This Chocolate Date Cake is special because it gives you that same indulgent chocolate experience you get from a traditional chocolate cake, but without all the refined sugars that go along with it.
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This beauty is a dark luscious moist, rich dessert, covered in silky chocolate rum ganache. Sweetened with the goodness of soft and chewy Medjool Dates, peanut butter, cocoa powder and a little vanilla, this is a high fibre, sugar free chocolate cake that is a lower sugar alternative to satisfy your sweet cravings.
Ingredients
- Spelt Flour: because its free from wheat and higher in fibre, plus its less processed than traditional white flours.
- Medjool dates + Boiling water: for sweetness and that gooey chocolate centre
- Unsweetened Cocoa powder: for the delicious richness and chocolate flavour
- Sugar Free or Natural peanut butter + regular butter: to add even more richness and flavour
- Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener: for a little more sweetness and to get the balance just right
- Eggs + vanilla essence: so it sticks together + more flavour
- Bicarb soda + Baking powder: to help it rise
More Chocolate Cakes
- Chocolate Avocado Cake with Luscious Chocolate Frosting (Dairy Free)
- Sugar Free Chocolate Fudge Cake
- Low Calorie Black Bean Chocolate Cake
- Chocolate Earl Grey Cupcakes with Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients in Chocolate Ganache
- Whipping cream
- Lakanto Monkfruit Sweetener
- Sugar Free Chocolate bits
- Sugar Free or Natural peanut butter
- Dark Rum
As you can see, this cake packs a whole lot of flavour. Not only can you make one delicious big cake, you can also make this recipe into cupcakes. It will make around 10.
The rum in the ganache is optional, but highly recommended as it only adds to the flavour even more.
I used a food processor to make this recipe and it did make it a bit easier. However if you don't have one, you can still make this. I've included the instructions in the recipe notes for how to make it without a food processor.
Why Medjool Dates Are Best
Medjool dates are big, soft, sweet and chewy, with a little bit of a caramel like taste, which makes them perfect for this rich chocolate cake. You'll generally find them in the fresh fruit and vege section of the supermarket, and I've just discovered you can buy them already deseeded, which is a convenient timesaver.
Medjool dates are easy to make into a date paste because they're naturally soft once they are out of the fridge at room temperature. Other types of dates tend to be smaller, firmer and are less sweet - not ideal for use in baking, however you can use regular dates if that's all you can find.
Additional Sweetener
In addition to the Medjool Dates, I love using Lakanto
Monkfruit Sweetener in my baking recipes. Monkfruit is an all natural
granulated sweetener, similar to granulated stevia.
It has almost zero calories and won't spike your sugar levels. Monkfruit sweetener also measures like sugar so its easy to use in baking recipes and the best part is that you can't even taste the monkfruit sweetener.
Baking Tips
- Spelt Flour: There are two types of spelt flour, white and wholemeal. Either will work fine in this recipe, however I used wholemeal.
- Peanut Butter: make sure to use a sugar free or natural peanut butter. This means that the only thing on the ingredients label is nuts. Make sure it is at room temperature and soft and pliable. If making in cold weather, you may need to microwave the peanut butter to make it soft (gooey, not runny)
- Chocolate: two types of chocolate are included - unsweetened cocoa powder (available in the baking aisle of supermarkets) and sugar free chocolate. If sugar free chocolate chips are not available, use a sugar free chocolate bar and chop up into bits.
- Lining the tin: line with baking/parchment paper to prevent the cake from sticking. Make sure to line the base and sides of tin
- Tin: I used a round springform tin that has a removable base(makes it super easy to get the cake out)
- Is it Cooked? Test cake with a cake skewer to see if cooked al the way through. If the skewer comes out clean, cake is cooked.
- How To Store: in an air tight container in the fridge for upto 5 days
- Can it be Frozen: Yes, it will freeze nicely with the ganache for 1 month. To defrost, put it in the fridge the day before you need it.
- Quantity: This recipe makes one cake (10 slices). You could make a double batch of the batter for a double layer cake with chocolate ganache in between the layers and on top (still 10 slices).
Along with this deliciously moist Chocolate Date Cake, one of my other favourites is this low calorie naturally sweetened Chocolate Chickpea Cake with frosting.
Recipe Variations
- Spice it up: add ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, ground ginger, or all spice
- More Texture: add ½ a cup of chopped toasted walnuts
- Extra Boozy: add 1 tablespoon of rum to the cake batter
- Decoration: Coconut (shredded or flaked) , toasted walnuts, more chocolate (shaved or grated)
What is Chocolate Ganache
Chocolate ganache is two base ingredients - chocolate and whipping cream. You could just leave it at that and you'd have your ganache, but I wanted to take this one a bit further, so I added peanut butter, more sweetness with the lakanto monkfruit and dark rum.
Pop them all into a pot on the stove on medium heat, stir it around until its dark, glossy and looks like velvet. Get it into the fridge to chill, then slather it onto that beautiful cake. The ganache will become thicker as it cools, however it won't ever get hard. Its not meant to. It will always retain some softness even after being in the fridge for several days.
Is whipping Cream the same as Whipped Cream in a can?
No. Whipping cream and whipped cream from a can are not the same thing. You can't use whipped cream in a can to make this chocolate ganache. Buy either whipping cream or heavy cream from the cold foods section of the supermarket.
This Chocolate Date Cake has lots of flavours going on. It looks like a dense cake, but it is very light to eat and doesn't leave you feeling weighed down after eating it. This is because there's no nasty refined sugars, instead using natural sweeteners, and the fibre content of the cake due to the spelt flour. This is definitely a cake you could eat all at once, but you won't need to because one piece is deliciously satisfying.
More Sugar Free Baking Recipes
- Orange and Almond Cakes
- Orange Polenta Cake
- Chocolate Blackbean Cake
- The Ultimate Chocolate Avocado Cake
- Flourless Almond Meal Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting
Chocolate Date Cake
Ingredients
Cake
- ¾ cup medjool dates (pitted)
- ¼ cup boiling water
- ½ cup natural peanut butter (room temperature)
- ½ cup unsalted butter (softened)
- 1 cup monkfruit sweetener (white) - see notes
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 large eggs
- 3 teaspoon vanilla essence
- 1 cup spelt flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon bicarb soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Chocolate Ganache
- 1 cup whipping cream
- ⅓ cup monkfruit sweetener (white)
- 1 cup sugar free chocolate bits
- ⅓ cup natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons rum (optional)
Optional Decoration
- 1 cup mixed fresh berries for decoration
Instructions
Cake
- Line a springform tin with baking paper, and preheat the oven to 170℃ / 340℉
- Add ¾ cup medjool dates (pitted) and ¼ cup boiling water to food processor and blitz into a paste (see notes for alternative if no food processor)
- Add in ½ cup unsalted butter (softened) and ½ cup natural peanut butter (room temperature) to food processor and blitz until combined
- Add in 1 cup monkfruit sweetener (white), ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, 3 large eggs and 3 teaspoon vanilla essence to food processor and blitz until combined
- In a large mixing bowl, add 1 cup spelt flour, 1 ½ teaspoon bicarb soda and ½ teaspoon baking powder and whisk to combine. Pour wet batter from the food processor into the dry flour mixture and use a spatula to gently fold through until wet and dry ingredients are combined
- Pour batter into a spring form tin lined with baking paper. Smooth out batter with a spoon. Bake for 50 minutes at 170℃ / 340℉.
- Test with a cake skewer. If it comes out clean, cake is cooked. Let cake cool in the tin to room temperature before removing.
Chocolate Ganache
- Add 1 cup whipping cream to a pot on medium heat. Heat for 1 minute.
- Add 1 cup sugar free chocolate bits, ⅓ cup monkfruit sweetener (white), ⅓ cup natural peanut butter and 2 tablespoons rum (optional). Stir until combined, pour into a jug and cover with plastic wrap or lid and refrigerate overnight to firm it up.
- Use a large spoon to smooth out the ganache thickly across the top and around the sides of the cake.
Decoration
- Decorate with 1 cup mixed fresh berries for decoration.
Notes
- Monkfruit Sweetener is a natural sweetener alternative that measures like sugar, available from the baking aisle of most supermarkets.
- Storage: Store cake with ganache in the fridge in an air tight container for upto 1 week.
- No food Processor: make the date paste using a mortar and pestle, or it can also be easily done using a large bowl and mashing with a fork when the dates have been soaked in boiling water.
- Spelt Flour: There are two types of spelt flour, white and wholemeal. Either will work fine in this recipe, however I used wholemeal.
- Peanut Butter: make sure to use a sugar free or natural peanut butter. This means that the only thing on the ingredients label is nuts. Make sure it is at room temperature and soft and pliable. If making in cold weather, you may need to microwave the peanut butter to make it soft (gooey, not runny)
- Chocolate: two types of chocolate are included - unsweetened cocoa powder (available in the baking aisle of supermarkets) and sugar free chocolate. If sugar free chocolate chips are not available, use a sugar free chocolate bar and chop up into bits.
- Lining the tin: line with baking/parchment paper to prevent the cake from sticking. Make sure to line the base and sides of tin
- Tin: I used a round springform tin that has a removable base(makes it super easy to get the cake out)
- Is it Cooked? Test cake with a cake skewer to see if cooked al the way through. If the skewer comes out clean, cake is cooked.
- How To Store: in an air tight container in the fridge for upto 5 days
Nutrition
Note: Sugars contained in this recipe are from naturally occurring sugars in fruits, vegetables or other natural sweeteners. Calories have been calculated for your convenience using My Fitness Pal and are based on the ingredients listed in the recipe card.
Marisol says
Hi, can I replace the spelt flour with almond flour?
Kim says
Yes, you can replace the spelt flour with almond flour (not almond meal) in the same quantities.