This chocolate gateau is made with almond flour, meaning it is gluten free. Making flourless cakes with unrefined sugar can be a challenge, but the coconut sugar proved to be a winning combination in this recipe.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Chocolate Gateau ♥
Starting off our day to get a good night’s sleep
What if I told you that how you start your day determines how well you will sleep at night? I cured my chronic insomnia with a regular night time routine that flows over into the time I wake up and what I do to start my day. I never considered this to be a part of getting a good night’s sleep, but after discussion with a friend, I am sure it helps. What I am telling you here is not a substitute for medical advice, and is my own observation. As our bodies prepare to wake, cortisol levels increase. This hormone helps regulate blood pressure, blood sugar, and the body’s stress response. We need to feed ourselves to keep the level of cortisol optimum, before they drop off at night to allow us to sleep.
Chocolate Gateau for breakfast?
You know the joke: eggs are an essential component of a healthy diet. I like to prepare mine with milk, butter, flour, and chocolate? Well, it would be wonderful if we could all eat chocolate gateau for breakfast. But all we really need are the eggs. The best plan is to eat within an hour of waking up, and to include a protein with the meal. You need to eat a good breakfast to ensure that your cortisol levels do what they need to do during the day. Followed up by eating a healthy lunch and dinner, our cortisol levels will start dropping off at night, allowing us to get a good night’s sleep. So, the way we start the day really helps with how we end it!
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Chocolate Gateau ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
Click on the links for conversions and notes.
Chocolate Gateau
Ingredients
- 150 g dark chocolate drops, 80% cocoa solids
- 150 g butter, cubed
- 75 g coconut sugar
- 35 g honey
- 75 mls milk
- 4 eggs, separated
- 200 g almond flour
- cocoa powder for dusting (optional)
- raspberries for garnish (optional)
for the honey meringue: (optional)
- 47 g honey
- 1 egg white
- 1 small pinch fine salt
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190° Celsius
- Place the chocolate, butter, sugar and honey into a large glass bowl over a bain-marie
- Simmer the water over a medium temperature, and allow the ingredients to melt, stirring occasionally
- Mix to combine then remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly
- Add the milk and whisk to combine
- Add the egg yolks in one at a time, and whisk after adding each one until combined
- Add the almond flour and fold in
- Place the egg whites into a stand mixer bowl and whisk until stiff peaks form
- Add a third to the chocolate mix, and mix to combine
- Add another third in, and gently fold until there are no streaks of egg white
- Add the last third in, and gently fold until there are no streaks of egg white
- Carefully pour the batter into a 20cm loose bottomed cake tin that has been sprayed with cooking spray
- Give a few gentle taps on your worktop to release any air bubbles
- Place the tin into the oven and bake for 40 minutes
- Remove the tin from the oven, run a knife around the edge, and leave to cool in the tin
- Turn the cake out and either dust with cocoa powder to serve, or make the honey meringue to use as a frosting
- Garnish with raspberries if you want to
for the honey meringue:
- Place the honey, egg whites and salt into a glass bowl that fits over a bain-marie
- Whisk to combine and then place over the bain-marie with the water just simmering
- Continue whisking to cook the egg whites until the temperature reaches 80° Celsius *
- Transfer the meringue into a stand mixer bowl and whisk using a balloon whisk until cool **
- Ice your cake using a pallette knife
- This cake is best on the day you make it, but will keep for several days in an airtight container. The meringue will hold its shape for a day. Serve with cream if it is too dry.
Notes
** Alternatively, you can leave the meringue in the bowl you used over the bain-marie, take it off the pot and whisk until cool - at least 3 and a half minutes.
See the links below for blog posts I published on March 25:
- 2022: Horseradish Cream
- 2020: Routine And Why It Is Important Right Now
- 2019: Coconut Chicken Curry
- 2018: Power And Empire
- 2016: March 2016 In My Garden March
- 2015: Food For Your Brood
- 2013: Sourdough English Muffins
- 2011: Snoek Soufflé
Unfortunately I have had sleeping problems all my life – I remember being 4 and always hearing the garbage collectors behind my bedroom window at about 2-4 am 🙁 ! The problems of the last few years haven’t helped! But, yes, as soon as I get up in the morning, I have a protein-rich breakfast . . . not necessarily of eggs which I try to keep to 5-7/week but lots of herring, eel or anchovies atop cottage cheese atop black or sourdough rye bread. Or natural cheeses or liver . . . and lots of strong black coffee . . .
Your breakfast sounds ideal!
I do love a cake made with almond meal. Always seems to be moist and delicious. This looks great Tandy! and i like the sound of the honey meringue.
sherry
The honey meringue made this very decadent 🙂
I need to work on my sleep too. I can easily fall into sleep…but don’t stay asleep for long..usually just 5 hrs.The chocolate cake looks amazing and I have absolutely no problem to serve this as the breakfast for my husband 🙂 , with extra portion of raspberries.
I hope you make this treat for him! Do you go back to sleep after 5 hours?
This sounds yummy, Tandy. I like cakes made with almond flour. It gives the cake a lovely fudgy flavour.
Hope you try make this one 🙂
MMMMmmmmmmmm
thank you Sheree 🙂
I’d also stick to eggs, cottage cheese, or porridge for breakfast and keep this irresistibly delicious cake for a late morning coffee or dessert 🙂
I totally agree!
Oh My! What a delicious looking cake and gluten-free too! Thanks for the information about cortisol and eating protein within an hour of waking. my husband has insomnia often falling asleep around 4 am and sleeping until 11;00 – his sleep patterns are completely off.
His sleep patterns sound very off indeed! I had to train my body to go to sleep at 10pm and I wake up around 5am most mornings 🙂
I love chocolate cakes made with almond flour, and I enjoy having a slice for breakfast. That way, I don’t end up eating more.
I shall test that theory out this weekend when I bake 😉
I would not be able to contain myself, I would be gobbling this up for breakfast lunch and dinner if I could!
Sometimes that does happen in our home 🙂
I bought almond flour to use in making Chinese almond cookies, and then didn’t have a clue as to what to do with the rest of it. I am definitely going to make this cake. It looks fantastic!
Thank you Pattie, and I hope you enjoy the cake 🙂