I am excited to share a wonderful—and healthier—alternative to the traditional flourless chocolate cake dessert. This dish can be served as small round tortes topped with whipped cream (or homemade ice cream) and chocolate sauce, or you can simply turn the recipe into little individual chocolate truffles. This recipe makes about 4 tortes or 12-14 truffles.
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I have a big sweet tooth so there’s rarely a day my fridge doesn’t have some of these in it! They are the perfect way for me to get my chocolate fix when I need one. Plus the chocolate sauce is not only good with this dish, but I’ve also drizzled it on homemade vanilla ice cream and used it to make hot chocolate for my girls as well. When you are doing the “100 Days of Real Food” pledge you must make do!
Chocolate Torte with Whipped Cream and Chocolate Sauce
I am excited to share a wonderful—and healthier—alternative to the traditional flourless chocolate cake dessert. This dish can be served as small round tortes topped with whipped cream (or homemade ice cream) and chocolate sauce, or you can simply turn the recipe into little individual chocolate truffles. This recipe makes about 4 tortes or 12-14 truffles.
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Servings: 4 cakes
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 cup pecans
- 1 cup dates (dried, pitted)
- 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder (I recommend Hershey’s brand “Special Dark” 100%)
- 1 teaspoon water (as needed)
- unsweetened coconut flakes (either plain or toasted, for coating the outside of the truffles)
Instructions
- Using a frying pan, melt the butter on medium-low heat and add the pecans to the pan. Pour in the honey and cook until the nuts brown slightly, about 3 – 5 minutes. Be very careful not to overcook the nuts because they can go from perfect to burnt very quickly.
- Once the pecans are done blend them in a food processor with the pitted dates and cocoa. Add 1 – 2 teaspoons of water or just enough to help the mixture stick together a little.
- For tortes: Take out the chocolate mixture with your hands and flatten it out into one 1/2" thick piece on a cutting board. Using a round cookie cutter or drinking glass turned upside down cut out circular shapes for the tortes.For truffles: Roll the chocolate mixture into little ball shapes with your hands and coat them with plain or toasted unsweetened coconut if desired. Keep them in your fridge for whenever you need something chocolate!
Notes
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition Facts
Chocolate Torte with Whipped Cream and Chocolate Sauce
Amount Per Serving
Calories 319
Calories from Fat 189
% Daily Value*
Fat 21g32%
Saturated Fat 3g19%
Cholesterol 8mg3%
Sodium 26mg1%
Potassium 362mg10%
Carbohydrates 36g12%
Fiber 6g25%
Sugar 29g32%
Protein 3g6%
Vitamin A 100IU2%
Vitamin C 0.2mg0%
Calcium 32mg3%
Iron 1.2mg7%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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These were so quick & so yummy! Next time I will double the recipe.
Has anyone tried these without the honey? I made them and really liked them, but they are sweeter than I prefer. I didn’t know if they would still stick together ok without the honey.
We haven’t as the honey is what gives it a sweet taste. Let us know if you gave it a try. – Nicole
These are so yummy and just enough chocolate to satisfy a choco holic! Curious for the truffles what would be a serving size recommendation?
Thank you.
Hi Lydia. These are really rich. You’ll likely be satisfied with one. :) One to two would be reasonable.
I made these today with raisins instead of dates (because I couldn’t find dates without added sugar at my grocery store – ughh!) and they turned out great and tasted wonderful!!
We are on day 7 of our challenge! After an insane night with two 10 month old twins with ear infections I decided to make myself a treat. I used the whipped cream recipe from your book (1 cup cream, 2 tbs syrup, 1 tsp vanilla), added some strawberries and bananas, and was amazed that homemade whipped cream without sugar could taste so good. Next time I will start without syrup and see how that goes. Thankful for easy to make sweet indulgence.
I am a chocoholic so Thank you, thank you for this amazing looking recipe. It popped up in my feed just in time for the holidays.
This recipe looks fabulous but I don’t like nuts. What could be substituted?
Hi Carol. You try seeds instead, such as pumpkin or sunflower.
Just wanted to drop a note to say:
Amy, thanks for replying, above and
I made these and OH. MY. GOD
I too need a real food processor
:)
I just made these. I learned I need a true food processor!! lol. I tried 3 different smaller things that I have, and they are not doing the trick! but, I will have to say, im happy I found this recipe, b/c they taste like the flavor larabars I love, chocolate chip cookie dough!! thank you!!
I made these as truffles yesterday for a party… They were AMAZING! better than I ever expected them to even be (since I’m not a huge Lara Bar fan). I used almonds instead of pecans, mostly because they were half the price, and added a dash of rosewater which made them a little Moroccan in flavor and a dash of vanilla to give them more depth. I used my little cookie dough scoop to form the truffles and then rolled half in shredded coconut and half in more cocoa powder. I ended up eating a couple leftovers for breakfast this morning too :-)
I will definitely be making these on the regular for energy snacks and sweet treat to have around! Would be fun to play with variations too… Maybe add some orange zest, some dried cherries along with the dates, maybe even a spot of kaluah or spiced rum for some extra festivity ;-) thank you thank you for this amazing way to help ease me into some real food snacks and sweets beyond just a piece of fruit… It was a revelation!
Ugh! The pitted dates i bought are not dried! Would it still work?
Hi Gab. We’ve not used fresh dates. Their moisture content might throw off the consistency. ~Amy
this is such a smart idea for something to eat as an extra meal in an smart and easy example
Hi there! I haven’t tried this exact recipe, but I’ve been using your chocolate sauce for a few weeks now. I’m so happy with it! I have one question about it though. Can you think of a way to thicken it up so as to use as fudge? I swirled it in my black bean brownies just now and they’re in the oven as I type. I’m hoping it will work out! Thanks again!
Hi Lara. No, we’ve not tried straight-up fudge but these might help: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2014/05/28/recipe-5-minute-fudge-brownies/ and https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/06/11/recipe-homemade-fudge-pops/. How did yours turn out? :)
Thanks, the brownies were great, the syrup made them more moist, but still not fudgy. I’m wondering about using thickeners like gelatin or agar powder. And I tried that 5 min brownie recipe. I was very sad by my result. I’m gonna have to get some eggs and make another attempt and just fed them tho my non vegan friends and family. 😉
Hi- looking forward to trying this recipe, but my daughter is allergic to nuts. Could I try subbing in soy nuts, or do you have any other suggestions? Thanks!
Hi Liz. You could use sunflower seeds.
Soooo delicious and super easy! Now I’m confident I can make the larabars too. Thanks so much for all the hard work, details, research and pictures that you guys put into this site and the food. Been trying several recipes and think I may be addicted to the site. Thanks again for all the great ideas.
Do you think I could add cocoa powder to the whipped cream to make it more visually appealing for the whole wheat cookie cake?
Hi Felicia. You could certainly experiment. ~Amy
Hi Becky. You can make whipped cream with coconut milk. Here is an example: http://ohsheglows.com/2012/08/30/coconut-whipped-cream-a-step-by-step-photo-tutorial/. We would sweeten with maple syrup of honey. ~Amy
This might be a weird question, but I was wondering if there is a way of making whipped cream without milk (for those of us who can’t have lactose)? Thank you!
Can one use peanuts instead of pecans and is there a good substitute for dates, as well? I am allergic to pecans and just plain don’t like dates, but love the idea of this so much!
Noelle, you can try any to use any nut (or peanut) you enjoy eating and just experiment with the recipe to find what works for you. Myself, I rarely have pecans around so I’d use raw cashews. Also, you can use raisins -golden or regular- as a sub for the dates.
These sound delicious cant wait to try- but I would like to encourage everyone to NOT buy Hershey’s cocoa- they were one of the first, and one of the worst offenders, to begin using chemical additives in their chocolate to make up for not using the more expensive real cocoa butter, and while they are supposedly phasing out the child labor factories, they are guilty of using child labor- there are just better chocolate companies to support!
I am wondering…I usually buy Hershey’s brand cocoa…either the sweetened or unsweetened kind. On the ingredients list it just says cocoa. Am I buying the right kind?? I noticed cacao is what is called for in this recipe but I’ve seen other recipes on this site that calls for cocoa and have also seen where lisa uses the special dark kind of cocoa in some other recipes. I guess my question is what is the difference between the cocoa that I’ve been buying and the cacao that’s called for in this recipe? I have looked online and the cacao is pretty pricey so just wanting to see what the big difference is so I know if I should or shouldn’t start buying it. I’m slowly trading out my unhealthy foods for healthier foods in my pantry and this is one I am wondering about. Thank u soooo much!! I LOVE this site and am on it every single day!! We have tried several recipes..including the collard greens we made tonight which was a big hit!
Hi there. As long as it is an unsweetened cocoa powder you are using the right thing. It is up to you whether you choose a dark variety or not. :) ~Amy