Category Archives: chocolate

(Almost Vegan) Everyday Chocolate Loaf Cake

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Ok, let me first start off by saying that you know you have the most badass kittens ever when they behave during a food photography shoot while blasting some ZZ Top on the record player (ie. not jump on the kitchen table full of delicately placed reflector boards, powdered sugar and cake crumbs everywhere). They’ll tear up practically everything else in the apartment they can get their hands on (although they haven’t broken anything yet… knock on wood!), whether it be shredding a roll full of toilet paper, a candy wrapper or clothing tag, but when it comes to mommy’s kitchen baking projects, they are practically angels. Sweet little angels.

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And then they curl up with me on the couch as I edit the photos and write this blog post. Man, am I the luckiest kitty mama ever or what? I really need to get on sharing more photos of those rascals. Gee whiz. But in the meantime, we have more important issues to discuss. Like this (nearly vegan) Everyday Chocolate Loaf Cake. Very serious, important issues.

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I think this is, by far, my favorite photo shoot I’ve ever done. It helps that I finally found some decent photography backdrop equipment and tools (thank you Goodwill and recycled/reclaimed lumberyards!). I finally got around to thumbing through this book From Plate to Pixel  by Helene Dujardin a few weeks ago and man, it has me ridiculously inspired. Her food photography is definitely at the highest esthetic level in my opinion, and exactly what I strive to achieve as far as color, depth of field, texture, and style go. I love it. It’s practically my new bible.

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I found this loaf cake recipe while fiddling around on Foodgawker last night and was instantly frothing at the mouth, and luckily already had all of the ingredients on hand. However I decided to be a bit adventurous and make it almost vegan. Almost vegan because I subbed out the butter for canola oil, and made up my own almond “buttermilk” with apple cider vinegar and lemon juice. But I didn’t leave out the (one) egg. I wasn’t in the mood to fool around with it further. Striving to leave the main integrity of the cake to stand up alone, I didn’t want to compromise the texture or flavor too much. Sometimes I think butter tends to dry out cakes too much, which is part of the reason I have favored vegan baking for many, many years. Canola or coconut oil is always a great option when you crave that moist texture, especially when it comes to loaf cakes. They can dry out pretty fast if you’re not careful. But this turned out wonderfully. The only thing I might change next time I make this is to add some chocolate chips to the batter to enrich the chocolate flavor and add some melty goodness to the mix. Otherwise, I wholeheartedly encourage you to give this a try. There’s a reason it’s called an “everyday” loaf cake–more than likely you already have all of these ingredients on hand to many any day, everyday! Oh, and this would be a delicious snack with some peanut butter spread on top. Jus’ sayin’.

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 (Almost Vegan) Everyday Chocolate Loaf Cake

Adapted from the original recipe in At Home With Magnolia 

Makes one 9x5x3-inch loaf cake

  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1 cup vanilla almond milk
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  1. Preheat the oven to 325ºF. Spray a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with coconut or canola oil, set aside.
  2. In a measuring cup, pour out your almond milk and stir in the cider vinegar and lemon juice. Set aside to curdle for at least 5 minutes.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the sugars and the oil on medium speed until combined and slightly fluffy. Add the egg, then the almond “buttermilk” and vanilla.
  4. Sift in the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. Fold with a spatula (otherwise you may dust your entire kitchen with cocoa powder!) until well-blended but not over mixing. Scrape the batter down into the bowl, ensuring all ingredients are well incorporated.
  5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 55 minutes (may be 50-60 mins depending on how hot/cool your oven runs). Insert a toothpick into cake to check for doneness. Cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then invert onto your serving platter. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

Mint Brownies with Cream Cheese & Strawberries

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You ever have those days when you want to bake something but you’re not quite sure what it is you’re in the mood for? You know, those unfortunate indecisive baking days when you just can’t figure it all out. And you want to try to use what ingredients you already have on hand at home because you’re too lazy to go to the store (more like you’ve already been to the store 4 times this week and you dread stepping foot in one again unless you really need a block of cheese or milk or something, something you can’t live without). Well, I had one of those days yesterday.

I’ve been wanting to make brownies for quite awhile, since the last time I made them was here, but with a twist. If I’m going to bake something, unless I’m really craving it, I’d prefer to invent something new rather than reinvent the wheel, so-to-speak. Anyway, I consulted my Facebook followers and asked what I should bake. Always a good strategy when you need some random, thoughtful ideas. Someone suggested strawberries, and I realized I already had a bunch in the fridge. And some cream cheese. And some mint. Because mint and chocolate are always a great combination together, especially in Spring time when the weather starts to warm up. So, there you have it. I decided to combine all of those things together and I now introduce to you these Mint Brownies with Cream Cheese and Strawberries!

I halved the original “Salted Caramel Brownie”, took out the salted caramel part, and didn’t make them gluten-free this time. Then I made a little cream cheese whipped frosting, spread a bit of reserved brownie on top, topped it with sliced strawberries, then baked it. The only thing I would do differently next time is not bake the strawberries in the brownie. They turned out a bit watery and made the brownie a little too moist, plus it really changes the strawberry texture. Still good, just not ideal. Additionally,  I would have probably prolonged the baking time 5-10 minutes longer because a few areas came out gooey. They were cooked, and maybe it had something to do with the watery strawberries, but could’ve gone in longer. I just thought for sure they were done baking because the cream cheese part started to brown. Oh well. The fun lessons you learn in baking! Anyhow, needless to say these turned out rather delicious despite the baked strawberry part. The mint brownie with the cream cheese was awesome, just like a black-bottomed cupcake!

Mint Brownies with Cream Cheese & Strawberries

Makes 9 brownies in an 8″ baking dish

Adapted from my previous GF Salted Caramel Brownies & Scientifically Sweet 

For the Brownie Base:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/3 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon fleur de sel
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 Tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature

For the Cream Cheese Swirl Topping:

  • 5 ounces neufchâtel cream cheese
  • 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 8-10 medium-sized strawberries, sliced into 1/8-1/4″ thick slices
  • freshly chopped mint, for garnish once baked and some extra minty flava (optional)
  1. Spray an 8×8” baking pan with cooking oil, and line the bottom and sides with parchment paper (it’s ok if the paper sticks out and over). Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Sift the flour, cocoa powder and salt into a medium bowl.
  3. In a large bowl, beat the butter on low-medium speed with a hand-held or stand mixer until creamy.
  4. Add the sugars, beating until they are well incorporated.
  5. Add the sour cream and peppermint extract, then beat in the eggs one at a time, beating well after each one is added.
  6. Add the sifted dry ingredients, beating until just combined.
  7. Reserve 1/2 cup of the brownie mixture to swirl on top of cream cheese in a bit.
  8. Pour batter into baking pan lined with parchment paper.
  9. To make the cream cheese swirl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the sugar until glossy, then beat in the egg yolk until just blended. Pour cream mixture over brownie batter.
  10. Dollop or pour reserved brownie mixture in a zig-zag pattern and using a knife draw swirls in the batter. Layer the sliced strawberries on the top of the cream cheese (or not and wait until they are done baking) and bake until slightly puffed and gooey inside, about 45-50 minutes.

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Buns

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You’re probably thinking this is a mistake. A huge unseasonal mistake. Because pumpkin isn’t supposed to show up on blogs at the beginning of Spring. Is this girl crazy? Pumpkin belongs only in the Fall, you say! Well I say heck with that business. I’m an all-year-round pumpkin eating kind of lady. I keep it on hand 24/7. The world just feels chaotic and uneasy without a huge stockpile of cans of pumpkin puree in the cupboard. That’s just how I roll.

Speaking of rolling, have you ever made cinnamon rolls? You know, you roll out the dough after you let it rise over an hour, then let it sit a bit longer before you bake em. You roll up the filling and then slice the rolls and put them in a baking dish so they all clump together. These are pretty much the same thing. They require the rolling part. Except these are baked separated in a muffin pan.

Can I just say that these are ridiculously amazing? Honestly these are one of the best things I’ve ever baked in my entire life. I’ve always been a little scared of baking with yeast. I feel like it takes too much time and isn’t always worth it. But this morning I hung out in my pajamas till noon, cleaned the house, played a little Hall & Oates on the piano, and baked these pumpkin chocolate swirl rolls. You gets it done. It all works out. The yeast eventually rises. You make buns.

The dough turned out perfect. I baked them for 15 minutes, and they were just golden on top, still moist in the center. They’re best right out of the oven when the chocolate is still melty and warm. The crunchy sugary topping is also a lovely, unexpected touch.

It’s really pretty simple. Just set aside about 3 hours to make these and you and your buns will be golden. And sugary. And chocolatey. And pumpkiny. And full of only your wildest dreams. I considered taking these to work tomorrow but I kind of changed my mind after the first bite and 3 buns later… I am going to eat all of these myself. No joke. (Sorry coworkers.)

Pumpkin Chocolate Swirl Buns

Slightly adapted from Hungry Girl Por La Vida and Smitten Kitchen

Makes 12 buns

Dough:

  • 1/3 cup warm milk of any kind
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons active-dry yeast
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup pure pumpkin puree
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 2 1/4 cups flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon fleur de sel sea salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 4 Tablespoons unsalted, softened butter

Filling:

  • 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 cup dark chocolate (60%) chunks
  • pinch of fleur de sel sea salt

Egg Wash:

  • 1 egg
  • 1 Tablespoon cream
  • white granulated sugar, for sprinkling on top
  1. In a glass measuring cup, combine warm milk with yeast and a pinch of sugar. Allow to proof 5 minutes. Stir in the pumpkin and the egg. With a hand mixer, combine flour, remaining sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add the yeast-pumpkin mixture and mix on low to combine. Add the butter 2 Tablespoons at a time, mixing until the butter is incorporated before adding the rest. The dough will be quite sticky and stringy. Using your hands, knead the dough for 1-2 minutes until shiny and throughly combined. Place in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
  2. While the dough rises, make the filling. In the bowl of a food processor, process all ingredients until all of the butter is distributed and you have an uneven, gravely mixture. Set aside.
  3. Liberally butter a 12-cup muffin tin. Set aside.
  4. Once dough has risen, turn the dough out onto a well floured surface and gently deflate. Allow to rest 5 more minutes, before rolling the dough out into a large rectangle, the short end measuring about 12 inches–the long edge can be about 18-22 inches. Sprinkle the chocolate filling evenly over the rectangle (it will be bumpy) and begin rolling from the short end all the way up into a 12-13 inch log and pinch to seal. Gently saw off about 1-inch spirals, placing each into a prepared tin. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and allow to rise another hour.
  5. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325*F.
  6. Whisk together the egg and cream, brush gently over the tops of the proofed buns and sprinkle liberally with sugar. Bake in the center of the oven for 15-20 minutes. Mine took 15 minutes as my oven runs hot, as I also reduced the temperature from the original 350*F and they still cooked on the lower end. Remove from oven and cool on a rack for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake

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guinness chocolate cheesecake

As I’m sure you’re well aware, St. Patrick’s day is just around the corner and we all know what that means pretty much two things: the color green, and a nice frosty glass of Guinness stout. Two things I absolutely love: green is my favorite color, and stouts (especially the Guinness extra stout) are one of my favorite beers. The next baking recipe will include some green hues in it, but for now I’m going to focus all of my attention of the Guinness and present you with this delectable Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake.

I’ve baked with Guinness quite a few times in my life. Not to mention vegan chocolate stout cupcakes (for some reason I didn’t get around to posting that recipe a few years ago… I should fix that). Stout can do such amazing things once it is incorporated into baked goods. Obviously it pairs well with chocolate, hence chocolate chips, cocoa powder, and in this cheesecake. It’s absolutely insane. Almost like a flourless and dense chocolate cake, very fudgy, creamy, but also light like a chocolate souffle. But better.

Honestly, does it look like it could get any better? This is the ultimate chocolate dessert. It’s especially enhanced with a squeeze of whipped cream on top and a few sliced strawberries or raspberries. What more could you want? If you’re looking for a dessert recipe to take to a potluck St. Patrick’s party or to host at your home, look no further. This is all you’ll need. (And a few more bottles of Guinness…) Just make it ahead of time the night before!

Guinness Chocolate Cheesecake

From: Closet Cooking

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup honey graham cracker crumbs
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 12 ounces 56% semisweet chocolate, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons heavy cream
  • 3 (8 ounce) packages neufchâtel cream cheese
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup Guinness Extra Stout

Directions:

  1. Mix the graham cracker crumbs, cocoa powder, sugar, and butter and press into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.
  2. Melt the chocolate in the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat.
  3. Cream the cream cheese in a large bowl with a hand-held mixer.
  4. Mix in the sugar, chocolate, sour cream, eggs, vanilla, and Guinness.
  5. Pour the mixture into the spring form pan.
  6. Bake in a preheated 350F oven for 55 minutes.
  7. Turn off heat and leave cheesecake in the oven with the door slightly ajar for 60 minutes.
  8. Let cool completely and chill the cheesecake in the fridge overnight!

Salted Rosemary Caramel Chocolate Bark

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Sometimes I have a hard time figuring out what gifts to buy for people. It usually has to be uber obvious, quirky, specific to the persons fetishes and style. I’ve never been very talented at it. Food, though, on the other hand, most people like, right? So I figured foodie gifts were to be in order, and that’s exactly what I did this past holiday season.

This recipe is ridiculously simple and easy to make. You just need four ingredients: chocolate, salt, rosemary, and caramel. In fact, I’m pretty sure you could figure out how to make it yourself just knowing those ingredients alone without a direct recipe! But I’ll write one out anyhow. 

The result? Literally some of the best, best, BEST chocolate I’ve ever tasted in my entire life. Genius, if I say so myself. The four flavors go together so harmoniously well, you can’t ever stop eating it. It is really one of the best things I have ever made, gifted, and eaten. Because, yeah, of course I saved some for myself. (After making two batches…it’s that good!)

Note: If you’re too weirded out (or think others will be) about the whole rosemary leaves, you can opt to chop up the rosemary and incorporated it into the melted chocolate before spooning it out on your pan. I think the second option revealed and released more of the rosemary oil essence into the chocolate, and left a better less-chewy like consistency in the mouth, but the whole rosemary sprigs are also really beautiful on top, as you can see. It’s up to you! Or do both ;).

Salted Rosemary Caramel Chocolate Bark

Makes enough chocolate to cover a 9×13″ jelly roll pan

Ingredients:

  • 500g Trader Joe’s Belgium Pound Plus Dark Chocolate (54%) 
  • 1 jar Trader Joe’s Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce
  • 2-3 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 2-3 Tablespoons fleur de sel or similar chunky salt
  1. Line a 9×13″ jelly roll pan with parchment paper. Roughly break up the chocolate squares with your fingers, they don’t have to be perfect. It’ll all melt together anyhow.
  2. In a small-medium sauce pot, melt the entire bar of chocolate over medium low heat. Regularly fold the chocolate in the pot with a spatula to make sure you have equally distributed the heat and melted chocolate. Melt until no lumps of chocolate remain. If you chopped the rosemary and want it incorporated within the chocolate, add it now.
  3. While still warm, spoon out the chocolate onto the prepared pan. Smooth out with a spatula until you’ve reached desired thickness and reached all corners of the parchment.
  4. Drizzle the caramel sauce over the chocolate in any fashion you desire. The second time I made it (with the chopped rosemary already incorporated), I used a toothpick and drew horizontal lines through the caramel sauce till it looked like “fleur de lis” or whatever you call it. It was purdy.
  5. If you didn’t already incorporate the rosemary, sprinkle several leaves on top of the chocolate.
  6. Sprinkle on the fleur de sel to taste.
  7. Place in freezer for at least 20 minutes until hardened. Once solidified, break up into uneven pieces with your hand and voila! You’ve got some loveliness, my friends.

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