Dreamy Vegan Chocolate Cake with Creamy Chocolate Frosting

This cake is a win win.  Healthy AND delicious!  I could eat the frosting by the spoonful haha.  I made some mistakes when attempting to make this cake, as it was a total experiment.  Because of the mistakes though it ended up being even more delicious and unique (i love how there are whole raisins, sunflowers and dates mixed in...yum.  and I like the texture of the frosting and cake)!  I sometimes sweeten desserts a little more when I make them for other people.  In my experience I have found that my taste buds have adjusted to a lower level of sweetness.  On this blog I have been experimenting with healthy whole foods to create yummy dishes.  This cake is one of the results of experimentation...kinda like a chocolate fruitcake.  A BRIDGE between healthy and sweet.  A yummy bridge, that will surprise you when you see the ingredients.  Have your cake and eat it too! 

 YUMMY!
HEALTHY!   http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/benefits-of-flaxseed and http://www.forbes.com/sites/juliewilcox/2012/06/26/7-benefits-of-quinoa-the-supergrain-of-the-future/

Ingredients for filling:
3/4 cup flax meal
1 cup quinoa
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped up dates (yummy option...any of your favorite dried fruit)
1/2 cup chopped up dried figs
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce  
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1.5 cups almond milk (or any nut milk)
3/4- 1 cup raw cacao OR cocoa
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt (or Himalayan sea salt...my cousin has been telling me how awesome it is and I've been meaning to do some research on it!)

Instructions:
Rinse off quinoa, boil in 1 cup of purified water and turn down heat to low.  Allow to soak up extra water.  This should take about 20 minutes.  Otherwise, just follow instructions on individual box :)  I had never made quinoa before (my sister always did that part lol) and it was really easy.

While you are making the quinoa do not snack on the enticing ingredients you are to assemble.  lol i did this ;)  Instead use your time more wisely by getting a long rectangle pan out and putting non stick baking paper along the edges inside, or anything that will allow the cake not to stick such as this fancy foil such as the one I used.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  In a large bowl, combine all filling ingredients except quinoa in high power blender.  (Check on your quinoa.  Make sure quinoa has absorbed all water.)  Blend on high.  OR.  PLAN B: 

haha

Remember how I said I made some mistakes?  Well, the biggest mistake I made was to start making the cake and not checking first to see if my mom had a blender.  Nope.  No blender.  Just a hand mixer.  So how to blend the ingredients?  I am used to making raw vegan cakes and a vita mix blender is usually all you need.  I don't think I have used a hand mixer since I was maybe five or six.  I was wondering, do these things ninja chop or just stir?  I gave it a whirl and was disappointed at first, realizing that nothing was chopped up.  I was thinking well I can either throw in the towel and give up or I can just pour the cake batter into the pan with whole sunflower seeds, dates and raisins.  What the heck why not?  But first I added quinoa to the large mixing bowl and the cake batter was nice and dense.

I spooned in the cake batter into the rectangle pan with non stick foil (or non stick baking paper).  making sure to evenly spread out the mixture the best that I could.  Bake at 350 degrees for one hour until the middle is soft and still a little moist.  I had to keep checking mine.  I stirred it all up occasionally too because I noticed the sides and top were getting hotter and baking faster than the middle.  I am not an expert at baking so I figured it was best to stir it up so nothing would burn.

(meanwhile...while your cake is in the oven...)
FROSTING!!!!!  Time to make some delicious frosting that you are going to want to make some extra so you can freeze it so you have some extra to snack on when it is a commercial break or movie night.  Hey, it is a healthy treat right?
No guilt :)

The picture doesn't do this scrumptious treat justice.  Simply heavenly.  Here is the site that inspired me:  http://fooddoodles.com/2013/06/04/raw-vegan-chocolate-frosted-brownies/
 also, check out how great eating avocado is for your hair and skin!  http://www.tandurust.com/hair-care/avocado-benefits-hair-skin.html

Ingredients:
3 ripe avocados
1/3 cup maple syrup, agave nectar, or honey*
1/2 cup raw cacao or cocoa
sea salt to taste
3/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Optional:  nutmeg and cinnamon

Blend or hand mix until a creamy and light texture.
Put frosting in fridge or freezer to keep cool.  Allow cake to cool in fridge without putting the frosting on.  Once cake has cooled you can put the frosting on.


These measurements are flexible (according to your taste).  You may like more or less sweetness, etc.
I had lots of left over frosting.  It keeps great in the freezer!  you don't even need to thaw it.  I am keeping my cake in the freezer and letting it thaw for a bit before eating.

Enjoy!

Quinoa and Vegetable Vegan Stew!

I'm freezing.  Winter is coming.  Kasey and I hosted a dinner party last weekend and we puzzled over what we could make.  No vegans were attending BUT we can't resist preparing a beautiful vegan menu.  It's such a nice feeling when people that expect vegan food to be bland and tasteless and boring are proven wrong :P We decided on a stew because what's better when you're cold and want something warm and hearty.  This stew was so fun to make, and simple.  The chopping took a while but if you have a good knife or a food processor that would help a lot.

We started with making the stock.  I think making a stock can seem a bit intimidating if you've never done it before.  It creates the base of the stew and that's where your base flavor starts.  I'll break this recipe into two parts to simplify.  Keep in mind, that if you are low on time it is perfectly okay to buy a pre-made vegan stock at the store, but we found it fun and delicious to make our own.

Vegetable Stock

1 Brown Onion, cut into quarters

2 Stalks of Celery, chopped in half

4 Carrots, medium size, cut in half

8 cloves of Garlic, cut in half

2 bay leaves

1 tablespoon Cumin

Handful of fresh Parsley

Handful of fresh Rosemary

Salt and Whole Peppercorns, we didn't really measure, just added as we went

6 Cups Spring Water

*We included mushrooms in our stock, but removed them after about 10 minutes when we realized they could be overpowering.  

Throw all of it in a big pot with a lid.  Heat on high until boiling.  Then turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for about 2.5-3 hours.  We ended up letting it cool over night just for extra flavor development.  Strain completely (you might be able to find another use for the leftover vegetable, Kasey happily ate the carrots on their own they were so good :D).  You'll need about 2 cups of stock liquid for your stew.

Quinoa and Vegetable Vegan Stew

1 Brown Onion, chopped 

2 Carrot, chopped

1.5 cups Quinoa

2 tablespoons of Macadamia Oil

1 tablespoon Cumin

2-4 cloves Garlic, finely minced

Salt and Ground Pepper to taste

Handful of Rosemary

Handful of Basil

5 Medium Tomatoes, chopped

2-3 cups of red and green cabbage, shredded

2 Cups Kale

1 Sweet Potato/Kumera, chopped

2 Cups of the above prepared stock

2-3 Cups Spring Water

Add the chopped carrot and onion and garlic to your pot, with the macadamia oil.  Cook it off just a bit then add the quinoa.  

 Now add the stock, water, and the tomatoes.  Simmer on medium heat for about 10 minutes.  Finally, add in the cabbage and the kale and the sweet potato.  Put in the spices, the cumin, the rosemary, the basil, and your salt and pepper.  We taste as we cook and season accordingly, so our measurements might not be exact, but remember that you can always add more if you think it needs it.

Turn the heat down and continue to cook for 15-20 more minutes.  We checked on it constantly just to make sure the flavors were right.  It smelled so nice :)  Basically it's done when the sweet potato is cooked.  Enjoy!

We hope you love it as much as we did!  We had about 12 servings but everyone wanted seconds so it was hard to tell.  It was perfect for our chilly evening dinner party.  It was a big hit, for vegans and non-vegans alike :P