Stevia is a natural sweetener that has been used in South America for centuries. In Argentina and Brazil, it has been widely used since the 18th century. The Guarani tribe in Paraguay has long used the fresh stevia leaves as a natural sweetener for hot beverages. Greece picked up on the trail relatively recently. From 2011 onwards, producers on mainland Greece decided to innovate their crops. The fields that used to grow tobacco changed to the leafy green stevia plant. It has been a huge success story. Stevia is loved both for its great taste and, of course, for its amazingly low calories.
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Preparation time
00:35
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Cooking time
1:10
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Serves
8
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Cuisine
Mediterranean
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 450g Greek yogurt
- 600g flour
- 250ml extra virgin olive oil
- 100g stevia
- 6 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 15 tangerine peeled
- 1 tablespoon of stevia
- 1 small lemon for its juice
- 3-4 crushed cardamom seeds
Chocolate cake with yogurt, stevia and tangerine jam
Stevia is an excellent sugar substitute, a teaspoon amounts to only 0.2% of calories, while it is 3 times sweeter than normal sugar. This means you only need a small portion to get a great, sweet flavor. Stevia seems to be the ideal alternative for anyone with diabetes, as the glucose it contains doesn’t affect blood sugar or insulin levels. It is widely used in fizzy drinks, but the best is that you can take it home and make wonders with it. How about a guilt free chocolate cake?
This chocolate cake has olive oil and yogurt, and it is sweetened with stevia instead of sugar. Remember that when used for baking, stevia is a lot sweeter than sugar. You will need to adjust the amount of sugar; normally, a teaspoon of stevia equals a cup of sugar. To make up the bulk missing from subtracting the sugar, you can choose another filler. Fruit purees and juices make great substitutes, we went for yogurt, though, for the excellent moist texture that it gives to the cake.
To top our stevia chocolate cake, a quick tangerine and cardamom jam seems to be just the thing.
Yogurt Cake: How to cook
- In a large bowl, place the eggs and beat them lightly. Add the yogurt, and then the olive oil.
- Start integrating the dry ingredients into the mix: flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and, of course, stevia.
- Oil lightly a 26-cm-round cake tin and add the mix.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 180 °C for approximately 35–40 minutes.
How to prepare the cake
For the jam
- Separate the tangerines and remove any seeds by making a small incision in the middle and gently pushing the seeds out.
- Place in a food processor to get a rough puree.
- Transfer the tangerine to a medium-sized pot along with the cardamom and the stevia.
- Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 25–30 minutes until the mixture thickens.
- Add the lemon juice just before removing it from the hob.
- You can place the tangerine jam in a sterilized container to keep for later or simply cool and serve along with your cake.
