Green Tea “Pound Cake” with Cashew Cream Drizzle

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

To conclude the week of green foods, how about a green tea pound cake?

After seeing multiple posts from other bloggers using matcha green tea powder, I was itching to buy some for my own kitchen experiments. So far, I’ve only used matcha in a smoothie and in this cake recipe, and I’m quite pleased with the results so far. This fun-shaped cake is dense, moist and has a light matcha green tea flavor with a hint of almond and coconut.

I’ve concluded I really dig almond flavored cakes; there is something about the combination of almond flour + almond milk + a bit of almond extract that makes me happy It just happens to be dairy-free and grain-free as well!

When St. Patty’s Day rolled around this year, I couldn’t wait to use the set of shamrock cookie cutters my mom gave me a while back. To me, food is more fun when consumed in different shapes..plus I’m always excited to make festive recipes! I used the HUGE cutter for this cake and cut out two shamrocks from my two 6 inch cake pans. And you better believe I happily ate all those leftovers “scraps”

I had to put “Pound Cake” in parentheses because the texture of the cake turned out much more dense than a fluffy white cake. Although this wasn’t my initial idea, it was still filling and very delicious! I am not sure how they would turn out if you baked them in a loaf pan like a traditional pound cake, but mini versions would probably work nicely.

Confession: I had this cake for breakfast three mornings in a row! I am happy to report that I didn’t crash from carb overload AND I was full for hours!

Almond Green Tea “Pound Cake”

Ingredients

3/4 cup coconut flour
3/4 cup blanched almond flour
6-8 Tbsp coconut palm sugar, erythritol, xylitol or other granulated sweetener
1/8 to 1/4 tsp pure stevia extract (or to taste)
2 Tbsp + 1 tsp unsweetened matcha green tea powder
5 eggs, whisked (room temperature is best)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
6 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
6 Tbsp coconut oil, liquified (or butter, ghee or other oil of choice)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease two 6-inch cake pans* with coconut oil/butter/oil and line bottoms with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (flours through salt) and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl, combine remaining ingredients except for coconut oil and whisk to combine.
3. Pour wet ingredients into dry along with the coconut oil and stir until combined.
4. Divide batter into two pans and smooth with a spatula or back of a spoon. Bake for 22-26 minutes or until cooked through. Let cool completely and remove from pan. Cut with a giant cookie cutter if desired, drizzle with cashew cream (recipe below) and a dusting of matcha powder and enjoy!

*You could make about 16-18 cupcakes instead or you could bake this cake in a 11×7 pan, but please note that the baking time might need to be adjusted.

For the icing/glaze, I made a simple cashew cream drizzle with a little boost of protein. After all, I was eating this cake for breakfast Even if you do not make the cake, this drizzle is versatile and can be used over scones, cakes, pancakes, waffles or donuts…yummm

Vanilla Cashew Cream Drizzle

Ingredients

1/2 cup raw cashews (I used cashew pieces), soaked for at least four hours
3/4 cup almond milk (or more if too thick)
2 tbsp honey or agave
1/2 scoop unsweetened vanilla protein powder (optional, can omit and add a dash of vanilla extract)
pinch of sea salt, optional

Directions

1. Soak cashews in water for four hours or more. Drain and add cashews to a high powered blender along with the almond milk and blend until smooth.
2. Pour into a small mixing bowl and add honey/agave, protein powder and salt. Whisk until smooth and well combined. Drizzle over cake.

Chocolate Kissed Red Wine Donuts

Happy Valentine’s Day!

If everything goes according to plan, The Frozen Moose yogurt store should be open today (keep your fingers crossed for me!). I wrote this quick post ahead of time in anticipation that I wouldn’t have time to sleep or breathe anything but frozen yogurt but I still wanted to share a festive post. I couldn’t stay away from you all!

Chocolate + Wine sounds romantic, doesn’t it? Continuing on with my love for donut pan, I was set on coming up with a recipe that used wine and chocolate for Valentines’ day. I am not a wine drinker myself but I sure enjoyed this combination in these cake donuts. I tried multiple batches of these vegan donuts for Fork and Beans Valentine’s Day bake-off with many failures (ie. coming out completely flat and gummy).

Although they aren’t perfect, these donuts are moist, chocolately and easy to pull together. They could be a little bit lighter in texture and height (maybe add an egg or use egg replacer for vegan?) but I still enjoyed them very much…what’s not to like when something is covered in chocolate?

Chocolate Kissed Red Wine Donuts

Ingredients

For donuts
1/4 cup oat flour (millet, brown rice or sorghum could be subbed)
1/4 cup buckwheat flour (millet, brown rice, or sorghum could be subbed)
1/4 cup flax meal
1 Tbsp coconut flour (or could use 2 more Tbsp of oat or buckwheat flour)
3-4 tbsp cacao or cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup coconut palm sugar or sucanat
1/4 cup Earth balance, or refined coconut oil (no coconut taste), melted (room temp)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup red wine
1/4 cup non-dairy milk (room temperature)

For chocolate glaze
1/2 cup dairy-free dark chocolate bar, chopped or chocolate chips (I used Endangered Species 72% bar)
2 tsp refined coconut oil (no taste) or all-vegetable shortening

Optional toppings
chocolate shavings or cacao nibs
2 Tbsp fruit-sweetened strawberry or raspberry preserves (mixed with 1/2 Tbsp powdered sucanat and slightly thinned with 1 tsp of red wine, only add this prior to serving)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease donut pan and set aside.
2. Add all dry ingredients (flours through sugar) into a medium mixing and stir to combine. Add wet ingredients (earth balance/oil through wine) bowl and stir together gently.
3. Spoon batter into prepared donut pan and smooth with spatula or press down gently. Bake donuts at 350 F for about 15-16 minutes (should be moist but also cooked through).
4. Let cool in pan for at least 5 minutes before gently removing.
5. To prepare glaze, add chocolate and oil/shortening in a double broiler, stir often until chocolate is melted. Carefully dip tops of donuts into the melted chocolate, sprinkle/drizzle with other toppings if desired and enjoy!

Makes 6 donuts

*If you don’t have a donut pan, you could still make these in mini cake form. Just use greased ramekins or cupcake/muffin liners – will probably make 4-5 so cooking time will most likely increase by a few minutes.

Almond Joy or Mounds Pancakes

Do you like those chocolate covered coconut “Mounds” or “Almond Joy” candy bars? If so, you are in for a healthy breakfast treat!

Who says you can’t have chocolate for breakfast? I say go ahead because these easy and delicious pancakes are packed with fiber, protein and healthy fats

A couple years ago, I couldn’t stand coconut but now, I love it in all forms. Coconut milk, coconut butter, flakes, flour, oil – it’s all delicious in my mind. I used a combination of coconut ingredients and cacao powder for a Mounds-inspired pancakes. Topping these off with almond butter makes them more like Almond Joy pancakes, so either way you have a delicious, decadent AND healthy breakfast!

I adapted this recipe from my grain-free pumpkin pancakes that were a hit. Don’t be alarmed by the beans in these pancakes, you can’t taste them and they make the cakes really moist!

Almond Joy Brownie Pancakes

Ingredients

2 eggs
3 Tbsp coconut milk (or other non-dairy milk)
3 Tbsp unsweetened applesauce
2 Tbsp cacao powder (or cocoa, or carob for different flavor) – I used extra dark
2 Tbsp coconut flour
1/2 cup cooked black beans (white beans or chickpeas could work here too)
3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp honey, agave or brown rice syrup
pinch of powdered stevia or 5-6 drops of liquid stevia (or to taste)
1 Tbsp coconut oil, butter or ghee + more for pan (use unrefined coconut oil for more coconut taste)
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of sea salt

For serving

Coconut butter (homemade version here)
coconut flakes
cacao nibs or chocolate chips or shavings
almond butter (for almond joy pancakes)

Directions

1. Preheat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat and grease with coconut oil (or butter/ghee but would not be dairy free).
2. Add all ingredients to a blender and mix until smooth. I liked these thick and fluffy but for thinner pancakes, add more milk.
3. Add several spoonfuls of batter to the pan and spread with the back of the spoon to 3-4 inches each, cooking three pancakes at a time. Cook until ready to flip (mine took about 2-3  minutes depending on thickness). Flip over until cooked through.
4.  Top with coconut butter, cacao nibs and almond butter (or honey/agave/maple syrup) and serve!

Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Did I need to a reason to make a double layer cake? Nope.

Did I have a reason? I guess you could say I did Yesterday was my 27th birthday and I baked myself a vanilla cake with chocolate frosting – my all-time favorite combination.

Smiles all around on my end, I am a happy girl.

This cake is moist and springy and not overly sweet. I adore the combination of oat and coconut flours and the addition of the arrowroot results in a lighter and less dense cake It’s also nut-free for those of you have a nut allergy. I am not sure how to make this vegan…I’ll have to work on that.

Vanilla Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

½ cup gluten free oat flour
½ cup arrowroot flour (or I assume you could sub tapioca starch)
¼ cup coconut flour
6 Tbsp coconut/palm sugar (you may be able to use a liquid sweetener if you cut the milk back to 1/4 or 1/3 cup, cake may be more dense)
1/4 tsp pure stevia extract (or 3-5 more Tbsp more palm sugar)
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 to 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup coconut oil, butter, ghee or Earth Balance
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup coconut milk (other non-dairy milk would also probably work here too)
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract

Optional garnish
cacao nibs, chocolate shavings, chopped or sliced nuts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two 6 inch round cake pans with coconut oil/butter and line bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flours through salt). In a separate bowl, blend or whisk together remaining ingredients.
3. Add wet ingredients to the dry and stir until incorporated and well combined.
4. Divide batter among the two prepared pans and tap on the counter to remove air bubbles. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake is cooked through and toothpick inserted comes out dry. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Carefully remove cakes from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack
5. Prepare frosting below. Assemble cake by frosting the bottom layer on a cake stand or plate. Top with remaining cake layer and finish with frosting.

*Cake is best eaten within several days of baking. Refrigerate leftovers due to the avocado in the frosting.

Chocolate-Avocado Frosting

Ingredients

2 large avocado, ripe (not overripe) or 3 small-medium
3-5 Tbsp honey or agave or to taste if desired (I sided with the lesser amount since I was going for a slightly sweet frosting, up to you though!)
couple pinches of pure stevia extract (or more sweetener if desired)
2 tsp pure vanilla
pinch of sea salt
2 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil, liquified (refined for no coconut taste, unrefined for coconut taste)
6-8 Tbsp raw cacao powder or cocoa powder

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Let sit in the refrigerator for several minutes to harden slightly (coconut oil will cool down) and frost cake.