These days there are so many of us who are on diets that prohibit dairy for one reason or another. It’s hard to find a sweet treat that doesn’t have dairy and it can make Valentine’s Day, well, a bummer. 

Since going on a gluten free-dairy free diet to help manage my endometriosis, I have come up with a lot of gluten-free/dairy-free recipes. Here is my favorite recipe to make around Valentine’s Day. It doesn’t come in a heart shaped box, but it does more than satisfy my chocolate craving.

Dairy-Free Chocolate Flourless Cake

Ingredients

• ¾ cup of vegan “butter” spread.  (I use Earth Balance)
• 4 eggs separated                      
• 7 ounces of dairy-free dark chocolate (I use 72% Dark Fair Trade Organic) 
• 1 cup of sugar separated into two half cups

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch cake tin, or a medium heart shaped pan with tin foil.  Coat the tin foil with a thin layer of your vegan butter spread.  

Melt ¾ cup of vegan butter spread with 7 ounces of chocolate in a metal bowl rested over a pot of boiling water.

Take a large bowl and mix your 4 egg yolks with a half cup of sugar. Put your egg whites in a mixer and mix until frothy. Once the egg whites are frothy turn up the mixer to high and slowly add the other ½ cup of sugar to the egg whites.  Mix until egg white mixture forms stiff peaks.

Once chocolate mixer and vegan butter are melted and combined take them off of the heat and gently fold them into the egg yolk mixture.

Once the melted chocolate and vegan butter is fully combined with the egg yolk and sugar mixture, gently fold in the egg whites. DO NOT OVER MIX! Cake needs to be light and fluffy, over mixing will make it flat.

Pour batter into prepared pan.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.  Cake will rise when ready. A toothpick inserted will come out with a few chocolate crumbs, but should not be soupy.

This cake is a chocolate lover’s dream. I prefer to eat my cake with some soy vanilla ice cream or some chocolate coconut milk ice cream.

Delicious!