Before having a child, I was a one of those spontaneity prone people, free to go out to dinner and/or a movie on a whim, whenever I chose and pleased. It wasn’t until I had a child that it dawned on me: I had never fully appreciated the freedom that came with pre-parenthood life and never for one second did I understand then what it was like for those who had kids, the amount of time and energy they had to invest in planning one evening on the town.

Some of our friends have kids and it very rarely happens that we get to see them sans the littles ones. The actual occasions where it’s just us, having adult conversations over nice wine, after 9 PM, don’t occur too often, so when they do, we really try to make the best of the time we have.

Our good friends had us over for dinner after the children were asleep and I decided to bring a cake. I knew I wanted it to be dark, intense and unsuitable for small children, but oh so right for adults, as it has cocoa, dark chocolate, cacao nibs and even a bit of espresso powder. I knew I would never get away with having this cake laying around the house, as sneaking dessert by a toddler is hard. No, actually, it’s almost impossible. I should know, I have one and has she got a sweet tooth. And while she is now at an age where she has chocolate occasionally or even home made cakes that contain cocoa, this particular cake is in my opinion, unfit for small children.

Aside from being rich and indulging, this cake is also gluten-free and quite easy & quick to make, so this is a very nice option for when you need to whip up a dessert in no time. I like to make it with coconut sugar because of it’s lower glicemic index, but you can feel fry to substitute this with any type of dark unrefined sugar. If you don’t have cacao nibs, you can use dark chocolate chips just as well. It’s a wonderful cake to serve after dinner and it tastes great the next day too. This particular cake didn’t see the light of day, it was devoured at candle light, the same evening, which is why there are no after photos of it.

Flourless Chocolate Cake

300g/10 oz. min. 70% cocoa dark chocolate chips or cut into pieces with a serrated knife

1tsp espresso powder

200g unsalted butter, cubed

6 free-range eggs, separated

100g/1/2 cup coconut sugar or dark unrefined sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

A pinch of sea salt

1 tsp baking powder

5Tbsp cocoa powder

2-3 Tbsp cacao nibs or dark chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat your oven to 180C/350F, fan assisted. Grease and line a 23cm/9in round cake tin. In a bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the chocolate, espresso powder and butter. Once melted, remove from the heat and set aside.

In the bowl of your free-standing mixer fitted with a whisk attachment or in a large bowl with the aid of a hand-held mixer, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar on high speed for around 5 minutes, until light and creamy, then add the vanilla extract and the salt.

Wash your bowl or use a clean one to beat the egg whites and the baking powder until stiff peaks form. Stir the chocolate mixture into the yolk mixture and stir in the cocoa. With the aid of a metal spoon, carefully fold in the egg whites, until incorporated.

Transfer mixture to your prepared tin and sprinkle with the cocoa nibs or chocolate chips. Bake for about 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 10 minutes. Serve either hot, or at room temperature; you can also refrigerate it overnight. Enjoy and indulge!

Adapted from Lily Vanilli’s Sweet Tooth