



I love chocolate cake. I'll take it every which way, no complaints. Hot, cold, layered, iced, plain, drizzled...Raw, Baked, fried...steamed. Who turns down chocolate cake?





This summer has been pretty sweltering, leaving me not in the mood to bake or even turn the oven on. Our little house gets so hot when we cook that I have been eating mostly raw foods for months. Maybe it's that time of the month but I had an irresistible craving for cake this week. I have been pretty busy with work so I haven't had a chance to make any. But today I had a blissful day off and I decided to put my bamboo steamer to good use.





Allow me to introduce you to my new favourite chocolate cake recipe. Meet my steamy little friend -- my healthy chocolate buckwheat molten mini cake.

That oozy filling captured in the above image on the right is incredibly rich. It's like I baked a chocolate bomb into these little cakes. Best of all, this recipe serves exactly two people! Not leftovers, no waste, just pure chocolate indulgence.

This picture illustrates the steam cooking technique. These are the two little cakes right after steaming. I steamed them until they were fairly firm to the touch, they springed back. I wasn't sure what to expect, it seemed like they were fully cooked through cakes, but surprise surprise, they were still deliciously molten inside.





Did I fail to mention the benefits of these beauties? Let me break them down for you. These decadent tasting chocolate molten cakes are:





free of refined sugar and sugary sweeteners

fruit and stevia sweetened

gluten free

vegan

nut free

wholegrain

made mostly of buckwheat and brown rice flour

reduced fat (I used only a small amount of coconut oil and olive oil)

a good source of vegan protein

full of healthy essential fatty acids thanks to the chia seeds, coconut oil and olive oil

rich in antioxidants and magnesium

high fiber

What's not to love about these delicious cakes! I fully support eating them for dessert or breakfast since they are as balanced as a bowl of fruit and stevia sweetened porridge!

These cakes will please your palette while they help to fuel your body for a busy day. Their like rich and decadent chocolate cake without the sugar rush and crash.

I set out to make these chocolate cakes with buckwheat due to my ongoing fascination with baking with buckwheat groats.I have been intrigued by baked buckwheat porridge on instagram and have had great textural success when I added buckwheat to a recent batch of cookies.

There's a lot to love about buckwheat. It is an amazingly healthy food. It is not related to wheat as is gluten free. It is high in protein and is not a grain but rather a pseudo cereal more closely related to rhubarb! It is very nutritious and helps the body develop lean muscle. Learn more about buckwheat's benefits here

Buckwheat is a seed. Seeds are very nutritious in their raw and cooked forms but are generally more nutritious when they are soaked or sprouted before consumption. For this recipe I pre-soaked my raw buckwheat with salted water and a little vinegar. This easy process makes buckwheat and other seeds more digestible and makes the nutrients and vitamins it offers more available to the human body. I have often experienced unpleasant digestive issues when it comes to seeds and nuts so I try to soak them first. Soaking seeds makes a huge difference for me and for most people so I highly recommend not skipping this key step in the recipe.

These chocolate cakes are really easy to make and they won't heat up your kitchen/home making them an ideal summer dessert. Because they serve only two they are perfect for date night so save this recipe for that special someone. You can thank me later!

If you try this recipe, please take a picture and tag #bakingbackwards on instagram or wherever you like to share food pics. I'd love to see what you bake!