Tag: cake

  • Chocolate Mango (beans & carrots!) No-Bake Cake

    Yesterday was my birthday. I spent the whole day in the kitchen before moving all the dishes over to my mom’s place who had graciously offered to host the family birthday party. It was a perfect day with some of my favorite people :).

    This no-bake cake consists of 3 layers plus a fruit topping. It is very dense- rich and filling, so be sure to serve tiny slices. The layers should be distinct in taste: fruity for the top and robust, full and indulgent for the chocolate middle layer.

    The beans make for a thick, fudgy chocolate cream. Be sure to add plenty of vanilla to get the richness that cacao deserves. Also, vanilla creates a sweet sensation so you’ll need less dates. You won’t taste the beans, I promise! People have been amazed at how well this works and… beans are good for you!

    The crunchy muesli makes for a great dough, especially the nuts one thanks to the healthy fats in there which make it rather buttery, but vegan and good for your heart! We happened to have two kinds of crunchy and it worked out great but if you have only one (preferably the nuts), that will work as well.

    I have only roughly estimated the amounts, I’m sure that when you’re in the kitchen getting your hands dirty and tasting lots (yay :P), things will sort themselves out.

    Recipe for Chocolate Mango (beans & carrots!) No-Bake Cake

    1. For the bottom layer:

    1-2 cups crunchy muesli with 4 red fruits
    dates to taste
    1-2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

    2. For the chocolate layer:

    3-4 cups nut crunchy muesli with nuts
    2 cans of cooked black beans (rinse well)
    1 cup of cacao
    10-20 dates
    1 tablespoon vanilla
    2-3 tablespoons coconut oil
    pinch of salt

    3. For the carrot layer:

    1-2 cups crunchy muesli (either nuts of red fruits)
    2-3 carrots
    pieces of mango
    lemon juice and (part of) rind

    4. For the fruit layer:

    150-200 gr frozen mango pieces (or fresh if you’re in the right climate)
    handful of blueberries

    For layers 1, 2 and 3: for each layer separately, combine the ingredients in a food processor. Taste and adjust to improve taste and consistency. They should be sticky, sturdy and chewy.

    Press the bottom layer in the bottom of the cake form. Use a spoon to smoothly spread the mixture. Next, add in the chocolate layer. And finally, add in the carrot layer.

    Top off with a full layer of fruit, which you lightly press into the carrot layer. Enjoy now or refrigerate until shortly before use.

  • Carrot ginger oat sweetbread

    Carrot ginger oat sweetbread

    This one started with a quick experiment that turned out exceptionally well :). Since then, I’ve been adding and subtracting ingredients to tweak it to near perfection. Next time, I’ll use yeast instead of baking powder, as that is more natural.

    Recipe for carrot ginger oat sweetbread

    • 1 cup of oats, ground into flour
    • 1 half cup of whole grain wheat
    • 24 grams of vanilla sugar (3 typical 8 grams sachets)
    • 1 sachet of baking powder (or enough for the amount of flour, check label)
    • 1 half big carrot
    • 1 thumb sized piece of ginger
    • 2 eggs, beaten
    • 1 half banana in small pieces (or use figs, I haven’t yet but imagine they’d work even better with the carrot!)
    • 1 handful of crunched nuts & raisins mixture

    Thinly grate or finely chop the carrot and ginger. I use the herb chopper of my immersion blender (staafmixer).

    Combine the flours, vanilla sugar and baking powder. Add the eggs, half a cup of water (careful! You can always add more), carrot and ginger and mix. The mixture should be thick and slightly running. Spoon in banana pieces, crunched nuts and raisins to taste and put in the oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes.

    Serve topped with honey and cinnamon (don’t forget, it really boosts the flavors!)

    Lovely, right?

  • Banana Cake with Cranberries and Sunflower Seeds

    Banana Cake with Cranberries and Sunflower Seeds

    First time I blended together bananas and eggs was in Thailand, last year. It turned out to be an excellent, nutricious, cheap and easy combo, however I never posted a thing about it and kind of forgot about banana & eggs until today.

    Because today, Aleydis shared with me her slice of banana cake and its recipe (which in turn contributed to this one). I got inspired and decided to make one. It became a cake made of gifts. 

    A few days ago, Maartje donated an interesting German bag of grains with matcha (powdered green tea leaves).

    And a week or two ago, Danielle forgot to take her kilobag of dried cranberries back home and so I took the liberty of considering those a gift as well ;D.

    The cranberries and sunflower seeds happened to be what I found in the kitchen drawer. This banana cake would also be really nice with dates and walnuts, or figs and pecans, or peach and cashews, or chocolate and hazelnuts, just to name a few ideas.

    Also, I used the peculiar Frühstücksbrei mit Amaranth (German) donated by Maartje, which contains oat, spelt, amaranth, almond and matcha. Just plain oat or even wheat flour would work just as well.

    This banana cake can be made using an oven. I used a frying pan with a lid (hapjespan, in Dutch). Worked perfectly! Here’s the very easy banana cake recipe:

    Banana Cake with Cranberries and Sunflower Seeds

    Blend up 2 large bananas with 3 eggs and 2 heaping tablespoons of oat/oatmeal (or whatever you are using). Blend until smooth.

    Then stir in a 3rd tablespoon of oatmeal, 1 handful of dried cranberries and 1 handful of sunflower seeds. Save soms fruits & nuts for later. At this point, you could also add some cinnamon or vanilla, for example. I didn’t because I didn’t have any and it still worked out great!

    Grease a frying pan with lid, put it on the lowest heat possible. In the oven, 160 degrees Celsius would probably be good. Pour in the mixture (which is about as thick as medium to full fat yoghurt) and grind a bit of salt over it. Use a fork to lightly blend the salt in, but not too much! I like experiencing saltier and less salty bites, combined with the sweetness of the fruits.

    In about 30-40 minutes it should be ready to be turned, but keep checking in the meantime. You’ll know when it’s time because the top of the cake will be all dry. Then turn the cake, put back on the heat or in the oven and within another 5-10 minutes it’s ready. Let cool for a few minutes, dress up with the spare filling and possibly some honey (if you have a sweeter tooth).

    I was surprised by how nicely this combination of banana, cranberry and sunflower seeds turned out! And I’ll definitely be making this cake more often. The base of bananas, eggs and oat is rather cheap as well so this would be a perfect cake recipe for parties and potlucks, as well as a nice solution for using up bananas or eggs while they’re fresh.

  • Fiery Chocolate Love Cake

    Fiery Chocolate Love Cake

    I was watching a movie last night: Chocolat. I saw it years ago, had always remembered it but probably hadn’t realized how much the film has affected my life.

    Here’s how it goes: Vianne is a French lady, a nomad whose South American mother used to perform sacred cacao rituals. Together with her daughter, she sets up a chocolatérie in a quiet and seemingly unwelcoming French village. She meets with fear and resistance in the villagers.

    Through her medicine bonbons though, and with help of her creativity, wisdom, warmheartedness and chocolate drinks, she ignites curiosity in the people and becomes a refuge for those who are open for connection and hungry for love.

    (Ahw, i love this story. There’s romance in it, too, but really the lovingly original shop, her open home, the medicinal delis and the eccentric clientele already have me all soft and happy inside.)

    A beautiful message in the priest’s sermon at the end of the movie:

    Here’s what I think: I think we can’t go around measuring our goodness by what we don’t do, by what we deny ourselves, what we resist, and who we exclude.

    I think we’ve got to measure goodness by what we embrace, what we create and who we include.

    Recipe for Fiery RAWR Chocolate Cake

    So here i’m going to include YOU into my most recent love adventure with chocolate cake. It’s in three layers plus topping of chocolate sprinkles. It’s VERY nice and tasty, it will melt on your tongue and heighten your senses, boosting your love life.

    Extra tip
    Stock up on granola, raw cacao, extra virgin coconut oil, lemon, ripe avocados, vanilla extract, dates or honey, and cashews. If you have those, all you need is fresh fruits and you’ll have raw cakes to die for in no-time, always.

    Ditch the scale
    I’m really sorry if you need exact measures; i can’t give them. I hardly measure, i just splash around with foods. A standard-sized bag or jug of each ingredient will definitely do for one cake.

    Also, make sure your coconut oil and honey are nice and soft so that you can easily add them to your blender.

    For the crunchy bottom:
    Take any crunchy granola (cereal-nut mixture, with or without coconut flakes – have it just the way you like it) and mix it in a blender or herb chopper with cacao, honey, a good twist of salt and a few tablespoons of coconut oil. Spread out and put in the fridge. The bottom can be quite salty, it’s nice when the salt is in the crunch layer and not so much in the main filling.

    For the main filling:
    Follow this recipe for heavenly chocolate but as this is a fiery love cake, substitute the lemon rind for chili flakes and black pepper:

    Combine 2 ripe avocado’s, 1 cup honey or more, 1 cup liquid coconut oil or more, 80-100 gr raw cacao, a few pinches of salt, 1 ts vanilla & freshly ground chili flakes and 4 season peppercorns in a blender. Don’t hesitate to add more of anything :). All ingredients are essential, don’t skip any. The consistency should be a thick cream while in the blender. When cooled in the fridge, it will be fudgy.

    Add the filling on top of the bottom layer in your cake form and put back in the fridge.

    For the topping:
    Blend a handful of cashews with water until creamy, then add raw cacao, lemon rind and honey. You may want to make add some lemon juice for added freshness, just try how it goes with your version of fiery heavenly filling.

    Add the topping and sprinkle with chocolate or chili flakes.

    Endulge.