Guest post from Michelle of The Willing Cook
Are you the type that unplugs the oven in the summer to avoid heating up your whole house and raising your cooling bill? You’re not alone in this endeavor.
It’s always great to have a few favorite recipes to use during these warm (and enjoyable) summer months that do not require the oven, but rather use alternative cooking devices like the slow cooker and grill! These are great ways to cook dinner most nights, but what about dessert? Yes, that very important course to every meal!
Sure, you can opt for ice cream and popsicles, but what if you want cake? You’re sunk without the oven. Or are you?
I’m here to tell you that you’re not sunk. I have come up with a recipe that does many things for many of you chocolate lovers out there.
Are you ready for it? Molten Chocolate Lava Cake made in the slow cooker that is free of gluten, dairy, and egg (among a few other top allergens).
Yes, my friends, it’s true!
Before giving you the recipe, I want to point out a few things about it:
1. This recipe is not for the faint of heart. It is a chocolate lover’s delight! That is: it is rich!
2. Don’t expect a sheet cake-type consistency. It is lava cake, after all.
The outside rim surrounding the crock pot cooks up like a cake. The further you get towards the center of the crockpot, it turns to a pudding consistency, then an icing consistency. YUM!
I recommend serving the cake by spooning out some of the outer “cakey” rim, topped with a little of the pudding center, followed by the “icing”. Then, top it all with fresh berries and powdered sugar (that’s optional, but highly recommended).
Now for that recipe…
Molten Chocolate Lava Cake (gluten, dairy, & egg-free)
(made in a 6qt. slow cooker; half recipe for smaller slow cooker)
Ingredients:
- 1 cup brown rice flour
- 1/2 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour (use certified gluten-free, if necessary)*
- 1/4 cup ground chia seed*
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 cups (roughly) coconut oil or butter
- 2/3 cups chocolate chips (Enjoy Life is a good dairy-free brand)
- 1 cup white sugar + 1/2 cup white sugar (added separately)
- 6 Tbsp cocoa + 1/2 cup cocoa (added separately)
- 2 Tbsp vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup allowed milk (cow, rice, almond, soy, etc.)
- 2 EnerG egg replacer (3 tsp powder + 4 Tbsp water); or 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups hot water
- (optional: summer berries, powdered sugar, sliced almonds, etc.)
Directions:
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the flours, chia seed, baking powder, and salt.
- In a glass bowl, melt together (you can use the microwave) the coconut oil (or butter) and chocolate chips until smooth, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1 cup of white sugar, 6 Tbsp cocoa, vanilla, milk, and prepared EnerG egg replacer, until well blended.
- Pour the wet mixture into the mixing bowl with the flour mixture. Mix together on medium speed until well combined. Spread this batter into a slow cooker sprayed with cooking spray.
- In the microwave (using the same glass bowl from earlier), heat up the remaining 1/2 cup white sugar and brown sugar with the water until hot (about 2 minutes). Add in the remaining 1/2 cup cocoa; stir until sugars dissolve. Pour this mixture over top the cake batter already in the slow cooker. It will look like muddy water.
- Cook on high for 1-2 hours (mine took about 1 hour 20 minutes). You’ll notice it’s done when the batter starts to pull away from the edges and it looks solid (at least on the outer rim). Remove the lid from the slow cooker and turn it off (be careful not to let the water from the lid drip into the cake). Allow the cake to sit without the lid for about 30 minutes before serving.
- Scoop out the outer “cakey” rim of the lava cake, followed by the pudding and icing center. Top with your favorite summer fruit and powdered sugar. Enjoy your allergy-friendly chocolate goodness!
*grind your own gluten-free flours in a coffee bean grinder to save money.
Looking for more oven-free and allergy-friendly dessert recipes? Here are a few of my favorites: Banana Chocolate Bar and Banana Nut Butter Balls
Of course, if you want to use your oven, you can find many other allergy-friendly fruit-inspired dessert recipes there, too. Things like: Banana Cream Custard Pie and Chocolate Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cake with Blueberry Sauce.
Michelle is blessed to stay home with her three children (ages 10, 7, and 4), while her husband works to provide. When she’s not experimenting with allergy-friendly meals, she’s blogging about it at The Willing Cook. Through the Willing Cook, her hope is that you gain peace of mind in your kitchen (and your pocket book) and are able to serve those you love who suffer with food allergies.
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{ 22 comments... read them below or add one }
Recipes that are free of refined sugars would be great. Refined sugar causes so many illnesses and problems. Thanks.
You should be able to substitute raw sugar in this or likely stevia. There are many recipes posted here that are refined sugar free: http://moneysavingmom.com/category/from-my-kitchen
You also might like these that I just posted recently: http://moneysavingmom.com/2012/07/good-for-you-peanut-butter-freezer-fudge.html
I hope that helps!
coconut sugar is also a great new alternative to turbinado.
I agree with Crystal. You should be able to substitute natural raw sugars for the refined in this recipe with no problem.
This sounds yummy! It looks really expensive, but I guess that eating allergen free is more expensive in general.
If you don’t have allergies, here’s a similar recipe that would be much less expensive: http://thischickcooks.net/2011/06/03/molten-chocolate-lava-crockpot-cake-mud-cake/
I’m planning to tweak that recipe and will post my adaptions if it turns out well!
Thanks!!!!
Amy,
I suppose it is a little more expensive than its non-allergy counterpart, but I am very strict with our food budget. I only buy what I find to be the best price by shopping around (or we do without it). Just at a glance, I’d say this recipe (given the ingredient amounts used, not the entire product) only costs a few dollars to make. It makes a lot too! I hope you’re able to try a less expensive version and/or ingredients.
Michelle
This looks super delicious! My hubby and I are currently on a cleanse and cannot have dairy, sugar or white flour among other things, but with some tweaking this will be a fun recipe to try. Thanks for posting, it’s nice to know I can have my cake and eat it too!
Katheryn
Looks yummy! Thanks!
OMG! You’re an angel for coming up with this! Thanks so much, sounds DIVINE!
You’re welcome! I hope you enjoy it!
That sounds delicious!
Looks delicious! If you want to use an unrefined sugar; I recommend sucanat. It is pure dried sugar cane juice.
This looks so beautiful! I love that is is made in the crockpot–I hate to heat up my oven in the summer, too! I’ve been using my crockpot non-stop for the past few days.
Thanks, Laura! I hope you enjoy it.
I was wondering what affect the chia seeds have in the consistency of the cake. Do you think flax seeds could be substituted? What about ground flax seed? I would love to make this sometime, but I do not regularly have chia seeds available.
Suzanne,
I think ground flax seed would work as a great substitute for the chia seeds — they are so similar. I haven’t made the recipe without chia seeds, but I think it really helps with the consistency given that the recipe is made with gluten-free flours & no eggs. Chia seeds (or flax seeds) work as a good binder and they give it a little health kick. I hope that is helpful to you!
Michelle
What a great idea! I use my crock pot at least once a week. It is wonderful to come home after work to a cooked meal! One of our smaller crock pots could be used for desert while the bigger one is for the main course. Thank you! Thank you! -Marci
You’re welcome, Marci! I hope it works out well for you!
All righty…looks yum, but how will it turn out if I chuck the gluten-free flours and substitute the same amount of wheat/whole wheat flour? Also, can you grind oatmeal to use as oat flour?
See my comment above for a non-gluten-free recipe that should work well for you!
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