Recipe: Rice Flour Chocolate Cake

Recently I was sent a 2 pound bag of rice flour through a company that connected with me via Tomoson: Jiva USDA Organic White Rice Flour 2 Pound Bag
. The company is Jiva Organics and they makes several other products but this one was the one I felt we could work with in terms of using it with chocolate.

I had to go do some research to see what chocolatey treats I could bake using the rice flour. There was an immediate problem -- so many recipes require several additional ingredients and to be blunt, I'm not getting paid for this, Sisters and Brothers, so unless it an ingredient I have on hand, I really can't afford to rush out and buy it. However I did find a chocolate recipe that I felt comfortable enough adjusting that I can share the results with you today. I wanted to try at least one cookie recipe as well but I was ill and I've been preparing for a party you'll see a post about next Saturday. When I use the rice flour again, I'll add to this post or at least mention the product by name when I share that recipe. I had to make enough changes to this recipe that really I've made a new recipe not just tested one. Who puts a recipe out without the directions for the size of baking pan or the temperature you are supposed to bake at?

In terms of the recipe itself, I could quickly tell this was really somewhere between brownie and flourless cake rather than a traditional cake. Following the recipe as it was resulted in such a dry product that it was inedible. So based on my basic experience with several types of baked goods, I made my adjustments.

Basic Chocolate Ganache Rice Flour Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup warm water
1/2 cup raw organic cocoa powder
1.5 cups Jiva USDA Organic White Rice Flour 2 Pound Bag
1 cup Xylitol (birch tree sugar, granulated)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg white
1 T vanilla extract
2 tsp distilled white vinegar

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease but do not flour 9 inch baking pan.

2. Whisk together cocoa and warm water.

3. Blend together rice flour, xylitol baking soda, and salt.

4. Pour cocoa mixture, oil, egg white, and vanilla into dry ingredients. Blend well then add in vinegar and blend again scraping the sides of your bowl several times. It will be a thick batter.

5. Pour into baking pan and smooth out the top to an even surface.

6. Bake for 30-35 minutes.

7. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack. Once it has cooled enough, at least 20 minutes, turn out onto serving platter and allow to continue to cool. Or you can simply allow it to cool in the pan you used. The only difference is presentation of the final product.

If you want a glaze or frosting  you can add that as well.  This is what I did:

Sweetened Chocolate Ganache:
 2 oz drinking chocolate
1/2 cup confectioners or powdered sugar
1 T skim milk

1. Mix together milk and sugar until smooth.

2. Add in chocolate and heat in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir then reheat again and stir until the ganache is smooth.

3. Quickly pour onto center of cake then spread around. It will harden up quickly.

Recipe Results:

Rice flour makes a drier cake so frankly you need a moister topping perhap a fruit sauce or you need to add in more moisture to the recipe.

The "cake" is very dense most like a cross between a fudgy brownie and a flourless cake.

The rice flour does not change the flavor of other ingredients.

The rice flour has about 14% fewer calories per gram compared to the whole grain flour that I normally use. However because it is more dense a quarter cup of rice flour weighs more than whole grain flour so the calorie count is about the same.

The rice flour has less fat, about an equal amount of carbohydrates, but more than double the amount of fiber and iron, and more than three times the amount of protein.

Nutritionally it seems healthier for you but finding recipes is tricky. Most of the ones I found required so many additional and not-pantry staple ingredients that making them would be quite costly.  I'll certainly continue to test out what I have but I can't honestly say I'd buy more in the future unless I found simpler recipes.