Flourless Chocolate Cake

One of the best things about this flourless chocolate cake is how easy it is to make: You mix it all in the food processor or blender in about 5 minutes. I used to make it with sugar, but no one really noticed when I switched. It's especially nice with some homemade whipped cream and a little sugar-free white chocolate sauce on top!

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:

2 cups pecans
1/3 cup cocoa
1 t baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 eggs
1/2 cup (I stick) butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup erythritol* (optional)
Artificial sweetener equivalent to 1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water

Preparation:
Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a bunt cake pan, a 8" or 9" round pan or spring-form pan.

Process pecans in food processor - pulse until they are meal - but they won't get quite as small as corn meal.

Add the rest of the dry ingredients and pulse again. (Note on erythritol: You can do this recipe with all artificial sweetener, but I've begun experimenting with partial erythritol, with success. I haven't tested all different combinations yet, though - it may be that more erythritol is even better.)

Add the wet ingredients and process until well-blended.

Pour into pan and bake. The exact time will vary with the pan. Start checking at about 25 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cut when cool. If desired, serve with homemade whipped cream and/or chocolate sauce.

Nutritional Information:
Each of 8 servings has 2 grams of effective carbohydrate
4 grams of fiber,
6 grams of protein,
334 calories.

*Erythritol is a natural sugar alcohol (a type of sugar substitute) which has been approved for use in the United States and throughout much of the world. It occurs naturally in fruits and fermented foods. At industrial level, it is produced from glucose by fermentation with a yeast, Moniliella pollinis. It is 60–70% as sweet as table sugar yet it is almost non-caloric, does not affect blood sugar, does not cause tooth decay, and is absorbed by the body, therefore unlikely to cause gastric side effects unlike other sugar alcohols. Under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling requirements, it has a caloric value of 0.2 calories per gram (95% less than sugar and other carbohydrates), though nutritional labelling varies from country to country—some countries like Japan label it as zero-calorie, while European Union regulations currently label it and all other sugar alcohols at 2.4 kcal/g.