Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake with Chocolate-Covered Bacon

Sometimes it seems like you have to jump through flaming hoops to make something that everyone will like. In my case, I have one picky preschooler, and one husband who has adopted the Paleo lifestyle. (I don't have the space here to explain it, but here's a good primer if you are interested.) The husband has cut all grains and starches from his diet, and the girl is allergic to most nuts. Eek! To make baked goods that everyone can enjoy, I've found an unlikely ally: coconut flour!

Coconut flour is readily available - Whole Foods has it, as does Amazon.com - and is quite affordable, considering you only use about 1/2 cup of it, compared to 2 cups of regular flour, were you to substitute. Can you tell coconut flour apart from wheat flour? Yes, of course - the baked goods I've made with coconut flour are denser and grainier in texture, and don't rise as nicely and as fluffy as white flour. But it's worth it for us. Coconut flour doesn't spike your insulin levels like white flour does, is gluten-free, and is a great source of protein and fiber.

This cake is fast, easy, inexpensive to make, and quite healthy. I might even go so far as to say it's guilt-free! Try not to eat the whole thing at one sitting.

Coconut Flour Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use butter or coconut oil to heavily grease an 8-inch round pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix eggs, sugar, butter, vanilla, and coffee granules together. Use a stand mixer or an electric handheld mixer. Beat it till it's nice and frothy.
3. In a smaller bowl, mix together coconut flour, cocoa, salt, and baking soda. Sift this mixture through a sieve over the wet ingredients, one-third at a time, and mix well after each addition.
4. Spread batter (it will be quite thick) into the greased pan and bake for about 30 minutes. You'll know it's done when it's dry and firm but still a little springy to the touch.

For my husband's birthday, I made this and brushed the top of the cake with melted chocolate chips and garnished with chocolate-covered bacon. It was awesome. For my sister's birthday, I made this with the frosting for my Mocha Brownie Torte recipe. It too was awesome.

And as a bonus:

Chocolate-Covered Bacon!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 6 slices bacon, preferably thick cut
• 1/2 teaspoon or so of coconut oil (or vegetable oil)

Directions:

1. Cook bacon. Whatever method you prefer is fine: pan-fry, bake in the oven, even microwave. Just get those things pretty crispy. When done, blot vigorously.
2. While the bacon is cooling, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave SLOWLY. They go from melty to scorched quickly, so heat them for 20 seconds, stir, repeat, until they are just melted. Stir in the coconut oil.
3. Paint your bacon. You could dip the bacon into the chocolate, but that's a pretty heavy chocolate-to-bacon ratio. I used a pastry brush to apply the chocolate. Let them dry on wax paper on a cookie sheet. Refrigerate until firm.

Yeah, chocolate-covered bacon is a splurge, and a novelty, but sometimes you just gotta be silly. A Korean friend of the family tried this and said it tasted like a sweet and salty cookie. She liked it!