I know what you’re thinking, you see all of the chocolate involved in this cake and you may say to yourself, “I think she means Chocolate Lovers Cake”. Well, sure, this cake is for chocolate lovers of all kinds! But, this recipe is a little more involved than just chocolate. Even though Valentine’s day was yesterday, why don’t we share the love today, as well?
As you may or may not know, chocolate (or cocoa rather) is considered an aphrodisiac. But, there are also a few other plant-based foods that are on the same list, such as: almonds, asparagus, avocado, bananas, basil, figs, and garlic (dragon breath anyone?). Delicious, right? This delectable cake has 4 out of the 10 in it! See what I’m saying? Sexy cake.
Here we have your oil-free cake base, with cocoa and a bit of banana, and an ultra-creamy mousse topping made with avocado, almond butter and more chocolate. Plus, it’s topped with some toasted almonds and just a few coconut flakes (which would be great toasted, as well). The whole dessert is super simple to make, and my favorite thing about this type of frosting/mousse amalgamation (say what?) is that it’s even less temperamental than typical vegan butter/powdered sugar frostings and is way better for you.
You could, of course, double the cake recipe and make it into a layer cake! Can you imagine this cake with a layer of almond butter frosting inside, while still covered in the rich, chocolate mousse? Incredible. Why do all of the great ideas come after I’m in the midst of blogging a recipe? Oy.
The weather out in Southern California has decided to take a turn for the East coast, with its severe humidity and summer thunderstorms. I mean, I’m not entirely mad; summer storms like this remind me of my family vacations in Michigan, just.. not as pretty. Not only is everyone in the LA area complaining, we all have to deal with idiot drivers that are scared of the rain; things I reserve for winter! But, I have a great solution to ease the sweating, and my sister’s cat, Stitch, is here to help me share it.
I had to include him, of course, because he’s mostly black and it’s Friday the 13th. Plus, isn’t he just the cutest?! Well, maybe not the cutest but he’s certainly up there in my book. Back to the recipe, Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cupcakes. After dreaming for several days about a delicious cupcake that would cool me off, while satisfying my sweet tooth, this combination came to mind and seemed perfect.
Mint has properties of its own that will give you chills, but put it into a sweet ice cream and you have something that I would not be angry to receive a brain freeze from. Then there’s chocolate, I think just by looking at past recipes you can tell that I adore chocolate, so this was easy for me to pair up.
In a medium-sized pot, bring the coconut milk and sugar to a boil. Then adjust the heat to low-medium and simmer it, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a bowl (or large measuring cup with spout for pouring), and stir in the salt, mint extract and spinach juice. Place the cream mixture into the refrigerator to cool down for 20 minutes, then to the freezer for 30 minutes.
In the mean time, Preheat oven to 350F, and prep two 12-count cupcake pans with liners.
In a large bowl whisk together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, and sea salt. In a medium bowl mix together apple sauce, vinegar, vanilla extract, and water.
Then, mix the wet ingredients into the dry slowly using a whisk. Pour batter into each liner until it is about ¾ full or a centimeter from the top of the liner.
Then bake for approximately 15-20 minutes (18 always works great for me), check with a toothpick to see when they are finished.
When they are cool enough to handle, take them out of the cupcake pan and place them in the refrigerator to cool.
Once the ice cream base has cooled, pour it into your ice cream maker and set the timer for 10 minutes (mine is fast).
Melt ⅓ cup bittersweet chocolate with 1 tbsp. Coconut oil in a double boiler until a smooth and thin consistency.
Here’s where it gets interesting: when the timer goes off, carefully use a fork to dip into the chocolate sauce and flick around the ice cream maker’s bowl in thin stripes.
Every 30-45 seconds or so, push the top layer into the rest of the ice cream so that it breaks apart; repeat until the chocolate sauce is used up.
Now, take your cupcakes and make a hole about 1½” wide and 1″ deep in the center of your cupcake (make sure not to scoop out the very bottom. It will be roughly 1 Tbsp. or so of cupcake innards, which you can use for a trifle, cake pops, or just eat immediately like me .
Place the cupcake “shells” into the freezer along with the finished ice cream so that they can both harden (about 20 minutes).
Melt ¼ cup Bittersweet chocolate chips with coconut oil and maple syrup in a double boiler and stir together until smooth, turn heat on low until your ready to use it. Use the last bit of chocolate for garnish by chopping it up roughly.
When the ice cream is more firm, use a small spoon (or melon-baller like I did) and place about 1½ Tbsp. of ice cream into the center of each cupcake so that it comes out of the top.
I recommend doing this is sets of 12 so that the ice cream doesn’t melt into the cupcake.
Take the chocolate sauce and drizzle it over the tops of the cupcakes and sprinkle a little chocolate on top, place in the freezer for 10 minutes, or until you’re ready to serve!
Sometimes I get festive, and it could be for the most random of holidays. Did I make any special desserts for Thanksgiving? No. Did I make any delicious Christmas or New Year’s themed desserts during the Winter holiday season? Maybe one. But, here’s Valentine’s day; a holiday that people either love or hate. Although, I find that I am pretty indifferent to it when it comes to being romantic; for my friends and family though? I love to make cute, little crafts or buy some cards. Now that I think about it, it’s sort of odd.
This #chocolatelove bloghop has inspired me further, and I decided that I’d make a huge batch of cookies to give to my friends and family in little care packages. I went searchin’ around the internet for a cookie recipe to start messing with; I found one at Food.com that was right along the lines of what I was looking for. One of the reviews says that the cookies have a brownie-like texture, and once I took a majority of the oil out of the recipe it exaggerated the consistency even more! (hence the Cake Cookie name) These cookies are essentially hand-held cakes with rich chocolate chips and tart dried cranberries in them to break up the chocolate-flavor. I didn’t put any nuts in the batch but I STRONGLY suggest it.
I made a double batch of these because the original recipe said that it made 19, well I ended up with closer to 48 cookies (see that huge bowl of cookie dough up there? ^^^). The cranberries poke out of the moist cookies like tiny rubies imbedded in a mound of chocolatey goodness, making them the perfect V-day treat!
I am a fan of nearly any cake, really; it’s incredibly hard for me to choose which one I want, especially if I’m in charge of making it! But, all of this talk of carrot cake lately had me wanting to make one and experiment a bit with frosting. Here, I used the recipe from Hell Yeah It’s Vegan! as inspiration and went from there. This turned out incredibly delicious and the frosting tasted almost like the filling for a German Chocolate cake, YUM! Also, the recipe says it makes two 9” round cakes, but really it’s more like two SMALL 9” rounds or one large 9” round (like mine).
Ingredients:
2 1/3 Cup Unbleached All Purpose Flour
1 tsp. Baking Powder
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1/2 tsp. Salt
6 Tbsp. Ground Flaxseed Meal
1 Cup Warm Water
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Coconut Oil, Melted
1 VERY Ripe Banana, Mashed
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
2 Cups Grated Carrot
1 Cup Chopped Pecans (and an extra Cup of Finely Chopped Pecans for decoration)
1/3 Cup Unsweetened Shredded Coconut (plus tbsp. for decoration)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325F. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a very large bowl; sift it together so that there are no chunks. Next, take the flaxseed and stir it into the warm water, let it set for 10-15 minutes until it has a little bit of a paste consistency. In a medium-sized bowl place sugar, coconut oil, vanilla, banana, and flaxseed goop; stir together until mixed thoroughly.
Stir or use mixer to incorporate the wet mix into the dry mix, fold and stir together until there are no dry spots. Fold the coconut shreds, carrot, and pecans into the batter.
Take a 9” round pan and grease (oil) and flour it, then pour cake batter in and heat in the oven for 35 minutes. Once it is fully baked, take it out and set it aside to cool or put it into the refrigerator so that you can ice it sooner.
While you are waiting for it to cool, make the icing. Once it is cool, cut the cake into three small layers.
Icing Ingredients
2 Cups Raw Cashews, Soaked for 2-6 hours
1 Cup Water
1 Tbsp. Coconut Oil
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/4 tsp. Salt
3 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 Cup Large Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
Directions:
Blend the cashews, water, salt and vanilla until it is very creamy, with no chunks. Place in a mixer or stir sugar in vigorously, until it is combined with no powdered sugar chunks.
Place icing in refrigerator for at least an hour or two. Then, split mixture in half (roughly), and mix coconut chunks into one; use the coconut mixture to fill the layers between the cake. Use the rest of the icing on the top and sides of cake and then press the chopped pecans into the sides and sprinkle coconut shreds on top.
This cake is a little time consuming but it is so worth it, my friends absolutely loved it and 99% of them NEVER eat vegan food! Try this out for any occasion and I’m sure it would work great as a cupcake recipe as well.
This is a vegan food blog that covers everything from indulgent desserts, to healthy dinners, and even raw recipes! I also write up restaurant reviews and am sort of a beer snob. You'll find that there is something for everyone, here!
If you would like me to photograph an event, test out a recipe, review your restaurant or just have a question you'd like me to answer email me at: veganyackattack@gmail.com!
