This deliciously rich, fudgy, and secretly healthy chocolate cake recipe includes one ingredient you will absolutely never guess!
The best healthy chocolate cake
Multiple friends and family members have proclaimed this to be the best chocolate cake recipe they’ve ever tasted.
And that is saying something, because none of them are on a vegan, gluten free, weight loss, or low calorie diet. They simply appreciate good food.
It’s so much fun to test the cake out on people who do not know the secret beforehand. Look for their shocked reactions when you reveal the hidden ingredient.
Serve the moist healthy cake at your next party or event, and guests of all ages will be begging you for the recipe!
Also make this Vegan Carrot Cake
Chocolate cake health benefits
While no cake will ever be the healthiest food you can choose, this one does have a surprising amount of nutrition.
Each fudgy slice packs in over five grams of protein and more than 15% of the RDA for fiber. and it can be both cholesterol free and oil free.
The cake is low fat, low in saturated fat, and just 100 calories a slice!
It is high in iron thanks to the cocoa powder and can be sugar free, egg free, dairy free, gluten free, vegan, cholesterol free, and oil free.
Superfood cauliflower is a good source of heart healthy vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. The low sodium and low carb cruciferous vegetable contains vitamin C, vitamin K, pantothenic acid, manganese, fiber, and folate.
Try topping the cake with Homemade Nutella
Ingredients for the healthy dessert
The easy chocolate cake calls for just ten ingredients. You may already own most of them in your kitchen pantry.
These ingredients include flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, pure vanilla extract, salt, sugar, optional stevia and eggs or flax seeds, mini chocolate chips, optional oil or milk of choice, and frozen cauliflower.
My favorite flour choice is whole grain spelt flour, because it adds fiber and gives the cake a light, fluffy texture. All purpose white flour and some brands of gluten free flour blends work as well.
While you can technically use oat flour, pastry flour, or whole wheat flour, these options yield a denser result. We recommend against coconut flour and almond flour.
For a keto and flourless version, try this Chocolate Almond Flour Cake.
Go with a high quality cocoa powder for the richest chocolate flavor. You may also substitute raw cacao powder. If you try Dutch cocoa, let us know how it goes.
The chocolate chips are not optional, because they impart a deep chocolatey taste into each bite of cake. Use dairy free chocolate chips for a vegan cake.
Feel free to choose regular sugar or a granulated unrefined sugar like coconut sugar. In our opinion, uncut stevia powder is the healthiest alternative sweetener because its only ingredient is stevia leaf, with no erythritol or other sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners added. If you wish to omit the stevia, simply replace it with additional sugar or no sugar xylitol.
Raw or fresh steamed cauliflower have a strong taste and should therefore be avoided in this recipe. We have not yet tried cauliflower rice.
For the best results, use frozen cauliflower and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator overnight or on the counter instead of in the microwave. Or try one of the substitutions for cauliflower listed in the next paragraph.
Leftover cauliflower? Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Healthy chocolate cake recipe video
Above – watch the step by step recipe video
Substitutions and flavors
If cauliflower is too unusual for you, substitute three fourths cup of canned pumpkin puree, roasted sweet potato, mashed banana, or Greek yogurt.
Turn it into a mocha cake by using brewed coffee instead of the milk or stirring a teaspoon of instant coffee granules in with the dry ingredients.
Add the zest of two oranges to the food processor for a chocolate orange cake.
Create a fancy chocolate peanut butter cake by swapping the three tablespoons of oil for a fourth cup of softened peanut butter or almond butter.
For black forest cake, top the recipe with Coconut Whipped Cream and fresh cherries or cherry jam. Garnish the sides with shaved dark chocolate.
Add half a teaspoon of pure peppermint extract for a mint chocolate chip cake.
Or top the finished dessert with date caramel frosting, shredded coconut, and chopped pecans to get a German chocolate cake.
For a healthy ice cream cake, top with Avocado Ice Cream or Banana Ice Cream.
Finally, you can make a yummy healthy birthday cake by decorating with a variety of fresh sliced fruit or natural rainbow sprinkles. Remember the birthday candles!
How to make a healthy chocolate cake
Thaw the cauliflower in the refrigerator or in a bowl on the counter.
When ready to bake the cake, start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and gathering all of your ingredients.
Grease a round or square eight inch baking pan, or line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper. Set this pan aside.
Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, chocolate chips, and sweetener in a large mixing bowl. Stir until evenly incorporated.
Blend all liquid ingredients with the cauliflower in a high quality food processor until the mixture is completely smooth.
Pour the liquid mixture into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients, and stir until just combined. Do not overmix, which could result in a tough or gummy cake.
Spread the chocolate cake batter into the prepared baking pan, then place the pan on the center rack of the preheated oven.
Bake for thirty minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of the cake should come out mostly clean.
Let the pan cool completely before frosting. If you can wait, I recommend very loosely covering the cooled cake with a towel and refrigerating overnight. The taste and texture are ten times better the next day.
After a day, store leftovers in a covered container in the refrigerator for freshness. Or slice and freeze in an airtight container for up to three months.
Readers also like Chocolate Zucchini Cake
Chocolate frosting ideas and tips
For the healthiest option, top your cake with fresh strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, or sliced bananas.
Or frost it with a thick layer of decadent Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting.
Dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar, or add chocolate sprinkles, diced walnuts, or chocolate ganache and fresh or frozen fruits of choice.
We spread on a four ingredient Healthy Chocolate Frosting and plant based mini chocolate chips for the chocolate cake in the photos.
To ensure whatever toppings you add do not melt upon touching a hot cake, make sure to let the recipe cool fully before decorating.
Healthy Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour (or try this Keto Cake)
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp ground flax or 2 eggs
- 1/3 cup sugar or xylitol for a sugar free cake
- 1/4 cup additional sugar OR 1/8 tsp uncut stevia
- 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips or more as desired (do not omit)
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups frozen cauliflower (or 3/4 cup yogurt, mashed banana, or pumpkin)
- 1/2 cup milk of choice (omit if using eggs)
- 3 tbsp oil or additional milk of choice
Instructions
- *Flour options that work well include spelt flour, white flour, or some brands of all purpose gluten free flour. For the best results, be sure to use frozen cauliflower instead of fresh, and do not omit the chocolate chips.To make the healthy chocolate cake recipe, start by thawing the cauliflower in the refrigerator or in a bowl on the counter. Preheat your oven to 350F, and grease an 8 inch baking dish. Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl, and mix very well. Combine all liquid ingredients and the cauliflower in a food processor and blend until smooth, so there are no lumps. (If going with the cauliflower free option, you do not need to use a food processor.) Pour wet into dry, and mix until just combined, then pour into prepared pan and bake 30 minutes. Let cool completely. If you can wait, I recommend very loosely covering with a towel and refrigerating overnight because the taste and texture are better the next day. Frosting options are included above.View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
More Healthy Dessert Recipes
Or these Vegan Brownies
Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Bars
I’d like to see someone post an argument today about you using the same ingredients all the time, just in different amounts and cooked in different shapes. Ha Ha! Your creativity is as endless as the types of veggies and legumes you dare to play around with when dreaming up these wacky, healthy desserts. And to find success, as well! Go get ’em Katie! Except now I’m expecting brussel sprouts and snow peas in your next creation 😉
+1!
Thanks Bree. That really (really) means a lot to me. I can’t even tell you how much.
No offense Katie but you don’t get to take credit for cauliflower desserts hitting the internet – “In other words, when you start seeing cauliflower desserts show up around the blogworld… you know who to blame 🙂 .” I posted cauliflower brownies weeks ago so I beat you to it! ha ha!
LOL! Post edited… and now I will have to check out your brownies.
So we can all blame you, huh? 😉
Another commenter said someone else did cauliflower cookies awhile back. I guess we can have a whole cauliflower party now. Or maybe I’m taking this a little too far…
You’re a class act for changing your post, Katie. But I don’t think you needed to. No one should expect a person to know every single recipe ever posted to the internet. You’d have to be superhuman. I did a google search for cauliflower cake and the only one that came up was yours, and then some savory ones.
Hey Katie, never expected you to edit the post – it’s not like I cornered the market on it or anything! 😉 Your cake looks amazing, I love that you have a spelt flour option! And I’m all for putting cauliflower in everything!!!! Ice cream next???
Oh no, you were right. I think it did come across as sounding holier-than-thou, which is definitely not how I meant it at all! To be honest, I put the sentence in there because you’d be amazed at how many people steal recipes (changing one ingredient, or not even bothering to change any… it’s almost a daily occurrence), and it’s frustrating when you work so hard on a recipe and watch as someone else takes the credit.
I’ll leave the cauliflower ice cream experiment up to you. I tried it in cookie dough dip, back in February, and it was scarring ;).
Right??? I actually wouldn’t be surprised, it happens all the time to me too! My favorite is when they just cut and paste my entire post including my photos into their own blogs. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery but people taking the credit for our hard work just makes me mad. It probably happens a lot more to you though since your blog is so popular (and for good reason!) You have a lot of great recipes here! Glad I found you – I’ll be a loyal follower from now on…
My first attempt at the cauli brownies was pretty harsh too! Not sure about the ice cream – part of me wants to try just to say I did, but it could go oh so wrong that I don’t know if I have the guts! ha ha!
I am totally making this for our family night tonight. You’re not the first to put cauliflower in such things, in the cook book “Deceptively Delicious” by Jessica Seinfed she used cauliflower in stuff all the time.
btw- what is the link to the frosting.
I’ve definitely heard of the book. She puts cauliflower in mac and cheese, right?
The frosting is my chocolate-pb frosting, linked in the post, under the second photo :).
She puts cauliflower in EVERYTHING, carrots too: in tuna salas, banana chocolate muffins, banana bread, scrambled eggs, mac and cheese, burgers, Lasagna, anything with potatoes. She puts carrots in a number of her desserts. Very few of her items are LESS calories or sugar because of her addings, instead they are all about getting more nutritional value in what you’re serving your family. Thanks for your site, it makes doing weight watchers so much easier with a sweet tooth, and I’m teaching my children to enjoy things the healthy way.
Ok, this is delicious! You would never know the cauliflower was in there, and I’d have no problem serving this cake to people used to “normal” desserts and not being embarrassed by it. Thanks Katie for such a fun, creative recipe. This is why I love your blog :).
CAULIFLOWER?! In Chocolate Cake?!?!?!?! You are a genius. 🙂
When I started to experiment with vegan cooking I wanted to become an adventurous eater and loved coming up with different vegan cake recipes. Hmmm, cauliflower as an ingredient in cake. I love it!!! I think you are onto something here. This gives new meaning to healthy desserts. I have one suggestion. I would replace the sugar and stevia with raw, unfiltered, unheated, unprocessed honey.
That’s great to hear your boyfriends approved, you know that makes a good recipe 🙂 I’ve actually tried cauliflower in brownies before! And while I was definitely a fan, my sister didn’t like it. Everyone else seemed to enjoy it though, maybe I should’ve revealed the cauliflower secret after she tried it though.
OMG, this cake looks so yummy! Can’t wait to try it!
When does your book come out? I can hardly wait 😉
Aw thank you :).
There’s no set release date yet… I have barely begun to actually write it. But I’ll definitely mention when I have more details.
Ok, cauliflower in cake is pretty exciting, but not as exciting as CCK having a boyfriend who will eat it! Wishing you two a LONG, WONDERFUL relationship!
Katie, if it’s one thing I have learned, it’s this- if you say it’s absolutely chocolatey delicousness…it must me!
Correction…must “be”
Can’t wait to try this!!! I feed deserts to my husband all the time with out telling him what the “magic” ingredients are.LOL he refuses to eat anything with tofu so I just don’t tell him it’s in there. I also don’t tell him about any of the bean deserts-he would not eat it!! He’s eating healthy and doesn’t need to know!! He brags to all his friends about the great things I bake. I know this is lying by omission but I just can’t bring myself to feel guilty about it!!
Haha oh but you’re missing the best part: seeing his face when you tell him he’s ADMITTED he likes something healthy!
I once gave my then-boyfriend a slice of chocolate-tofu pie, and he loved it… When I told him the secret ingredient was tofu, he was so mad! But then he ate another slice ;).
Hmmm…. am I brave enough to try this recipe? HECK YES!! every one of your recipes I have tried my whole family has LOVED! going to get the ingredients in the morning!!! so excited!! Yay baking experiments!! Also I cant wait for your cookbook to come out! is there a date set for release yet???
Aw thanks, Sally :).
For the book, there’s no set release date yet… I have barely begun to actually write it. But I’ll definitely mention when I have more details.
I love that the secret ingredient is cauliflower! Who would have thought? Cauliflower is one of my favorite fiber-licious foods and I love that you chose to healthify this recipe with it.
I haven’t visited your lovely site in a while so it was a complete treat to find this fab recipe and so many others from the last month or so. They are all really creative and yummy looking. You’ve been seriously busy 😉
Was looking for a healthier chocolate cake recipe to make some certain cupcakes.. Do you think it would work?? Thanks Katie 🙂
Might just try it out tonight.. need to buy some cauliflower 😉
Let me know if you do experiment. I think it would work well… maybe just change the cooking time.
It worked!! I made muffin-sized cakes and simply knocked about 8 minutes off the cooking time :). Now just letting them cool to be frosted with a Peanut Butter Frosting 😛
Cauliflower and chocolate? Now that is a new one on me. I would love to try it though.