Valentine Edition: Raw Vegan Chocolate Cayenne & Sea Salt Tart

Ah Valentine's Day is right around the corner and whether you have a partner or are single you have no choice but to get sucked into all of the red and pink commercialized heart shaped confectionery thoughts about love. This day has the tendency to pressure lovers to buy teddy bears and to make otherwise happily single individuals eat tubs of ice cream in their pajamas. 

I am not a believer in this day of cupid and his arrows, nor of red roses and over processed chocolates, it is too contrived and a bit stale for my tastes, instead I prefer a lover who cherishes and adores me on a regular ole' Tuesday, feeding me spoonfuls of ice cream while we snuggle on the couch. Call me crazy but I think a partner who buys you a present on a random Thursday because it reminded them of you is of higher quality than those who go all out for a day where they are instructed to be 'romantic' and 'thoughtful'.

Don't get me wrong, I believe in the frightening and awe inspiring feeling that we call love and I believe in the magic of a moment when two people are engrossed in one another, otherwise mesmerized by the sparkle of an eye or the mischief behind a grin, so much so that they exist in a bubble designed for two, but I do not think that those moments solely exist on February 14th but instead should be celebrated and coaxed forward with thoughtfulness, kindness, and intention, continuously nurtured and celebrated. As Tom Robbins states in one of my favorite books, Still Life with Woodpecker,  

"When two people meet and fall in love, there's a sudden rush of magic. Magic is just naturally present then. We tend to feed on that gratuitous magic without striving to make any more. One day we wake up and find that the magic is gone. We hustle to get is back, but by then it's usually too late, we've used it up. What we have to do is work like hell at making additional magic right from the start. It's hard work, but if we can remember to do it, we greatly improve our chances of making love stay."

So remember that love is precious, fragile and often difficult to obtain therefore, I created this delicious little tart in celebration of the ever fickle and just as wondrous emotion because even though I do not believe in Valentine's Day as a holiday I do believe in this chocolaty goodness of a tart that is not only healthy for the body with its non gluten, non refined sugar, and non dairy simplicity but also healthy for the mind. The ingredients are an accomplice to all aspects of love, from its aphrodisiac qualities, serotonin boosting chemical reactions, heart healthy goodness and of course the increased blood flow caused by the cayenne's capsaicin content. 

So take the time on a random Wednesday, to throw together this little tart and re-spark that magic while savoring the luscious decadence with your honey all in the name of making love stay for its best to remember that,

" Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as its accomplice. Instead of vowing to honor and obey, maybe we should swear to aid and abet. That would mean that security is out of the question. The words "make" and "stay" become inappropriate. My love for you has no strings attached. I love you for free."

- Tom Robbins

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Raw Vegan Chocolate Cayenne & Sea Salt Tart

Makes 2, 4.5" Tarts

Almond Crust

1/2 cup Raw Almonds

1 tbs Coconut Oil

4 PItted Dates

Pinch of Course Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

Chocolate Cayenne Filling

1 cup Pitted Dates

3/4 cup Unsweetened Cacao or Cocoa Powder

1 cup Coconut Milk

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Fresh Strawberries

Course Pink Himalayan Sea Salt 

In a food processor prepare the crust by processing the almonds, coconut oil, dates, and sea salt until the almonds are broken down into a course meal and the mixture sticks together when pressed between your fingers, add another date if the crust is too dry. Transfer the crust mixture to two 4.5" tart pans or to two ramekins, pressing the crust with the back of a spoon to evenly distribute into the bottom. Any leftovers put aside for garnish. 

Wipe out your food processor and blade before making the filling. Add the dates, coconut milk, cacao or cocoa powder, and cayenne, process for 5 minutes or until smooth, scraping down often. Divide the mixture between the 2 tarts or ramekins and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to set.

Right before serving sprinkle any leftover crust over the top, arrange fresh strawberries and add a pinch of the course sea salt. Enjoy and healthy eating!  

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Cake ReMake: Paleo Chocolate Birthday Cake with Lemon Cream & Avocado Chocolate Mousse

So yes, this post is about cake! Cake is probably as non-alkaline as you can be, filled with sugar, flour, dairy and fat, it is anything but healthy. However, birthdays are a time for celebration, a special day to celebrate the light that you bring to others and in doing so they also call for that devilishly delicious confection! So what is a girl to do who is trying to eat alkaline when such an event happens? She has to make tough decisions about cake!

Luckily, I am the cake maker in my family, growing up I had perfected the birthday cake and experimented with a variety of flavors and styles. Ganaches, buttercreams, preserves, curds, and more. I even considered becoming a baker at one point as I found baking to be relaxing while meeting my desire to care for others through nourishing them, as food nourishes so much more than the stomach. As my food habits have converted to more healthful practices, I moved away from baking and focused more on elemental usage of vegetables and main meal preparation. Recently,  you will have noticed that I have experimented with cookies and raw energy balls a bit on the blog in attempts to transform those treats into nourishing goodies, plus I was really missing cookies.

I have delved into raw cakes a bit but nut allergies are an issue in my family so 'cheesecake' was definitely out this time around. I have never tackled the revered birthday cake and quite frankly felt that I had left cake in my past life of sugar comatose and was not particularly keen on reentering that stage but alas my grandma's 90th birthday arrived and she wanted her cake!

Making cakes for other people is a special challenge, you want to create something that sets the person of honors taste buds aflame. My grandma's favorite cake is lemon but being the sweet woman that she is she told me that I should probably make a chocolate cake since not everyone likes lemon and everyone loves chocolate. 

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Avocado Mousse

So you see, I had a lot of choices to make, at first I was just going to make a traditional cake, fill it with my grams favorite lemon curd and call it a day and then I found Pierre Herme's Riviera cake, a delicious flourless chocolate cake filled with decadent chocolate mouse, rich lemon cream and covered in chocolate ganache. It sounded perfect but also about as unhealthy as a cake could possibly be and that is when the guilt started. How could I possibly make this cake for my family knowing that it is so unhealthy? So I put on my thinking cap and determined that I would take this delicious cake and model a healthier version after it.

This is where the hard decisions began, for I had to determine my list of priorities, was it more important to go flourless, omit refined sugar, remove dairy, or forgo eggs? After much debate I decided that eliminating refined sugars and bleached flours was the most important aspect, simultaneously I decided to maintain the Pierre Herme's lemon cream as it is my grandma's favorite and at 90 she deserved to have what she wants. The lemon cream is made by adding butter in as the last step thus turning the curd into a creamy mousse like consistency. You could definitely eliminate the butter in order to completely rid the cake of dairy. Coconut sugar could also be used to replace the regular sugar, I just didn't have any on hand. 

Lemon Cream

So what did I do, I went with a chocolate paleo style birthday cake developed by Elana's Pantry that used coconut oil and flour as well as honey, a chocolate coconut cream avocado mouse, the lemon cream (which was traditional and therefore contained sugar and butter) as well as a dark chocolate glaze, creating a divine, creamy, chocolaty and tart cake which surprisingly worked well together. Chocolate and lemon seem like they would be at odds but in reality it was beautiful and best of all, my grandma was happy and loved it!

I had to have enough cake for 20 people and thus made two cakes, a 10in and a 9in thus doubling all recipes. the following recipe is recommended for a 10in cake 

Elana's Paleo Birthday Cake

1 cup Coconut Flour

1 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

16 Eggs

1 cup Coconut Oil, melted

1 cup Honey

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 10in. springform pan with coconut oil and cut a parchment paper circle to line the bottom of the pan.  In a bowl combine the coconut flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. 

In a mixer or using a hand mixer, blend the eggs, coconut oil and honey until combined. Slowly stir in the flour mixture until well combined. Pour into pan and bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until the cake is set and a toothpick comes out clean. Set aside to cool. 

Coconut Cream Avocado Mousse 

6 ripe Avocados

3/4 cup Honey

1 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder

2  14oz cans Coconut Milk (thai style)

Pink Himalayan Sea Salt

The night before making the cake, place the coconut milk in the fridge upside down in order to separate the cream from the water. Open the cans upside down and pour the water into a jar for later use. Place the cream into the chilled bowl of a mixer with a whisk attachment. Beat the coconut cream until stiff peaks form. 

Meanwhile, in a food processor combine the avocado, cocoa powder, honey, and salt. Blend until smooth. transfer to a bowl and fold in the coconut cream. Place in the fridge until ready to use. 

Pierre Herme's Lemon Cream

1 cup Sugar

Zest of 3 Lemons

Juice for those 3 Lemons

4 Eggs

1 cup + 5 tbs Unsalted Butter, cut into chunks

Place a small amount of water into a pot and bring to a boil. Place the sugar and zest in a heat proof bowl and rub the sugar between your fingers until it is moist and fragrant. Whisk in the eggs and the lemon juice. Place over the pot of boiling water and whisk often until the mixture becomes thick and you can clearly see tracks from the whisk this will happen once the mixture has reached 180 degrees. Remove from heat and pour into a blender or food processor. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.

With the blender or food processor running add the butter, a few pieces at a time. Once incorporated, blend for another 3 minutes or so until rich and creamy.

Assembly

Slice the cake into 4 different layers. Place the first layer at the bottom of the springform pan. Spread half of the mousse over the cake, top with another layer of cake. Top with the lemon cream and then the 3rd layer of cake, repeat with the remaining mousse and finish off with the final cake layer. In a small pan heat 1 cup of coconut milk until simmering. Pour over 4 oz of dark chocolate. let sit for 1 minute and then stir until smooth. Pout over the top of the cake.

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Remove from springform and enjoy!   

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