I am one of those people who loves to bake. I bake when I am low, I bake when I am happy, sometimes I create lame occasions just to bake. I have made enough chocolate cakes to recite the whole recipe in my sleep. This is a beginner friendly cake recipe, mostly healthy and something which you can bake to lighten up your someone special or yourself!

Let’s get started:

First, let’s turn the oven to 380 deg F(The goal is to prepare the cake batter by the time oven reaches this temperature).

Then, grease an 8-inch pan or place a parchment paper in it.

Dry Ingredients:

In a bowl add 1.5 cups of Almond Flour(or All purpose flour) , 3/4th cup of cocoa powder ,and 1 tsp of baking powder. Mix them well. See that there are no lumps.

At this point, you can add any nuts you like, my most preferred ones are walnuts, pecans and almonds. I also like to add cut chunks of dark chocolate to get an extra layer of flavor and mix them well.

Wet Ingredients:

In another bowl crack 3 eggs, add 1 tsp of vanilla essence(I haven’t figured out vanilla essence’s contribution in baking, it’s just one of the baking rituals I guess), 1/2 to 3/4th cup of coconut oil(or vegetable oil or melted butter), 1/2 to 3/4th cup of honey(or agave syrup or brown sugar depending on how sweet you want the cake to be).

Whisk them thoroughly so that they are all incorporated well.

Combining both Dry and Wet ingredients:

Keep adding 1/3rd of wet ingredients at a time to a bowl of dry ingredients. At the end make sure, everything is mixed well. Make sure that the consistency is somewhere between runny and very thick.

Transfer the cake batter into the cake pan and place it in the oven .

Keep a timer for 15 minutes.

Before taking out of the oven, just place a knife or a fork in the cake to make sure it doesn’t stick to it. If it does, let it bake for 2 more mins and check again( and repeat).

Cooling the cake:

Once the cake is done, let it cool for good 15 - 30 mins. If you are in a hurry, transfer the cake on the plate and place it in the fridge.

Chocolate glaze frosting:

Now is a good time to make the frosting while the cake is cooling. This method gives a glazed finish and does not call for a hand mixer sorts.

You can take some risk and use the microwave for melting chocolate + butter or use the traditional methods to melt chocolate + butter over the boiling water. I use either of the methods based on how much time I have. I’d recommend the traditional method if you are a newbie.

In a bowl add 3/4th cup of chocolate chips, 1 - 3 tbsp of butter(depending on the consistency of frosting you like) and 3/4th cup of sugar or honey(if you are using honey please make sure you add after melting the chocolate chips and the butter).

Traditional method to melt chocolate:

Pour some water in a pan and bring it to a boil.

Place the bowl over the boiling water pan. Be patient. Let the contents in the bowl melt to a desired consistency. You can also add 2 tsp of boiling water to match your desired consistency.

If your chocolate cake is cooled down by now, just pour the chocolate glaze and spread it using the cake spatula (or using the back of the spoon).

Decoration:

Let the glaze dry before you go forward with any decorations.

I love to decorate the chocolate cake with fresh fruits. Let your imaginations run wild here.

Voila ! you have a perfect, moist and delicious chocolate cake ready! Enjoy :)