Low carb love torte

If you love him (or her), feed them low carb! At least, that will be my motto this Valentine’s Day. It might have something to do with the fact that my current eating regime is geared towards lower carb eating. Selfish? Moi? Just concerned about my other half’s health!

But seriously, whether you are into low carb eating or not, this is a delicious chocolate concoction that derives its richness from 90 per cent dark chocolate.

I picked up a pretty heart-shaped mould from the internet to turn it into an extra-special ‘love torte’ as a Valentine’s treat.

This chocolate torte is really a base recipe, that you can add to and experiment with. Why not add some orange extract and orange zest to the mix for an intense choc-orange hit? Or freeze dried raspberries, which are a match made in heaven with dark chocolate. Add a few tablespoons of double cream to the pre-cooked mixture if you want a milkier, less intense torte.

You could perhaps serve this plain chocolate version with fresh raspberries or strawberries and fresh whipped cream. Or a fresh cherry compote? The possibilities are many. This version certainly won’t make it to Valentine’s Day – I’ll surely be making another one later this week.

Low carb Valentine’s rich chocolate torte

Ingredients

120g (4 oz) of 90% dark chocolate
120g (4 oz) butter
4 large eggs
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 heaped tbsp ground almonds
3-5 heaped tablespoons xylitol (I used three as I like a more bitter tasting torte, but you can use more if you like it sweeter)
Pinch of salt (always add this when using any type of sweetener)

Method

Break up the chocolate and put it into a glass bowl over a pan of hot water. Add the butter and gently melt over a low heat until it becomes a dark, silking liquid. Stir in the cocao powder and salt and allow to cool a little

In a separate bowl whisk the eggs until they are light and fluffy and add in the xylitol and continue to whisk. Bit by bit, pour in some of the cooled (but still liquid) chocolate mixture into the egg mixture. Continue with this until everything is well mixed. Finally stir in the ground almonds.

Pour the mixture into a greased baking tin or silicone mould and bake in an oven (pre-heated to 180 deg c, 350 F) for 35-40 minutes.

Allow to cool and serve with accompaniments of choice.