Serves 12
Ingredients:
- 100g butter or spread (0g)
- 50g xylitol (25g)
- 4 eggs (0g)
- 200g almond flour (0g)
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract (0g)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder (0g)
- 50g unsweetened cocoa powder, sieved (0g)
For the frosting:
- 1 ripe avocado (3g)
- 30g unsweetened cocoa powder, sieved (0g)
- 20g xylitol (10g)
- 200g cream cheese/mascarpone (0g)
- 6 strawberries or 12 raspberries to decorate
Method:
1. Heat oven to 180°C/gas 4 and line the base and sides of a square cake tin with baking parchment or prepare 12 cupcake holders in a cupcake tin.
2. Mix the almond flour, baking powder and cocoa powder in a bowl
3. Beat the eggs in a jug. Melt the spread/butter either in the microwave or a saucepan. Once the butter/spread has cooled a little, add the xylitol, vanilla extract and beaten eggs. Mix well.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix to form a cake batter.
5. Pour the cake batter into your prepared tin or cupcake holders and bake for about 20mins or until a knife or skewer comes out ‘clean’. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool.
6. To prepare the frosting, add a teaspoon of water to the xylitol to dissolve – do not add too much water, you just need a thick syrupy solution so the frosting does not feel ‘gritty’. This may also need a few seconds in the microwave to dissolve. Mash the avocado well and mix with the cream cheese and cocoa powder and xylitol and spread on top of the cooled cake or cupcakes.
7. Cut into 12 equal squares and add half a strawberry or 1 raspberry to decorate.
Total carbs = 25g + 3g + 10g = 38g. 12 servings - 98÷12 = 8.1 = 8g carbs per slice or per cupcake
Notes on ingredients: Almond flour can be found in Holland & Barratt and also online from WholeFoods. It is not cheap but makes cakes have much lower carbs. You could also use ground almonds which are available from supermarkets and much cheaper but your cake may be a bit crumblier – I used ground almonds when I tested this recipe and they worked fine.
Make sure your avocado is perfectly ripe. You will not taste it but it will give a creamy texture. If you do not like avocado, leave it out and just use the cream cheese (the carbs will still be 8g per portion)