Monday 21 March 2016

Heavenly Gluten and Dairy free Tenerina Cake


What you see above is a typical chocolate cake from Ferrara. I tasted it last summer (without the reindeer decorations..) for the first time, during a wedding's brunch in that very same town. After the first bite, my whole face lit up with sheer joy and surprise! This cake was light, super chocolaty and moist. It was heaven.

I had the chance to try it again this winter when my gorgeous friend Silvia made it at her house here in London.  

I wanted to try a gluten and dairy free version of Tenerina to prepare during my family Christmas lunch, as both me and my cousin were not having either, but were surrounded by Panettone and Pandoro everywhere! My mother only had white sugar in the house,  however this Easter I will be experimenting with coconut palm sugar or other different, more nutritious alternatives to white sugar.

To my surprise, this gluten and dairy free version was a huge success with my whole family!



I used coconut flour which, in addition to being gluten free, is also high in fibre. And instead of regular milk I used unsweetened rice milk ( as I couldn't find my regular unsweetened almond milk in Milan) and swapped the same amount of butter for the delicious coconut oil. Worked like a charm.. I love using coconut oil in my recipes as it has antimicrobial properties and your body uses it straight away as energy rather than storing it as fat. 

But less talking and more cooking. Let's go!

200g dark chocolate, chopped
3 tbsp coconut flour
3 tbsp unsweetened rice milk
100g coconut oil
150g white sugar
3 eggs ( dividing eggs whites from egg yolks) 
Powdered sugar to decorate ( optional) 

Pre hear your oven at 180 degrees.
Melt your chocolate with the coconut oil on a low heat. Put it to the side to cool lightly, and in the meantime you can whisk your egg whites till you get stiff peaks and put to the side.
Add the rest of the ingredients to the go chocolate mix. Add your egg whites last, folding them in slowly in order to keep the air in. This will make the Tenerina cake nice and light when you taste it!
Pour the contents in a baking tin lined with baking paper and pop in your oven for 20-25 min. Check that the cake is ready by inserting a toothpick in the middle and making sure it comes out dry.
Let the cake cool for 5-10 min before enjoying it with your friends!

Have a delicious Easter :)

xxx

Ciao!

Foodolina







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