Mocha Cake
 
 
Low-carb. Sugar-free, THM:S - This cake is best when it can be refrigerated for the majority of a day (or overnight) before eating. See Notes section below for an option using Briana's Baking Mix.
Author:
Serves: 12 servings
Ingredients
For the cake:
  • 2 cups frozen grated zucchini, thawed, juice and all (measure before freezing; see note below if using fresh zucchini)
  • 3 eggs
  • ¼ cup refined coconut oil or butter, melted/softened
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • ½ cup oat fiber (use gluten free if necessary)
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • ⅔ cup oat flour (oats ground finely in a blender/coffee grinder; use gluten free if necessary)
  • ⅓ cup ground golden flax
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½ tsp. baking soda
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • ¼ tsp. + 2 doonks THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (a doonk is 1/32 tsp.)
  • 4 packets Truvia (3 tsp. Truvia; you could also use 2 tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend), or more to taste since I tend to undersweeten
For the mocha mousse:
  • 6 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
  • 1 T cocoa powder
  • 2 tsp. instant coffee granules (or more, to taste)
  • 1½ tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend
  • ¼ tsp. vanilla extract
  • ½ cup heavy whipping cream
For the chocolate frosting:
  • 1 stick salted butter, softened
  • ⅓ cup cocoa powder
  • 3 doonks THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder (a doonk is 1/32 tsp.)
  • 3 Truvia packets, ground in a coffee grinder (2¼ tsp. Truvia; you could also use half that of THM Super Sweet Blend)
  • ½ tsp. vanilla extract
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk
  • ⅓ cup cottage cheese
  • ¼ cup refined coconut oil, softened
Instructions
  1. Cake instructions: Mix all the wet ingredients together well. Whisk the dry ingredients together, add to the wet ingredients, and mix until well combined. Divide the batter into two well-greased 9-inch cake pans and smooth out with a spatula. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly. Let the cakes sit in the pans for 10 minutes, then cut around the edges with a knife and carefully invert them (use your hand to support the cake from underneath and gently tap on the pan to get the cake to loosen if it sticks) onto a towel-covered wire rack to cool. Refrigerate the cake layers until completely chilled through, then make the mocha mousse.
  2. Mousse directions: Beat all the ingredients except for the cream until smooth. Add the cream and beat until thick and creamy. Place one of the completely chilled cake layers on a cake stand and spread the mousse evenly on top. Refrigerate until the mousse is mostly firm. Top with the second cake layer. Refrigerate until you are ready to frost the cake.
  3. Frosting directions: In a stand mixer (a good hand mixer would probably work as well), beat the butter, cocoa powder, sweetener, and vanilla until smooth. Heat the almond milk and blend it in a blender with the cottage cheese until totally smooth (a Ninja single-serve blender cup works great for this). Beat this mixture into the butter mixture, then add the softened coconut oil and beat again. Put the mixing bowl in the refrigerator to chill for a bit if the frosting is runny, then beat again once it has firmed up a little (if you refrigerate it too long and it won't beat properly, let it set out to warm up to room temperature and try again). Frost the chilled cake as desired, then refrigerate. The frosting will be fudgelike when fully chilled, so don't chill it before frosting your cake.
  4. Refrigerate the cake until fully chilled (several hours, or overnight works well too). If you don't want the frosting to be so firm when you eat it, let the cake set out for 20-30 minutes (or more) to warm up before slicing and serving. Serves 12
Notes
You can also use 2 cups of fresh grated zucchini in this recipe but it might not "decompose" in the cake quite as much and you may need to add a bit of extra liquid.
The carbs from the oat flour come out to 4.4 net carbs/serving if you cut the cake into 10 slices (those are big slices). This is well within Trim Healthy Mama S guidelines. To avoid using oat flour, use my Baking Mix variation.
To use Briana's Baking Mix in this recipe, substitute 1½ cups of Briana's Baking Mix for the oat fiber, oat flour, and flaxmeal called for in the recipe. Add ¼ cup of egg whites.
Recipe by Briana Thomas at https://www.briana-thomas.com/mocha-cake/