I looked at the recipe in disbelief.  NINE eggs? Surely that was a misprint.  Only 3/4 cup flour in a cake?  Not likely.  As I studied about coconut flour, though, I saw that, yes, it does take that many eggs to make a successful cake with this healthy type of flour, and it takes a much smaller amount of flour.

Coconut flour, as we talked about yesterday, has lots of fiber and is extremely absorbent.  It also has no gluten, which makes baking with it a challenge.  The info I found says that if you are substituting coconut flour for white flour in a recipe, you can’t use cup for cup.  You have to use 1/4 to 1/3 cup per cup of grain-based flour.  Also, you have to use about 6 eggs per cup of flour just to make your baked goods hold together.

I tried this recipe, and was delighted with the results.  It’s moist and tasty — and guilt-free.  The flour and the large number of eggs make this low glycemic and high in protein.  There is a lot of fiber in the cake, lowering the GI index number even more.  I made it with coconut sugar, which also gives it a lower number than a cake with white sugar.  With the coconut milk frosting, it was a real treat!

My grandsons were visiting yesterday when I tried this recipe, and they gave it a two-thumbs up — although two of the three kids didn’t care for the frosting.

Here is the recipe:

Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake

 Ingredients

 • ½ cup coconut oil

• ¼ cup cocoa powder

• ¼ cup coconut milk

• 9 eggs

• 1 ½ cups sugar or alternative (I used coconut sugar)

• ¾ teaspoon salt (Himalayan is best!)

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

• ¾ cup sifted coconut flour

• ¾ teaspoon baking powder

Directions:

1. Melt coconut oil in a saucepan over low heat.

2.Add cocoa powder and coconut milk and mix together. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. In a bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla.

4. Stir in cocoa mixture.

5. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk into batter until there are no lumps.

6. Pour batter into greased 8x8x2 or 9x9x2-inch pan.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until knife inserted into center comes out clean.

8. Cool and cover with frosting, (optional) of your choice.

Here is the frosting I used:  http://blog.beliefnet.com/beyondgorgeous/2012/04/1458.html

So you can have your cake — without wearing it on your hips.  Just don’t eat the whole thing!

Eating to live and living for Christ,

Susan Jordan Brown