Eggless Black Forest Cake with Whole Wheat and Finger Millet Flour

That's a long title for a post!

My mom has a sweet tooth and is also a chocoholic. So, I knew I was going to make a classic chocolate cake for her birthday to keep it simple and enjoyable. However, as much as she loves sweets and chocolates, she is also very particular (and sometimes obsessive) about eating healthy and staying away from refined flour and sugar. Since millets have always been her favorite, I knew I had to make this incredible cake when I saw this recipe. Prior to this, I'd never heard of finger-millet flour used in baking, so it was quite intriguing to me! I adapted the recipe a little and made a black forest cake with cherries and cream. I was slightly wary about my adjustments to the ingredients, and also a tiny bit skeptical about whether the cake would hold itself and taste ok. 

I needn't have worried. I was beyond amazed and happy with the results (and so was my family) that such a healthy cake could be baked! Let me list the ways in which this is really a "healthy" cake: 1) it has no butter (just 1/4 cup of olive oil), 2) it has no refined sugar (just some palm sugar), 3) it has no refined flour (just a combination of multi-grain whole wheat and finger millet flours), 4) it has yogurt and milk, and 5) bonus points: it has chocolate!!

Such a cake sounds mythical doesn't it? But it exists! In terms of texture, the cake holds well, and it looks and tastes moist and spongy. However (you knew there was one such a pause...), experienced and sophisticated palates can tell that the cake was not made with regular flour. You can taste just a hint of earthy, grainy texture in the cake. But, in the grand scheme of things, this is not really such a flaw!

So, without much rambling, here's how it's done. 

Adapted from this brilliant source.

Ingredients (makes one 9-inch cake):

1. 1 cup multi-grain whole wheat flour
2. 1/2 cup ragi / finger millet flour
3. 1 cup sour cream (can also use greek yogurt or thick yogurt)
4. 1/4 cup milk (I used 2%)
5. 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
6. 1/4 cup olive oil
7. 1 cup palm sugar (add more for a sweeter version; the cake was very mildly sweet with the quantity I added)
8. 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
9. 4 ounces semi sweet chocolate (1 bar of good quality chocolate)
10. 1/2 tablespoon instant coffee powder
11. 1 teaspoon baking soda

For the filling and frosting

1. 2/3 cups of cherry preserves or jam
2. 1/2 pint of heavy whipping cream (in my enthusiasm to keep things healthy, I tried using "light" whipping cream and I whipped and I whipped and I whipped and got no cream!)
3. 1/3 cup sugar (plain white sugar)
4.  some cherries for decoration
5.  a dusting of cocoa powder or chocolate shavings

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven at 355 F. Grease a 9 inch round cake pan.
2. Melt the semisweet chocolate over a double-boiler or in a microwave in 30 second intervals (it took me 1minute in the microwave). Stir the chocolate until smooth and melted
3. Sift and mix together whole wheat flour, finger millet flour and baking soda
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream and milk. Add the cocoa powder and sugar and whisk well until incorporated. Add the melted chocolate, coffee powder, vanilla extract and olive oil and mix well again. 
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix. 
6. Transfer to the cake pan and bake for 30-35 minutes until a tester comes out clean.
7. Cool on cooling rack for 15 minutes, then gently loosen the sides and transfer the cake back onto the cooling rack. 

When completely cool, frost.  I made two 9 inch cakes. 

Frosting and filling:

1.  Make sure the whipping cream is cold and the bowl in which you are whipping is also really cold (put the bowl in a freezer for 1 hour before whipping). Whip the cream until it thickens a little. Slowly add sugar and whip until stiff peaks form. 
2. When the cakes are cool, apply and spread the cherry preserves on top of one cake. Then, pipe half of the prepared cream on top of the cherry preserves. Place the other cake on top (making sure the flat side of the cake aligns with the bottom of the cake). 
3. Pipe the cream in a decorative fashion on top of the cake. Decorate with cherries and dust with cocoa powder. You can also frost the entire cake with cream (as it is usually done) and cover with chocolate shavings, but I decided to not frost the cake completely, because my family is not a fan of frosting. 

Serve and enjoy!