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Basic Dark Chocolate Cake featuring homemade cake flour, organic raw cacao powder, and homemade meringue is so moist, yummy, and nutritiously healthy. I beat egg whites separately to create this natural fluffiness. A combination of organic butter and avocado oil for a deliciously healthy moist dark chocolate cake.
Eat as is, with homemade whipped cream, or use it as the chocolate cake base for this nutritiously yummy Dark Chocolate Cake with Greek Yogurt Chocolat Frosting.

Cocoa Powder, Dutch-processed Cocoa Powder vs. Cacao Powder
What is the difference between Cocoa Powder vs. Cacao Powder?
Both cocoa powder and cacao powder are from cacao beans, which are the seeds of the fruit from cacao trees. These ancient tropical plants are native to South America. People in the Amazon area have been cultivating cacao trees since 5,000 years ago.
In a nutshell, when processing cacao beans using high temperatures, they become Cocoa Powder. When processing cacao beans in extreme higher temperatures, their color turns darker and becomes dutch processed cocoa powder. When cold-pressing the raw cacao beans into powder, it becomes this raw cacao powder I used in this recipe.
Why Cacao Powder is better for you?
Organic cold-pressed cacao powder is a superfood substitute for all recipes calling for cocoa powder. Being not processed with heat at all, they naturally contain and preserve all the impressive nutrients cacao beans have to offer:
Cacao beans’ fiber promotes healthy digestion. They are also rich in flavonoids, which are loaded with antioxidant agents. These antioxidant substances help fight off free radicals, which leads to the total well-being of our body systems.
It is worth mentioning three of the most prominent health benefits of cacao powder:
- The first is to help lower blood pressure. The flavonoids found in cacao powder are extremely effective in supporting lowering hypertension.
- The second is to mitigate type 2 diabetes.
- Last but not least is its anti-cancer power. Researchers believe that the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties found in cacao powder have the potential to prevent cancers.

How to make a Basic Dark Chocolate Cake Yummy and Healthy at home?
The first thing first is to use organic cacao powder for the basic dark chocolate cake
Cold-pressed organic raw cacao powder is so rich in flavor, color and loaded with extremely healthy nutrients too.
The second is to use homemade cake flour from organic all-purpose flour if you can
It is super easy to turn your favorite organic non-bleached all-purpose flour into homemade cake flour. Simply steam for 10 minutes. See here for more details.

The third is the homemade yummy healthy meringue
Meringue is essentially beaten egg whites with sugar until peak forms. Egg whites, when beaten to stiff, can expand the volume substantially, as much as 10 times. This is one important secret why this Dark Chocolate Cake is so moist and soft.
How to make meringue at home?
It is super easy and straightforward to make a basic meringue at home as long as you own a stand mixer and know a few tips and tricks.
Tip No.1 is to beat the egg whites while they are cold
Precisely the reason why it should be your first task after you have removed the eggs from the refrigerator.
Tip No.2 is to add a few drops of white vinegar
The white vinegar not only makes the beating process easier but also makes the meringue tastier.
Tip No.3 is to gradually add organic cane sugar during the beating process
Do not add the sugar initially. Once egg whites start to thicken, then gradually sprinkle the sugar in.
Beat egg whites in a Stand Mixer with a few drops of white vinegar, add sugar along the way, until form a peak.
Homemade meringue makes this dark chocolate cake extra moist and healthy. It is healthy not only because egg white contains all the essential nutrients, but also the egg white foam makes it possible to use much less oil or butter required for the cake.

Last but not least is to use an electric hand mixer to cream the cake batter
An electric hand mixer is a very handy tool to cream everything together for a perfect cake batter. This is especially important for the first stage creaming process, which is to blend egg yolks, avocado oil, melted butter, and milk together.


Basic Dark Chocolate Cake {Yummy Healthy Way} Recipe
Basic Dark Chocolate Cake featuring homemade cake flour, organic raw cacao powder, and homemade meringue is so moist, yummy, and nutritiously healthy.
Ingredients
For Dry Ingredients:
- 330 g cake flour, homemade cake flour preferred, see notes
- 1/4 tsp salt, Himalayan pink salt, or sea salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 85 g cacao powder, organic raw cold-pressed preferred
For Wet Ingredients:
- 5 egg yolks
- 120 g avocado oil
- 115 g organic butter, 1 bar, melted
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 280 g whole milk, organic preferred, see notes
For Homemade Meringue:
- 5 egg whites
- 3 tsp white vinegar
- 300 g cane sugar, organic unrefined preferred
Instructions
Gather and Prepare Ingredients:
- Measure and gather dry ingredients under "For Dry Ingredients" in a bowl.
- Measure out the milk in a 2-cup glass measuring cup.
- Cut the butter into chunks and then soften and melt it using microwave defrost mode or a double boiler.
- Crack 5 eggs, one at a time over the mixing bowl of a Stand Mixer. Use an egg separator to separate the egg white. Place the egg whites into the Stand Mixer and egg yolks into a large glass mixing bowl. Add 3 tsp white vinegar into the Stand Mixer.
- Gather and measure out the cane sugar in a bowl.
Homemade Meringue:
- Turn the Stand Mixer into medium-high, say 6 out of the 10 levels, and set a timer for 5 minutes.
- After about 2 minutes, gradually add cane sugar into the mixer using a circular motion. Make sure all sugar is in by the end of 4 minutes. Stop the mixer once or twice during the process, scrape sugar off the mixer wall and mix together with egg whites in the mixer.
- When the egg whites have formed a peak, and stay in shape that way, you know the egg whites are ready. Turn off the mixer.
Prepare Cake Batter:
- Sift the dry ingredient using a flour sifter and set aside.
- Add melted butter and avocado oil into the large glass mixing bowl holding the egg yolks. Whisk vigorously until blended well, using either an electric hand mixer or whisk. Add 2 tsp vanilla extract and 4 tsp apple cider vinegar, and whisk again to cream.
- Pour milk into the egg yolk/butter/oil cream, whisk vigorously to cream either using an electric hand mixer (highly recommended) or a whisk until everything is well-blended and creamy.
- Add the sifted dry ingredients to the creamy mixture in multiple batches. For each batch, use the whisk to blend everything well together before adding another batch. Until all dry ingredients are well-blended.
- Add about 1/3 of the homemade meringue into the mixture, use either an electric hand mixer to a silicone spatula to fold the meringue into the mixture. If you use a spatula, make sure you use a folding motion instead of circling motion, the latter may deflate the meringue.
- Pour the rest of the beaten egg whites into the mixing bowl and fold and blend well. Use a silicone spatula to scrape the mixing bowl holding the meringue.
- Keep folding the meringue into the mixture until everything is creamy and smooth
Bake the Cake:
- This recipe is for two 8-inch round cake pans or one 9x13-inch rectangle glass dish.
- Preheat the oven to 350 F.
- If using 8-inch cake pans, Layer 8-inch round non-bleached parchment paper inside of the 8-inch stainless steel cake pan. Press down along the bottom edge.
- Pour the cake batter into the baking pan and divide it between the two pans. Gently shake to level the batter and get rid of the bubbles.
- When the oven reaches 350 F, place the pans on the same level inside the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
- Turn off the oven, let the cake rest for 10 minutes inside the oven to fully cook the middle part of the cake. Remove the cake and place them on a wire rack to cool down for about 20 minutes.
- Use a butter knife to vertically separate the cake from the baking pans, then flip it upside down and place the cake onto a large plate and then remove the baking parchment paper.
- You can use a cookie cutter to cut into small rounds and stack two layers of mini dark chocolate cake if you'd like to. Enjoy a yummy and healthy basic dark chocolate cake.
Notes
- See here for a guided recipe on how to make cake flour using all-purpose flour.
- The common vanilla extract on the market has a 35% alcohol level. If you have a vanilla super extract, then use much less, say 1/4 tsp for every 1 tsp of common vanilla extract.
- Homemade meringue tips - it is much easier to beat egg whites when they are cold. The reason why you want to beat the egg whites first thing after you have gathered the ingredients. Adding a few drops of white vinegar also helps the beating easier.
Recommended Products
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- Egg Separator
- Hamilton Beach Professional 5-Speed Electric Hand Mixer
- Bamboo Spoons & Spatula
- Stainless Steel Fine Mesh Strainers
- Whisk
- Small Silicone Spatulas
- Glass Mixing Bowls
- KitchenAid Stand Mixer
- Unbleached Parchment Paper Baking Sheets Round, 8 Inches
- Unbleached Parchment Paper Baking Sheets 12 x 16 Inch
- 8 Inch Cake Pan Set Stainless Steel
- Organic Cane Sugar
- Heinz All-Natural Distilled White Vinegar, 5% Acidity, 16 Fl Ounce (1 Pint)
- Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar
- Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, 4 ounces
- 365 by Whole Foods Market, Organic Pasture-Raised Butter, Unsalted, 16 Ounce
- Avocado Oil
- ARM & HAMMER Pure Baking Soda
- Organic Himalayan Pink Salt
- Organic All-Purpose Flour
- Organic Raw Vegan Cacao Powder, cold pressed
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 463Total Fat: 22gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 12gCholesterol: 100mgSodium: 281mgCarbohydrates: 59gFiber: 2gSugar: 27gProtein: 8g
Nutrition calculation is provided by Nutritionix to the best knowledge per ingredients description and isn't always accurate.