No Sugar Chocolate Cake with Nutella Frosting

You can make this cake out of the ingredients you have RIGHT NOW in your kitchen! Most if not all the ingredients can easily be substituted and that’s why I love this recipe. Not to mention that this cake has NO SUGAR in it and instead uses monk fruit sugar/sweetener (yes we call it sugar but technically it is not classified as a “sugar” product, more like a sweetener). The hazelnut spread definitely has sugar in it (maple syrup) but you can easily enjoy this cake on its own as I absolutely love the rich, dark chocolate texture. Most people who are accustomed to eating a lot of sugar in their treats might find the sweetness very low but if you are like me and prefer things to be more cocoa-like and rich and enjoy dark chocolate, then you will love the cake as is.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter (you can use natural PB or regular PB or ANY nut butter you have on hand. Just make sure to whip it/stir it in a bowl so it gets the right creamy texture

• 1/2 cup nut milk (I used oat milk but ANY milk will do)

• 3 eggs

• 4 tbsp melted coconut oil

• 1/3 cup monk fruit sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (again, if you don’t care about sugar content, then use any cocoa powder you have on hand)

• 2 tsp baking soda

• pinch salt

• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (divided into 1/4 cups)

Hazelnut Topping (contains sugar)

• 2 1/4 cup hazelnuts (approximately 250-300 grams)

• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

• 1/2 cup maple syrup

• 1/5 tbsp melted coconut oil

• 1/4 cup water

• 1/2 cup oat milk or any milk

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2. line a square 8 by 8 or 9 by 9-inch pan with parchment paper or aluminum foil

3. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the peanut butter, and then gradually mix all the ingredients in the bowl.

4. Add 1/4 cups chocolate chips to the batter and mix

5. Transfer to your baking tray and top with the remaining chocolate chips

6. Bake for 17-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

   1. If you bake for 13-15 minutes, you can get a nice gooey brownie texture or if you like a nice chocolate cake, then bake for 17-20 minutes

7. Allow cake to cool for 5 minutes

For the Hazelnut topping:

Blend all ingredients except water and milk and gradually add water and milk to thicken the texture of the Nutella. Use a high-powered blender or you can use a high-powered food processor. Remember, this takes time and patience, so make sure you put some relaxing or entertaining music and take breaks as it will take you at least 10 minutes or more to blend this in short increments to get the right consistency. The results are SO worth it and you can use this on bread, really anything you’ll use Nutella on. It actually tastes more like blended dark chocolate Ferraro Rocher.

Store in an airtight jar or container and consume within 4-5 days.