Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake

I was raised with the mantra of "If it's not chocolate, why bother?" If you ask me what flavor ice cream I want, it's always chocolate.  If you offer me a slice of cake, I'll want it to be chocolate.  Brownies are one of my favorite foods.  However, due to food intolerances and a family history of diabetes and high cholesterol, I don't eat these foods a lot.  Until now.  I have been playing around with minimally processed ingredients, heart healthy fats, and cleaner sugar substitutes.  This has all led me to Sweet Potato Chocolate Cake.

I'll admit, this wasn't 100% my idea.  I had some leftover sweet potatoes, and I new I could bake with other forms of squash, so it seemed like it might work.  I also felt like the natural sugars from the sweet potato would cut down on the amount of added sugar I needed.  But, since I was using cocoa, I knew I needed some sugar.  So I turned to the internet.  I wanted to use coconut sugar has my other sugar (because I had some on hand) and because I knew it worked in a 1:1 ratio of regular sugar.

After comparing what other bakers and bloggers had done, I finally settled on a plan.  My last hurdle was the flour.  I knew I could replace the dairy in a regular cake with cashew milk, the sugar with coconut sugar, and I had figured out how much sweet potato to use, but the gluten free flour was still a mystery to me.  If you've ever tried to bake with gluten free flour, it's always a gamble.  I decided on using a gluten free flour blend, and converting the measurement to grams.  So, if you are not gluten free, then just use the same weight of regular flour.

Ingredients:
2 eggs (This is one of the few foods I don't have an issue with so I refuse to abandon them.  If you can't tolerate eggs, you could try flax or mashed banana)
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2 cup cashew milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2/3 cup mashed sweet potato (about 1 sweet potato)

1/8 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 cocoa powder
156 grams flour

Directions:
Combine the eggs, coconut oil and sugar in a blender and blend until well combined and the sugar is dissolved. Add the cashew milk, vanilla and sweet potato and blend until smooth.  In a mixing bowl combine the dry ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix gently to incorporate. Pour into a greased baking dish or round cake pan.  Bake for 20-30 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven until a tooth pick inserted comes out clean. Refrigerate for up to a week.  Reheat individual servings for 15 seconds in the microwave for optimum texture.

Tip: I used a 2 inch biscuit cutter to cut mini cakes that perfectly fit into a yellow 21 day fix container.