish readers out there, how is St. Patrick’s Day celebrated in Ireland? Is it more about the church service and less about the green booze?
March 17th is a special day in my family because it’s my mother-in-laws birthday! Happy birthday Shay!
I made her a birthday cake but since she lives 3 hours away we had to eat it all ourselves. 😉
This flour-less, low-fat chocolate torte was an experiment that turned out really well.
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 nugget panela dissolved* in 1/4 cup water OR 3 tablespoons brown sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup cocoa (non alkalized is much higher in antioxidants)
- 3 eggs
- pinch of salt
- ~1/4 cup unsweetened baking chocolate
Whisk all ingredients except the baking chocolate together in a bowl. Melt chocolate in microwave or double boiler and quickly whisk into the other ingredients. Taste for sweetness. This is meant to be a rich, semi-sweet torte but if you prefer it a little sweeter you can add another tablespoon of brown sugar/panela dissolved in a tablespoon of warm water.
Butter and cocoa your baking dish. I used an 8 inch pan but I would have preferred it a little thicker so next time I will double the recipe or use a smaller dish. Bake at 350 for 22 minutes. Take out of the oven when it still looks a little undercooked. Since this torte is low-fat is will dry out if cooked too long.
I glazed the top with a Cabernet Sauvignon jam that I melted in the microwave. Raspberry would be great too. If you wanted to go full-on decedent a chocolate-coconut icing like the one I made for Halloween would be pretty amazing.
These morsels of unrefined cane sugar are my go-to for all of my sugar needs lately (Kefir Spritzer, Kombucha, the occasional sugar-sweetened dessert). They can be found at any Latin American specialty store for a few bucks a bag. Panela dissolves quickly in hot or cold water and tastes similar to brown sugar but unlike brown sugar is unrefined. Most brown sugar is just refined white sugar with processed molasses added back in. The processing of both the sugar and the molasses stripes out the nutrients and you are left with empty, nutritionally-void calories. Panela is minimally processed and the essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals remain.
It’s a gorgeous day and along with a little yoga and a quick kettlebell workout, my exercise will come in the form of yard work and walking dates with girl friends. Love Spring. Enjoy!
Gracefulfitness 