Chocolate cake with raspberries

Ingredients

• ½ cup (125 mL) + ½ tsp (2.5 ml) canola oil, ​​​​divided  
• 1 cup (250 mL) pureed prunes (2 baby food pouches)
• 1 large egg  
• ½ cup (125 mL) maple syrup  
• 2 tsp (10 mL) vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) all-purpose flour  
• 1 cup (250 mL) ground almonds     
• ½ cup (125 mL) cocoa powder  
• 1 Tbsp (15 mL) baking powder  
• 1 cup (250 mL) raspberries   
• 2 tsp (10 mL) icing sugar  

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.  
2. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan with ½ teaspoon (2.5 mL) of canola oil or cooking spray. 
3. Combine the pureed prunes, egg, maple syrup, vanilla and remaining oil in a medium bowl and set aside.  
4. Combine flour, ground almonds, cocoa powder and baking powder in a large bowl; stir to combine.  
5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Try not to overmix; just until the flour is coated in wet mixture and there are no streaks remaining.  
6. Bake for ​22-25 ​​minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean from the center of the cake (a little crumb on the toothpick is ok). Run a small knife around the edge to loosen and let cool completely. 
7. Once cooled, put a plate overtop of the pan and invert so that the cake falls out onto the plate. Top the cake with raspberries and dust with icing sugar.   

• Cooking know-how: When combining the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder, use a whisk or a fork to mix them well before adding to the wet ingredients. This helps to ensure a perfectly even batter. 
• Nutrition know-how: Using cocoa powder instead of melted chocolate and ground almonds instead of flour reduces the carbohydrate content of this delicious dessert. On top of that the ground almonds add a little protein to help with lowering your blood sugar response. 
• Substitution: You may see the terms ground almonds, almond meal or almond flour in the grocery store. They are pretty much interchangeable with the exception that some have the skin still on the almonds and others do not. All would work in this recipe.