This Chocolate, Almond and Hazelnut Torte is a classic dessert. It’s rich and dense and with so much dark chocolate involved, it’s good for our health. Truly! Serve it with a generous dollop of thick cream, dairy or coconut according to your diet. And berries. Or an orange syrup. Make it the day before you need it, or plan further ahead and freeze it.

A Classic Dessert: Chocolate, Almond and Hazelnut Torte

I make this cake at least once a year, usually for my birthday. You can’t go wrong with it. Because it’s full of healthy fats – dark chocolate, butter and eggs – a little goes a long way and small portions are appropriate… but everyone accepts seconds! So, your only problem may be not having enough to go around. If you think this might be the case, use this recipe as the base for a more decadent creation. Make two cakes and layer them with berries and cream.

Dark Chocolate: It’s a Superfood!

Not all chocolate is a superfood. It has to be dark, with a minimum of 85% cacao. Anything less than 85% cacao is likely to be more sugar than chocolate, and with various added emulsifiers and flavours. When you buy a block, read the ingredient list. The first ingredient should be cocoa solids, cocoa butter and powdered cocoa. If you’ve been used to eating chocolate with higher percentages of sugar, you may find 85% min to be too bitter… at first. But when you develop an appreciation for it, which will happen naturally as you get your Sugar Dragon under control and retrain your tastebuds, you’ll find that it’s exquisiste. A luxury. A real treat.

Good quality dark chocolate and cocoa:

• contain one of the chemicals that stimulates the feeling of euphoria: we really do feel good when we eat chocolate
• contais higher levels of flavonols than acai, pomegranate, currant and blueberry. Flavonols are polyphenols. Polyphenols are phytonutrients that reduce oxidative and toxic stress, and inflammation.
• contain prebiotics which are the precursors of healthy intestinal bacteria and fiber that’s beneficial for the movement of matter through the intestine.
• contain caffeine and theobromine, both of which are stimulants for the nervous system. There are about 30 milligrams of caffeine in 30 grams of chocolate and 20 milligrams in 1 tablespoon of cocoa. (An espresso has between 60-100 mg).

As well, chocolate is great source of healthy fats. Cocoa butter is mainly monounsaturated and saturated fat, both of which are excellent sources of energy. Saturated fat, in particular, is very stable: it doesn’t oxidise and go rancid as easily as other forms of fat.

How blessed we are, that chocolate is good for us!

If you love this recipe for Chocolate, Almond and Hazelnut Torte, be sure to explore my E-book, Easy & Essential Paleo Recipes for Busy People. It’s full of our most-cooked and most loved foods.

On the Side

Put together a dinner party.

Chicken and Basil Meatballs – Make them tiny, spike them with toothpick and serve them with an aperitif.

Pork Medallions with Juniper and Porcini – Creamy and aromatic, a wonderful first course.

Chocolate Slab with Macadamia and Almonds – More choc superfood brilliance, excellent for after dinner (and after the Chocolate Almond & Hazelnut Torte. Or, now that I think of it, alongside.

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