chocolate cherry cake

 this was tasty, from here.

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup (240 ml) hot water or coffee
• ⅓ cup (30g) cocoa powder
• 1 ¼ cup (150g) all-purpose flour, sifted will try with whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar  recipe called for 1 cup but just 1/3 was fine. 
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup vegetable/canola oil**
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups (230g/8 oz) fresh cherries, pitted and halved (for other options, see notes)***
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• ½ cup  chocolate chips or chunks 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/180°C and grease an 8×8-inch square pan or 9-inch round.  I used parchment paper. 

2. In a small bowl, whisk together hot water (or coffee) and cocoa powder until smooth. Set aside to let cool slightly until warm.

3. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

4. In another medium bowl, mix together eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and liquid-cocoa mixture. Add egg mixture into flour mixture and mix with a rubber spatula just until combined. Do not overmix—the less you mix, the lighter the cake will be. It will be a slightly runny batter.

5. In a small bowl, toss cherries with 2 teaspoons flour in order to prevent cherries from sinking during baking. Add cherries and chocolate chips to cake batter and stir just until combined.

6. Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean (repeat testing if your toothpick runs into a cherry). The internal temperature of the cake should be 205℉ / 96℃ if using an internal thermometer. Allow cake to cool completely on a wire rack.

7. Dust the top with powdered sugar or top with chocolate ganache.

8. Serve at room temperature. Cake can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

Recipe Notes

*To make a bigger cake, multiply the recipe by 1.5 and use a 13×9-inch pan. You may need to bake the cake a few minutes longer.

**I used oil to keep the cake moist for longer, but you can replace half of it with 50g melted butter for flavor if you prefer. This would no longer make it a dairy-free cake. However, this cake is already so flavorful that I don’t find it necessary.

***Fresh sour cherries are my favorite option, but you can use any type of fresh cherries you like as well as frozen or canned. If using frozen, use them straight from the freezer, without thawing, mixing them with some flour and then immediately folding them into the batter. Canned cherries can also be used as long as you make sure to drain them well and dry them with paper towels, or else the juices will seep into the cake and affect its texture and taste.

 

cocoa hemp hearts bites

 I somehow convinced myself to get a very large bag of hemp hearts at Costco, and I need to use them up.  So, this recipe for cocoa hemp hearts bites caught my attention.  They're quite tasty, especially with the cocoa doubled and adding some vanilla and salt.  I like the coconut taste and texture, and the peanut butter is there but not overwhelming.  I made about 26 of them, which I'll freeze and take out from time to time to keep a stash in the fridge when I'm wanting a treat.  Edit: continuing to change up the proportions.  Below is latest incarnation. 

Cocoa Hemp Heart Bites

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/2 cup hemp hearts 

1/2 cup flaked or shredded coconut

1/2 cup cocoa powder

 

10 - 12 pitted dates

1/2 tsp vanilla

a bit of salt if the nut butter is unsalted 

3/4 cup peanut butter (or alternate nut butter) 

Using a food processor or heavy duty blender, blend together the oats, hemp hearts, coconut, and cocoa.  Next add the dates, vanilla, and optional salt, pulsing until they break down. Add the peanut butter and pulse until well incorporated. 

 

Roll the dough into small balls (bites!), and freeze or refrigerate. 

energy balls

 I'm on a no refined sugar, no refined grains, no industrial seed oil kick, and it's making eating tough.  A stop at Whole Foods led me to something like these, and I'll make my own from these ideas.

Chocolate energy balls from here.

• ¼ cup raw almonds, or other unroasted nut of choice
• ¾ cup old fashioned rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
• 2–3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 10 ounces medjool dates
• 1–2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted

Place almonds in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add oats, ground flax seed, and cocoa powder. Pulse until well combined.

Add dates and pulse for 30 seconds, or until mixture is combined and crumbly. Drizzle 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil over mixture and pulse for a few seconds, or until the mixture is sticky and holds together. If still crumbly, add more oil and pulse again.

Roll into 24 1-inch balls and place in a baking dish or on a tray.

Refrigerate for 20 minutes, or until firm. Enjoy immediately, or keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

 

Strawberry energy balls from here

• 1 cup dates without pits
• 1 cup strawberries (fresh or frozen)
• 3/4 cup chopped almonds
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 T chia seeds

coconut flakes, as desired

Slice dates and strawberries, chop almonds.  Put everything (except coconut flakes) in food processor and blend until almonds are finer but not paste.  Put in the fridge for an hour, then shape into balls and roll in coconut.

 

Peanut butter energy balls with extra protein and fiber

• 1 cup (100g) rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (125g) smooth natural peanut butter
• 1 cup (180g) white beans, rinsed and drained
•  7-8 medjool dates, soaked (or more if deglet noor)
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  
• Soak dates 5-10 minutes in warm water.  Pulse oats in food processor until like flour and remove.  Process PB, beans, and dates.  Then add in vanilla and oats, and form into balls. 
•  

Chocolate date energy balls

• 1 1/2 cups (162 g) pecans or walnuts  
• 1 c (188 g) dates, pitted (if not soft, soak in warm water 5-10 minutes)
  
• 1/4 c (24 g) cocoa powder (or 1/3 c)
  
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

Grind nuts until a fine meal, then add the rest of the ingredients to food processor until sticky and uniform.

 

date cocoa nut balls

 These are terrific.  Not too sweet, with lots of "superfoods" like nuts and dark cocoa and dates.  Also a good way to use up some old dates and nuts and nut butter that is too solid to combine by hand.  I needed a powerful snack for an upcoming intense day and these are so much better than any kind of packaged snack. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup pecans (toasted)
  
• 1/2 cup pitted dates (about 7 to 8), cut into quarters
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• Scant 1/2 cup maple syrup (more like 1/3 c)
  
• 1/2 cup nut butter
  
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• I also added in some chunks of dark chocolate with blueberries at this point
  
• 1/2 cup whole almonds (toasted)
  

For topping/rolling the balls:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 Make the date balls: Place the walnuts and dates into the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade, and pulse several times until well combined. The pieces should look like a rough crumble.

Add the cocoa powder, maple syrup, almond butter, vanilla extract, and sea salt and pulse until the mixture is smooth and thick; it will start to peel away from the edge of the bowl.

When this happens, stop the food processor; if it keeps whirring away, it may get stuck because these ingredients are, well, sticky! Keep a close eye on this, as it will come together quickly.

2 Add the almonds: Add the almonds and pulse a few times to incorporate them. You want them sort of irregularly sized, so that some pieces are still pretty crunchy and offer a variety of textures.

3 Roll the date balls: Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Place the coconut in a small bowl and the cocoa powder in another bowl.

Scoop out the mixture, roll it into golf-ball shapes, and roll in the shredded coconut or the cocoa powder (or leave plain).  

4 Chill and store the date balls: Transfer the date balls to a baking sheet with wax paper and chill them for a few hours or overnight, if needed. Once they've firmed up, transfer to a plastic lidded container and keep in the fridge.