Chocolate - pumpkin cake with coconut whipped cream

This cake is absolutely delicious, if I do say so myself! Every time I make it for others, I get amazing feedback. And when I ask them to guess the secret ingredient, no one ever gets it right—it's pumpkin! I love sneaking veggies into desserts. It not only helps curb the guilt when those sweet cravings hit, but it's also a clever way to get the kids to eat a bit more veggies.

Ingredients for 6 people:

● 200 g butternut squash in large chunks

● 4 eggs

● 150 g cane sugar

● 150 g coconut oil (or coconut butter)

● 200 g dark chocolate

● 2 tablespoons raw cocoa powder

● 3 tablespoons of spelt flour

Preparation:

- Preheat the oven to 180 °C.

- Put the pumpkin pieces in a large pan and add enough water to cover the bottom of the pan, about 1 to 2 centimetres.

- Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat. Once the water is boiling, turn down the heat and simmer the pumpkin under a lid until it is soft and tender. This usually takes about 15-20 minutes, depending on the size of the pumpkin pieces.

- Check if the pumpkin is soft by pricking it with a fork. When the pumpkin is soft, remove the pan from the heat and pour off the excess water.

- Let the pumpkin pieces cool a little and then put them in a blender or use a hand blender to puree them until smooth.

- Split the egg: separate the yolks from the whites. Then beat the egg whites until stiff.

- Mix the cane sugar with the egg yolk.

- Melt the coconut oil together with the dark chocolate. Once melted, add the cocoa powder. Stir this well into the egg yolk and sugar mixture.

- Add the pumpkin puree and stir until everything is well blended.

- Gently stir the beaten egg whites into the mixture. Mix everything together, but not too hard to maintain lightness.

Finally, add 3 tablespoons of spelt flour and gently stir it into the mixture.

Pour the batter into a baking tin and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on the desired softness of the cake.

Coconut whipped cream :

Ingredients :

● 1 can of coconut milk (no light version, as this may cause the cream and coconut water to not separate)

● 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

● 30 g of icing sugar

Preparation method:

- Place the can of coconut milk in the fridge 24 hours in advance. This will allow the coconut cream to separate from the coconut water. I always have a can of coconut cream in the fridge, this way I don't have to wait.

- Place the mixing bowl you are going to use to make the whipped cream in the fridge 10 minutes before preparing so that it is well chilled.

- Remove the can of coconut milk from the fridge. Be sure not to shake it!

- Open the can and spoon the solidified cream into the chilled mixing bowl. Do not spoon the coconut water in. You can use the coconut water later for a smoothie or coconut water ice cubes.

- Whip the coconut cream for 1 minute until smoothly whipped.

- Now add the vanilla extract and icing sugar and beat until the cream is fluffy and stiff.

Serve a piece of cake with coconut whipped cream and enjoy!