Chocolate Cake with Orange Nutella Frosting

I should never be left alone in the kitchen.  I leave a mess, I play my music too loud and I have to taste everything in sight. Leaving me unsupervised in the kitchen has it perks too; it usually ends with a cake or a batch of cookies on the counter that I may or may not pretend to know nothing about.

Since it was a long weekend and everyone was home I had to share my kitchen, but I woke up early enough yesterday to get some baking out of the way before anyone else got up. The result? A truly wonderful, delicious and easy chocolate cake.  Long weekends call for cake. It's in the unofficial rules of Canadian holidays, I swear! I have been dreaming about this chocolate cake for months on end.  Back in February I thought I had created the best chocolate cake recipe ever.  I had tested it multiple times in cake and cupcake form and it was a real winner. Unfortunately my computer crashed and I lost the recipe.  I finally came back to it, only to improve on the original using a tip I learned from a small town Saskatchewan cookbook; a little apple cider vinegar goes a long way when making a good chocolate cake.  Those prairie women sure were right.  I won't claim that this is the BEST CAKE EVER, but I sure will stand behind it being an awesome, super-fantastic, serve to anyone, even gluten-free haters, amazing and mouth-wateringly delicious kind of cake! 

The cake is so moist and fluffy you could eat it plain, but I paired it with a creamy frosting, since we're sticking to those rules about official cake-making weekends.  The cake is just chocolatey enough to satisfy a craving, without leaving you in serious need of a glass of milk or a cup of tea.  The orange zest lightens up the heaviness of the nuts and chocolate too!  This classic chocolate cake would be great with any kind of icing, but something about that pop of orange against the dark chocolate seemed fitting for mix of rain and shine we had all weekend here. 

Enjoy!

THE Chocolate Cake

Makes 1 9-inch cake. (I used two to make this cake)

1/4 cup salted Kerrygold butter, melted

3 eggs

1/4 cup coco sugar 

2 tbs honey 

1 vanilla bean, scraped, or 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup cocoa

1/4 cup coconut flour

1 and 1/2 tsp baking powder, divided

2 tbs coconut milk

2tbs coffee

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Homemade Nutella Paste* 

Makes about 2 cups

2 cups hazelnuts

4 tbs coffee

2/3 cup milk of choice (I used coconut)

3 tbs Kerrygold salted butter

1 cup dark chocolate chunks (at least %70 cocoa)

1/2 vanilla bean, scraped, or 1 tsp vanilla 

1/2 tsp salt (only if using unsalted butter)

Orange Nutella Icing

Enought to ice 1 9-inch two layer cake

1/3 cup kerrygold butter

1 cup homemade nutella

1-2 tbs coffee

1-2 tbs coconut cream from the top of the can

2 tbs cocoa - for deeper flavour (optional)

1/3 cup homemade icing sugar +  3 tbs arrowroot powder **

2 tsp orange zest

For the Nutella Paste,  

Toast nuts @ 300 for 5-6 minutes or until skins become shiny and detached from nut.

Using a tea towel, rub the nuts to remove skins. Not to worry if they don't all come off.

Once cool, grind in a blender or food processor until it begins to form a paste that looks similar to almond butter or peanut butter. Remove from machine.

Heat milk of choice in a saucepan over medium-low heat until simmering point - do not let it simmer - turn off heat. Add the coffee grounds and let steep until desired coffee taste is achieved.  Strain coffee milk mixture into a medium bowl filled with the chocolate and butter. Let melt.  Add vanilla and hazelnut paste.  Chill until the mixture hardens. (Troubleshooting: if the mixture is not thick enough, melt slowly over low heat and add more chocolate)

For the cake,

Preheat oven to 325 Fahrenheit (I did 10 min @ 325 and 7 @ 300 since my oven is freakishly hot)

In a medium bowl mix melted butter with sugar and honey.

Add eggs and vanilla and whisk until well combined and somewhat frothy, 2 minutes.

Place a sifter over the bowl and put cocoa powder, coconut flour and 1 tsp of baking powder inside. Sift ingredients into bowl and mix until combined.

Place remaining baking powder into milk and coffee mixture and place in bowl. Sprinkle apple cider vinegar over milk and coffee mixture and blend batter until smooth.

Using a spatula fill a 9-inch greased round baking pan and cook until fork comes out clean. For me, it took 17 minutes as I mentioned that my oven is insanely hot. (Feel free to let me know how long it takes you!)


For the icing, 

Whip butter in a stand mixer or electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3-5 minutes.  Add your solid Nutella paste to the bowl and whip until combined. Add remaining ingredients and whip until nice and fluffy. If too thin, add a little more Nutella paste or arrowroot powder. If too thick, add more coffee or milk.  Store in fridge if not using right away. This icing stays stable at room temperature so feel free to ice your cake in advance!

 *Note that I've made this Nutella extra thick so it can be used to make thicker icing. If you want to make the Nutella for spreading purposes, add at least an extra 1/4 cup of milk to the mixture.

** Note that homemade icing sugar is simply a 1:1 ration of coconut palm sugar and arrowroot powder, blended in a Vita-mix or food processor to make a fine powder

Vanilla Bean Macadamia Nut Butter

My dad turned 60 over the weekend.  Quite the big deal if you ask me.  But he's not a big deal kind of guy, so we kept it low key and took him out for a nice dinner at one of his favourite seafood restaurants in downtown Vancouver.  We had an amazing meal, with wonderfully creative dishes like torched hamachi with jalapenos, a candied salmon salad and a beautifully plated piece of sturgeon with crispy puffed black rice.  All in all I would say it was a success of a birthday.    

     

My father isn't a huge fan of cakes, but he sure loves to snack. He loves tropical flavours like pineapple, coconut and lime. (As bad as they are, the coconut cashews from Trader Joe's are his kryptonite)  Since he has been on a little bit of a health kick lately, I promised I would make him a healthier version of a key lime pie sometime soon, but for our little dinner outing he needed something to open.  Making thoughtful gifts means more than stuff to my family, so I went with a delicious and decadent nut butter.  On a family trip to Hawaii my father couldn't get enough macadamias and is still thrilled when people bring them back for him, so I decided that macadamia nut butter would be perfect.  He was so happy to open the little package and find a dainty jar full of buttery goodness.  I warned him not to go crazy with the stuff though, since this butter is extremely rich!




Vanilla Bean Macadamia Nut Butter

Makes 1 small mason jar full

2 handfuls raw organic macadamia nuts

2 tbs honey 

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

1/2 tsp salt

Optional: add 1-2 TBS coconut cream (from the top of the can) to make even smoother

Put nuts in food processor and grind until a paste forms. This happens quite quickly with macadamias since they are almost pure fat.  Add sweetener, vanilla bean, salt and milk if using.  Blend until the desired consistency has been reached, 2-4 minutes.  


The flavour is mild and buttery, with just enough sweetness to be eaten on its own.  Enjoy on toast, right off the spoon, or for me, on a crisp little cookie.

Coconut Flour Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

The science behind baking has always fascinated me.  To a kid, adding a mix of ingredients together to make something complete new and delicious was magical, but I never really liked all the rules you had to follow.

As a child my home revolved around what was happening in the kitchen.  Both my brother and I spent a lot of time watching my mother cook.  The oldest child of three, she grew up on a farm in Saskatchewan where she would prepare a lot of the meals for her family.  My mother was raised on an all organic, free range meat, non-GMO diet before it was the cool thing to do.  Using her knowledge from her childhood, she would create amazing meals in our kitchen without a recipe in sight, with an almost perfect turnout. There were a couple memorable fails though, like the most bitter artichoke soup I have every tasted to this day. (Note to self, if I ever make an artichoke soup, it is best done by using the hearts only, rather than boiling the entire thistle, including the stem and petals.)  We were raised to love and appreciate good healthy food, which I still thank her for on a regular basis. 

Her baking however, wasn't quite as stellar. I don't mean any disrespect to my wonderful mother, to whom I owe almost all of my knowledge of the kitchen, but aside from her amazing lemon chiffon cakes topped with a thick layer of 7 minute frosting, her baking always required some "adjusting", to put it lightly.  My brother and I got creative though, softening rock hard cookies in the microwave or dunking them in milk to add to the browned and burnt flavour of her chocolate chip or ginger cookies. 

After one rock hard cookie too many, I decided to take the baking in that house into my own hands. I followed recipes with extreme caution, levelling teaspoons of soda and sifting flour to perfection.  I was rewarded with cakes and cookies which received rave reviews from friends and family.  My brother became my toughest critic.  If he ate them, knew it was good.

As my baking skills improved, my creativity felt stifled by the strictness of the recipes I followed.  I began to grow tired of my go-to recipes so I did what any curious baker would do - I started to make them up!  It started out quite innocent at first; a little less flour here, a little more vanilla there, but baking became much more fun when I started to throw recipes together based on my knowledge alone. Unfortunately, my success rate declined with all of my improvisation.  Sure, there were some fabulous desserts that made their way out of my oven, but also far too many epic fails to count.  The lack of success ate away at my motivation, which, combined with a more sedentary lifestyle after leaving the world of swimming,  caused me to lose my passion for baking. 

On to the present, where I swim for fun, coach an amazing team of young synchronized swimmers (yes you read that right) and lift on a regular basis.  In the past 12 months I've made a few major changes to my diet, along with many little ones that weren't that hard to give up.  I steer clear of refined sugars, most dairy products, gluten, legumes, processed foods and hydrogenated oils.  If you're interested in a baseline of the diet I follow, follow this link to learn more (http://www.bulletproofexec.com/the-complete-illustrated-one-page-bulletproof-diet/).  I didn't have to change my diet drastically as I ate quite similarly before hand, but we will save that for another post. 

The biggest challenge with my diet change was dessert.  I am a sucker for anything chocolate and a good chewy cookie.  Store bought gluten free baking didn't cut it, which typically contains a whole lot of potato flour, refined sugars and other yucky things.  Cut up fruit topped with nuts or coconut was boring, as were most desserts that the internet deems to be healthy and "paleo".  Frustrated and hungry, I wanted to know why you couldn't find a recipe that was made from a small list of good ingredients that would do your body good.  Dessert shouldn't be about sneaking a treat that harms the body, it should be about eating something tasty without worrying about where the residual effects will show up the next time you rock a swimsuit.  I knew I had to do something about it, since my chocolate and dessert cravings simply cannot be curbed.  That's why I started baking the way I bake.  Life should taste good and leave you energized. So snack away at these cookies, no guilt required. 

Mexican Hot Chocolate Cookies

These little cookies are soft and chewy, with a spiciness that builds as you go along.  I like my cookies to be intense in flavour, so I've spiced them quite heavily. Taste them as you go, you never know how spicy you might want them!

Makes 12-15 cookies

1/2 cup grass-fed butter

3/4 cup coconut palm sugar

2 eggs at room temp.

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 tbs maple syrup or honey

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 - 3 tbs almond flour

1/3 cup cocoa (or raw cacao)

2 - 3 tsp cinnamon

2 - 3 tsp cayenne ( I like em spicy)

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt if using unsalted butter

1/2 tsp soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 - 3/4 cup 70% dark chocolate or a dark chili chocolate bar, chopped. (try to find chocolate without soy lecithin)

Preheat oven to 350. (My gas range is extremely hot so I bake everything at 300, so try a test cookie at 325 or 350)

Whip butter until pale and fluffy in a stand mixer or by hand if you want a really good arm workout. Approx. 3 - 4 minutes. Add sugar and whip another minute. Add in eggs, vanilla and honey. 

Sift together coconut flour, almond flour, cocoa, spices and sodas.  Add to wet ingredients at low speed in your mixer. Once combined, dough should look firm yet still quite pliable. Add in chocolate chunks and mix until just combined. 

Roll into 1.5 - 2 inch balls and arrange on a tray lined with parchment.  Press down to make circular cookies. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Let cool on cookie rack. Enjoy with coffee or hot chocolate :) 

Introductions

    My name is Sidney and I am more than willing to admit that I am happily addicted to food.  

I am in a long term relationship with dark chocolate, I drink butter in my coffee for breakfast and I have a massive sweet tooth. Thoughts of food wander in and out of my head constantly, so most of my creations are the product of my wild, food crazed imagination. I also enjoy a good challenge. Recreating old favourite recipes to fit my new lifestyle can be challenging, but when you make a chocolate chip cookie that rocks your world and doesn’t have 2 cups of processed sugar in it, life is good.

Natural, organic and gluten free ingredients play a key role in my recipes, because I like to know what’s in the food that I’m eating. Shiny, prepackaged food hold no appeal to me and besides, no one likes feeling crappy after indulging in something yummy and you really shouldn’t have to! (Plus it’s a whole lot more fun to make it yourself!)

Follow me if you want to learn more about being bulletproof, eating clean and gluten free, and being able to crush an entire cake without feeling an ounce of guilt!