Valentine’s Day is all about showing love to our friends, family and loved ones. As a result, with this long-awaited holiday come huge sales of flowers, strawberries, chocolates and all things hearts. However, as a nutrition student, these days, I like to incorporate all of these different classic, quintessential components of the holiday into a healthy dessert that packs in the flavor, the nutrients, and of course, the love!
This heart-shaped Strawberry Almond Flour Sponge Cake is so decadent and moist, you would never guess it’s made with only four ingredients and no butter or oil. In addition, this gluten-free treat is covered with a sweet chocolate frosting made from Greek Yogurt, satisfying all of your Valentine’s Day cravings. Whether it’s shared after date night or at dinner with friends and family, it’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser this year.
Strawberry Almond Flour Sponge Cake with Chocolate Frosting
Ingredients
Cake
• 8 tablespoons almond flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 8 medium eggs
• 1 heaping teaspoon baking powder
Chocolate Frosting
• 2½ cups vanilla Greek Yogurt
• ½ cup chocolate chips
Topping
• 5-6 strawberries, halved with stems removed
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Open the eggs and separate the yolks from the whites, putting yolks and whites in separate bowls.
3. Pour bowl of egg whites into electric mixer and beat on high until soft peaks form.
4. Slowly add in the yolks one by one until well incorporated.
5. Add in the sugar and the baking powder.
6. Slowly add the almond flour, tablespoon by tablespoon. Keep beating until all ingredients are well incorporated.*
7. Pour batter into cake pan sprayed with non-stick spray.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean.
9. Allow the cake to cool for 30 minutes. In the meantime, start making the frosting.
10. Place chocolate chips into a microwave-safe bowl and melt on high for 45 seconds. Stir well. If not completely melted, put back in microwave in fifteen-second intervals, stirring consistently in between heatings.
11. Pour yogurt and melted chocolate in blender, blending on high until ingredients are well incorporated, not letting the frosting get too thin.
12. Once the cake is completely cool, pour the frosting slowly on top, making sure to cover all sides and parts of it. Even out the frosting with a knife to ensure every corner of the cake is well covered.
13. Cover the top of the cake with strawberry halves.
14. Put the cake in the refrigerator to set. Remove cake from refrigerator half an hour before serving.
15. Enjoy!
Notes:
*If the texture of the batter is not coming out so thick, feel free to add more tablespoons of almond flour until it thickens up to cake consistency.
