Dairy and Gluten Free Carob Cake

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                            I just did a bit of research on the Internet and found out that the carob tree, also known as St John's bread, is a tree in the pea family and it is widely cultivated for its edible legumes. Legumes?? If I had known this before I probably wouldn't have bothered buying it. I don't eat legumes anymore since I'm on the Low FODMAP diet and I only tolerate peas in small amounts now and again. Plus, truth to be told, I much prefer chocolate. My husband didn't like the taste at all, he thinks it tastes like licorice... It doesn't really, the taste is hard to describe, it would definitely take some getting used to. Oddly, my son seems to like it. Go figure...

The carob pod contains a sweet, edible pulp and inedible seeds. After drying, the pulp is roasted and ground into a powder that resembles cocoa powder. It's commonly used as a substitute for chocolate but does not have the same flavour or texture of chocolate. Carob doesn't contain any caffeine or theobromine, two mild stimulants found in chocolate and contains three times as much calcium, however it also lacks the antioxidants found in chocolate. I don't know the exact nutrition values of carob versus chocolate but if I make this cake again I will substitute the carob for chocolate powder.

I found this recipe at the back of the carob powder packet.

For the cake

Ingredients:

• 100g dairy free margarine
• 100g caster sugar
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
• 1/2 tsp almond essence
• 50g carob powder
• 40g gluten free self raising flour
• 40g ground almond

Method:

Grease and line 2 x18cm sandwich tins. Cream margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg yolks and essences. Combine carob powder, flour and ground almonds and mix with the wet mixture. Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold into the mixture. Pour into the tins. Bake at 180C for about 20 minutes until just firm to the touch. Cool on wire rack.

For the filling


Ingredients:

• 80g icing sugar
• 25g carob powder
• 40g dairy free margarine
• 4 tsp boiling water

Method:

Mix carob, icing sugar, margarine and water until all are combined. Spread between the two cakes.

Note: the filling was a little liquid and I had enough for a thin spread in the middle and on the top. Then I added a few sprinkles for decoration.