Spoonful of Sugar Free

Registered Dietitian

Carob is Not Chocolate

By

But it is rather tasty nonetheless.

My first recipe with carob started with the Healthy 7-Layer Bar. I decided that I love the taste of carob then and there. When I saw my local health food store also sold unsweetened carob in powder form, I had to buy it!

To me, carob has a rich butterscotch taste. It is extremely sweet (of course, my sweet buds are rather sensitive) without adding sugar. Some say it has a tootsie-roll taste. I don’t know. I just like it. Don’t take my word for it, though, go buy some yourself and make some yummy carob recipes!

My first experiment with carob powder turned out wonderfully. I took my Bitter Chocolate Cake for One and simply substituted carob for the cocoa powder. Yum. This cake is no longer bitter!

Flourless Carob Cake for One

~This cake is meant to serve one person, but feel free to double, triple or quadruple the recipe. The cake is gluten free, grain-free, dairy-free, nut-free, and, of course, sugar-free!

Serves 1

Ingredients

  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup carob powder
  • 2 Tablespoons of squash puree, like pumpkin, sweet potato, or butternut squash
  • 1/8 teaspoon baking powder
  • water

Preheat oven to 375*. Mix all of the above ingredients together. Then add a splash of water until it reaches the consistency of a thick pudding. Pour batter into a mini bread pan or a muffin tin (It makes about 4 muffins). Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I actually substituted almond butter for the squash in this cake (because I was out of squash puree!). It made a more dense and rich cake. Reminds me of a brownie....mmmm....

More Ideas: Try mixing in nuts, dried fruit, or carob chips! Add a little almond or coconut extract for extra flavor.

Or make a delectable strawberry and cream stack! I baked the cake in a mini loaf and cut it into 3 pieces. Then, I stacked it with strawberries and topped it with coconut cream!

Each gargantuan cake is only about 115 calories.

Carob Health Benefits: Unlike chocolate, carob contains no caffeine and it contains a number of nutrients, including vitamins A, B, B2, B3, and D. It also contains a good dose of Pectin that helps to eliminate toxins from the body.

Thought-provoking, mind-prodding question of the day:

Do you like carob? Have you ever tried it?

When I was younger I tried a bite of those carob energy nuggets, and I didn’t like. Consequently, I didn’t think I liked carob. Boy am I glad I tried it again!

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Looks delicious. I made your smacaroons yesterday (with a few minor modifications). I’m definitely going to keep using that recipe as a basis for more riffing and baking. So good and so much potential.

  4. I Just bought carob powder! I used it this morning in a pudding! I love it but a bit too sweet for me too and – that looks amazzzing! I loved the bitter chocolate cake when i made it and cant wait to try with carob and almond buter YUM YUM!!!
    XO maybe i ll do 1/2 carob 1/2 cocoa.. hmm

  5. That looks so good! What do you think would happen if the cocoa or carob powder was replaced with peanut flour?

      • Haha sorry! But I didnt and I just got a shipment of Peanut flour in the mail! I will most likely be trying it this weekend. I will let you know and you can try it in a few months!

  6. I can’t tell teh difference between carob and chocolate…but I RARELY have either so maybe I am not one to judge. I have no sweet tooth.

  12. Yum! Now I need to just buy the carob powder like I have been wanting to. I’m too cheap and have been putting it off. Carob chips are sweet but do have a tootsie roll flavor to them. I would not say they are chocolaty though. The nutritional facts on the powder is pretty good too. Thanks for the recipe idea. Also, I need to make your smacaroons.

  13. LOVE LOVE LOVE CAROB! Though I must admit the first time I ever had it I hated it. haha But now I just love it 🙂 That cake looks amazing!!!!!!!!

  16. Oh yum! This looks delicious! I think the title of your post should have been “Carob is Not Chocolate… it’s better” haha. Carob has such a smooth and nutty taste to it, mmm I have 2 tbsp of it a day the minute I get home. It’s sort of a ritual. I need to try this recipe too, I love that it doesn’t have flour!

  17. Haha, I have totally made this before!!!! It is SO delicious! Not bitter at all!! 😀

    I love me some carob powder! 😀 I especially love it in my Carob Walnut Muffins. Oatmeal is delicious too! 😀

    xoxox
    Kathleen

  18. I made your bitter cake with carob as well when I was on a chocolate hiatus, and it was almost too sweet. Guess I’d just gotten used to the unsweetened chocolate version. Bet the almond butter did add some fudgy goodness. Hmm, I think I need to try that next time I make it…after Lent of course, or I could use tahini instead…or sunflower seed butter? The possibilities are endless. Time to experiment! 🙂

  21. Alex, this is quite the momentous tower you’ve got going on!! how fun would it be to eat away at this, making it to the delicious strawberry thats righteously gleaming from atop the layered cake!! <3

    mmm carob is the new chocolate..the less sweet alternative 🙂

  22. I agree with you, it’s certainly not chocolate, but it’s very good! I sort of think it has a raisiny taste. I like subbing some of the chocolate in a recipe for carob to add sweetness without adding sugar. I absolutely have to make your bitter chocolate cake recipe – I was eating vegan, but may just have to have an egg so I can try this one! Thanks for the tip about Pectin, I had no idea it eliminates toxins!

  23. Hi Alex! I was just wondering if you used raw or roasted carob powder. Is it true that raw carob powder interferes with the absorption of protein? I’m really interested in trying some!

    • Hi Jenna! I used roasted carob powder because that is what they sold at the store. I have never heard that raw carob powder interferes with protein absorption. Where did you hear that? I would be interested in reading about it.

      • I don’t have the link anymore, sorry! It wasn’t actually an article; someone just posted it. I mean I would love to try some carob, but I didn’t want to risk it. :S

  26. Looks so good!

    I have tried Carob – yes, it is MUCH sweeter!

    But I’ve had the Carob chips here before, but there was other added ingredients as well…like barley and soy lecithin…not sure if that’s supposed to be with them?? They were getting addicting, so I had to stop…

    Love the strawberry layers!

  28. Is it possible to microwave this? We are in the middle of moving so no cake or muffin pans 🙁 This looks delicious though!!

  29. . . . i dont know, i just thought there was something really appropriate about a cake-for0one being slightly “bitter” 😉 maybe ill have to wait to make this carob cake when i can make it for two!
    thanks for the recipe though,
    ‘bitter” single girl 🙂

  30. Your cake looks delicious! Plan to try it later today for an Easter treat. What is coconut cream? Thanks so much.

    • Hey Teresa! Happy Easter! I hope you like the carob cake!

      I buy coconut cream in the ethnic food section of my store. It is basically like coconut butter mixed with a bit of water to thin it. I’ve also seen people make their own coconut cream by mixing coconut flour and water. Good luck!

  31. I just stumbled upon your site! 🙂
    I was just told I had to avoid chocolate so I wanted to try carob. I am trying to find carob but we live in a small town. Just wondering if there is a good place to find it online. My son has a peanut allergy so I was trying to find carob chips that were peanut free but maybe I should use the powder since that might be safer.

    • I buy mine at my local health food store, so I have no experience buying it online. Sorry! I would check out some brands online, though, and see what you find!

  32. I just finished eating these! I couldnt believe there was no flour or oil! They were really moist and soft and very filling! I put some carob chips on top of mine. It wasnt the best cake Ive ever had but it was very satisfying for tonight! I wanted something carob and didnt feel like cooking so I looked online for something easy and came across this! Thanks for posting, it went from preparing to my mouth in about 20 mins 🙂 It would be great with some kind of frosting (sugar free of course) or fruit. I think I might try it with banana next time to give it a little more sweetness.

    I am a carob lover! I use carob often and I just love the taste. I like to use it in banana smoothies or in place of chocolate in recipes.

    now on to my moive!! Im full!! hehe

      • Ok I was curious about comment above and raw carob powder being “bad” for your health. I myself do not eat raw carob powder buthHere is what I found on another blog. http://www.giveittomeraw.com/forum/topics/carob-whats-the-story

        ” I started the “Raw Carob” craze many years ago, and I deeply regret it. In my quest for ultimate health, I discovered that “Raw” carob powder did have some heat applied to it.

        Long ago, I came out with information about “Jameth and Kim’s Really Raw Carob Powder” that was printed in several thousand “Uncooking with Jameth and Kim” books. I was in the process of making a product out of it. I had thousands lbs of raw carob chunks that I then dehydrated at low temperatures and made it into a powder. I discovered that consumption of it gave a definitive toxic feeling, was hard to digest and that it clumped the blood. This was due to the fact, I discovered, that Carob is actually a legume, like soybeans. Being a legume, it had tremendous benefits in healing, cancers hormone balancing including beneficial phytoestrogens, as all legumes do. Soy has gotten a bad rap, primarily because RAW soy is very hard to digest and can cause problems inherent to all RAW legumes in most forms. Carob in its truly raw form, being a legume, was also hard to digest and was NOT good to consume in a totally raw state.

        I had developed a huge interest in the raw carob powder, but I abandoned it due to my findings. I eventually composted the thousands of pounds of carob chunks.

        Highly roasted carob powder was and is actually more digestible than truly raw, but it did suffer nutritionally from the high temperature and long heating. I subsequently found that the application of small amounts of heat for short times was the best of both worlds. The traditional “raw” carob powder is actually extremely healthy, even if technically not raw, whereas truly raw carob powder is NOT healthy. I repeat truly raw carob powder is NOT healthy. Mushrooms are raw, but some of them will kill you, foxglove herb is of extreme nutrient density, but it will KILL you if eaten, raw or cooked.

        The carob powder that HealthForce uses for VMG is unique in that it has 4 times less heat applied to it than the highly beneficial “raw” carob powders, and it does NOT have ANY of the harmful elements of an unprocessed legume. It is still enzyme active (#1 criteria for raw) and does NOT cause leukocytosis.

        It also comes down to where one’s allegiance lies. Do you base your nutritional decisions on a particular definition of what you or someone else thinks is “raw”, or do you base them on what is healthy. I base mine on health.

        Jameth Sheridan, N.D.

        HealthForce Nutritionals

        • Thank you so much for this article! Very informative and interesting. It is interesting to see what the body can handle better in different forms-cook the vegetables or raw? Same with meat, legumes, nuts-they all seem to be different. Some are better cooked, raw, fermented, exc. Thanks again!

  34. I love your blog!!! Great ideas!

    Tried this cake and I am obsessed….replaced the egg with chia gel and topped with almond butter and a bit of organic dark chocolate (tried with both pumpkin and kabocha)….oh my! Also, in a “I need something sweet” emergency I just mixed chia gel (1/4 cup) and a spoonful of carob and stuck it in the microwave for 30 seconds….success! Not as good as the cake but kept me from landing face first in my daughter’s chocolate stash!

  35. I made this recipe as muffins today – very tasty and very rich! I substituted cocoa butter for the water and added coconut flakes. Thank you for the great recipes 🙂

  36. anyone know why some sites list carob powder at 229 cals per cup and others at 48 per 2 T which equals 400 cals per cup?

    • Greg,

      I have no idea, sorry! Your safest bet would be to check the package of your power because those will be most accurate.

  38. Just made this today! I used purple carrot puree instead of squash puree. It was really nice, didn’t even taste healthy. Will make again!

    Anyway, my first carob experience was with the Banjo carob bear. They make them with real cocoa butter, so the taste reminded me of chocolate but wasn’t a full resemblance. Really liked it though!

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