Celebration cake.... where health and indulgence collide!
'Where health and indulgence collide' has always been a bit of a mantra for me as I've developed Including cake over the last few years.
I simply don't believe the two are mutually exclusive. It was the challenge I most embraced as I ventured into the world of a plant based lifestyle around three years ago. If you have read my about page you'll see how this lifestyle first presented itself to me.
As time went on I began to research more and appreciate the incredible benefits of a plant based diet and then more importantly a 'whole food' plant based diet. It was at the time the refined sugars and 'white' products began to find there way out of my cupboards and into the bin. There was no turning back!
Did I ever deprive myself during this time?
No
Did I ever feel as thought i was missing out?
Sometimes- but only in social situations with limited options not in terms of what I could create myself
The challenge of creating indulgence in a way that did not compromise my health became my 'thing', and now in my coaching practice this is is something I am passionate to help others appreciate for themselves in their own lives.
Oh.... so you want to know about this cake...yes!
Ok, well I wont keep you waiting any longer. This cake is rich, moist, chocolatey, silky smooth, packed full of veg and other good stuff and topped with my Wholeplus product range (but you could use anything you like!)
It doesn't use loads of crazy specialist ingredients (just a few key ones like stevia) and doesn't take long to whip up. Its virtually foolproof. It's tried and tested with kids too.
Put simply... you have to make this cake!!
The base of the cake is actually my crazy courgette cake topped with a variation of my heathy chocolate frosting on top, (if you want a soy free frosting try this one) but since we're putting everything together i've rewritten it all out below. I then also topped it all off with my vanilla Wholeplus Squares.
I made this cake for a friends birthday a week or so ago (i made a big one plus some small ones- I doubled the recipe). I had advised her that it would keep well for a few days in the fridge...but I was quickly informed that within 24 hours the whole things had been eaten. To quote her she said "this cake is quite literally the nuts".
Recipe: Chocolate Celebration Cake
Makes 1 8” round or square cake
Base of the cake:
ingredients:
2/3 cup packed dates (soak in hot water for a few minutes if they are very hard)
approx ½ tsp pure stevia
1 heaped cup courgette puree (I approximated this by using 1 ½ cups smallsh chunks)
½ cup water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup oil of choice (I use coconut oil)
¼ cup flax seed
¾ cup cocoa powder
1 cup oat flour (I ground up some regular oats)
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips (I used these)
1/4 tsp salt
1 heaped tsp baking powder
1 heaped tsp baking soda
Method:
Blend the courgette with all the wet ingredients and the flax seed to form a smooth fairly runny paste. Allow to stand for a couple of minutes.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and then add the wet. Mix lightly but well to form a thick soft batter. Add a little extra water if necessary.
Spoon the batter into a lined/greased muffin pan or round cake tin (you could also make cupcakes?) and smooth the top as best you can.
Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for approx 25 minutes, after 10-15 minutes it is advisable to lightly cover the top of the pan with foil to prevent the top browning before the centre is cooked through.
Allow to cook before topping with frosting.
Frosting:
Note: you can make this in advance and keep in the fridge for a day or so, you'll also want to chill it before to topping the cake anyway.
Ingredients
1/2 carton firm silken tofu (I use Mori nu)
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 tbs melted coconut oil
3 tbs agave nectar (plus a touch of stevia if needed)
1/4 tsp stevia powder
1 tsp orange extract (or another flavour if you prefer)
Method
So simple!! Put all ingredients into food processor and blend up very thoroughly. Spoon into a bowl and store in the fridge to firm up a little ready for use.
For toppings, I used my vanilla Wholeplus Squares plus some cacoa nibs and ground up goji berries on the big cake for a pretty sprinkle of colours- gojis make the perfect healthy sprinkles right?
This cake keeps best in the fridge in keeping for more than a day. (yeah right!)
I'd love you to join me in other places too!
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Thanksgiving roundup...simple recipes!
It's almost thanksgiving!
Even though I'm over in the UK and we don't traditonally celebrate... that wasn't going to stop me getting involved and having a little celebration with you too and getting into the spirit with a recipe round-up :-)
To get in the mind set, I envisaged myself preparing for Christmas just without the associated decorations and specific traditional Christmas foods (like Yule log). At Christmas I sit down at the table with my family- pretty table cloth, best cutlery, avoiding putting the chipped plates on the table, nice wine glasses that haven't been buffed up by the dishwasher (though I tend to drink cranberry juice to still look the part!)
Then the food comes out to play, lots of dishes to help ourselves from, usually a main dish and lots of sides. Maybe you have a starter? if so there are soup seasonal soups and salads below. I have included a collection of my favourites nut roasts as for me (since going vegan) that is the most important part of the meal!
Obviously after filling up on the main course....comes dessert! Sometimes if we are all a little full, we sit back on our chairs and talk for a little while before going in for dessert... need to make lots of room. The dessert below are a collection of both lighter and chocolately desserts, mini versions and puddings- all very pretty and perfect for a special day. These desserts are either quick 5 minute desserts or are the make-ahead variety. So no last minute craziness in the kitchen (though if you are anything like me somehow that always tends to happen).
For those who are celebrating Thanksgiving..... enjoy!! And for those like me that don't traditionally celebrate, why not join with a little feast of your own ;-)
I'd love to hear what your are planning for your main dish and dessert!
Collection of nut roasts (and other mains)
Lentil and rosemary lentil balls
Cheesy bake with oat crumble topping
Salads and starters!
Sweet potato salad with soy balsamic
Oat bakes with tomato and caramelised onions
Soups!
Roasted red paper and onion soup
Cauliflower and white bean soup
Desserts
Hot pear and gingerbread sauce
Chocolate raspberry cream cake - birthday cake for one!
Hello, I’m all excitable…today is my birthday!
I’m still allowed to get excited on my birthday…even if I am 29, that’s not grown up right?
Who wants to be grown up anyway? ‘Grown up’ often seems to imply being sensible, owning lots of credit cards, not being spontaneous, not giggling uncontrollably and not licking the plate clean when no-one’s watching…that kinda thing.
So I’m certainly not grown up. Well certainly not for a lot of the time.
So back to my birthday! It’s been a random kind of day. A fairly normal start (my Friday Pilates class), with a spot of helping a friend move house in the middle and lots of birthday relating baking goings on in between. So all is good! Tomorrow is where it’s at as I’ll be having a get together with family and going out for a meal to a tapas bar. Last weekend I also went out for a meal with friends to a thai restaurant…so it’s all about food really!
This is how today shaped up on the food front:
Raspberry and almond breakfast cookie (with green smoothie just peeking in the corner) before my Pilates class, followed by a ridiculously indulgent- it ended up being quite a bit larger than I’d anticipated- chocolate cream cake for a brunchy snack (I was very full after that ooops!), followed by pesto cabbage and chickpea soup for a late lunch before meeting my friend, and then for dinner a carrot craving resulted in these carrot burgers with lemon tahini sauce….
Recipes to come…patience, patience. But to start, I’ll share my chocolate cream cake as that’s the most birthdayish recipe after all and I like my little candle. Is it a bit silly to make your own birthday cake? Well I wanted a candle to blow out…you can’t be ‘grown up’ if you still blow out candles right?
This chocolate raspberry cream cake is super rich and indulgent. The sponge itself isn’t so much as I cut the oil since I was going for a cashew cream in the middle and so was more than happy to go for an oil-less textured sponge (I couldn’t tell the difference from my usual chocolate mug cake recipe anyway). The jam I used was sugar-free (fruit sugar only) and the cream is simply a thick plain cashew cream …but put all that together and you have a pretty crazy cake!
Perfect for a special occasion.
Recipe: Chocolate raspberry cream cake
Serves 1 (or two!)
Ingredients- sponge
- 3 tbs wholewheat spelt flour (or GF combo)
- 1 tbs agave and a few grains of stevia (or increase agave slightly)
- Tiny pinch salt
- 1 tbs cocoa powder (or cacao or carob)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2tbs soy yoghurt or apple puree
- Approx. 3 tbs soy milk
Ingredients- filling
- Cashew cream
- (approx. 2 tbs)
- Sugar-free fruit conserve
- A few fresh berries- optional
Method
To make the sponge, mix the dry ingredients together and then add the wet and mix to form a smooth thick batter. Spoon two equal sized dollops on a large greased/lined microwavable plate and microwave for 1 minute. Alternatively bake the sponge in the oven on a baking sheet for approx. 10 minutes (note I have not tested this method.)
Meanwhile make up the cashew cream (or use an alternative cream/yoghurt) and also get the fruit conserve/berries ready to go.
Once cooked, the sponge should form two small flat cakes. Place one, flat side up, on your serving plate and layer up with cream, jam, fruit before placing the top sponge layer on top. Add extra cream/fruit to the top as desired…add a candle if you like!
It all just splodged out the sides as soon as I sank my spoon into it! Yummy.
For tips and info on recipe measurement conversions, ingredients, substitutions and the methods behind how I do things.... check out my 'baking tips' tab at the top of the page.
I'm a sucker for chocolate and I have a massive sweet tooth, hence the name of this blog, and whilst I've made plenty of chocolaty treats over the years... I hands down legitimately think this is the best of the lot!