Buckwheat Chocolate Almond Cake

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Buckwheat Chocolate Almond Cake at Camp Joy Gardens, Boulder Creek, California

Chocolate is one of those alluring ingredients that inspired me to create something simple and decadent when Camp Joy Gardens, a small non-profit organic farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, received 25 pounds of cocoa powder in their bulk order. The beautiful 4 acre farm is run through an apprenticeship program that is greatly influenced by Alan Chadwick's model of biodynamic organic farming techniques. I was fortunate enough to be welcomed into the program and have been overcome with splendor, as food is a communal affair and everyone gets to create wonderful meals from the fresh produce we grow. I really wanted to keep this cake gluten free, as one of my peers is intolerant. With most dietary restrictions, it’s difficult to retain the integrity of a recipe without using a substitute that hinders the flavor. This wonderful snacking cake however gets too much of its flavor and texture from the ground almonds and is completely gluten free without anything being lost without flour. 

You may notice that this recipe is also written in grams. Within the last couple of months I have become fond of working with a digital scale when baking. When you multiply a recipe, proportions can easily be thrown off and working with a scale takes the guess work out of multiplying a recipe, and helps you remain exact, which is so important in baking!

Buckwheat Chocolate Almond Cake

as adapted from David Lebovitz

6 oz (170g) chocolate* 

1/2 cup (115g) butter

4 large eggs, separated

1/2 cup (100g) sugar

1/3 cup (80 ml) yogurt

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup almonds, roasted 

1/4 cup buckwheat flour (35g)

powdered sugar & cocoa powder, for dusting

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 8 inch cake pan. In a double boiler, melt down butter and add chocolate. Once melted remove and allow to cool. In a bowl, separate eggs into whites and yolks. Whisk the egg yolks, half of the sugar, yogurt, vanilla, and salt, stir in melted chocolate. In a food processor pulse almonds until fine and add in the buckwheat flour. Stir into chocolate mixture. In a mixture (or by hand if you want a work out!) whisk egg whites until soft peaks form, add the remaining sugar and beat until firm peaks form. Slowly fold into chocolate mixture. Scrap bowl into greased pan and bake for 25-30 minutes. Center should be slightly soft. Cool and remove from pan and dust with powdered sugar & cocoa powder. Enjoy with a scoop of ice cream for added decadence! 

* I used semi-sweet chocolate chips, but dark chocolate would be amazing as well. 

Mexican Chocolate Christmas Trees

My favorite Chef and dear friend Karen and I recently made over eight dozen cookies to send to the troops in Afghanistan. One of my favorites we made was these Mexican Chocolate Christmas Trees. They are essentially a shortbread cookie but with all the decadence of chocolate. Adding cinnamon, chili powder and pepper make these cookies spicy, giving them a rich and deep flavor.

I have to admit I have been baking more cookies than even the cookie monster can eat and there are a few tricks I have picked up along the way. One, always use room temperature ingredients unless otherwise specified! When you use room temperature butter and eggs you can really see the difference in your batter. It is also generally good to chill your dough before baking as it will hold better shape when baking. I also like to use good quality butter & eggs as they can really add a lot of flavor!

Mexican Chocolate Christmas Trees

1 1/2 cups room temperature butter

1 3/4 cups sugar

2 room temperature eggs, beaten

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups cocoa

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon finely ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

Cream butter & sugar. Add eggs one by one and beat until fluffy. Mix dry ingredients together and add creamed mixture. Beat until combine. Divide dough into three balls, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll out dough and cut into desired shape. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until firm. Cool & enjoy!!!

Gingersnap Whoopie Pies with Cranberry Orange Ganache

I recently moved out of Philadelphia and back to my family's bed & breakfast the Bridgeton House on the Delaware in Upper Black Eddy, Pennsylvania. Our 1836 Inn overlooks the Delaware River and is riddled with my childhood memories. I remember all the incarnations of the Inn's kitchen and I always loved sitting at the counter, watching the chef prepare breakfast, but mostly I was in it for the cakes & cookies. 

Today was the first day I had free reign of the kitchen and prepared breakfast for the guests. While mastering my omelet game & making pumpkin cornbread waffles, I made a simple cranberry orange compote. After breakfast was all said and done it was time to make cookies for tea time (my dream). I decided to make a simple ginger snap but also wanted to get rid of my excess cranberry sauce. After baking off the snaps, I decided to take the compote add a little sugar and cream cheese and make a filling for whoopie pies! The color alone is super fun and they taste even better.  

Gingersnap Whoopie Pies with Cranberry Orange Ganache 

Gingersnaps

makes about 4 dozen cookies

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon table salt

3 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon allspice

2 sticks unsalted butter (room temperature)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 large egg

1/3 cup unsulphured molasses

Method

Combine dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars. Slowly add the egg and molasses and beat until combined, scraping the edges of the bowl often. Slowly add dry ingredients and scrape sides of bowl until mixed. Transfer dough into plastic wrap and refrigerate for and hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350. With a small ice cream scoop or spoon, roll into 1 inch balls. Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes or until deep brown. Sprinkle with Turbinado suagr for a festive pop.

Cranberry Orange Ganache

3 cups Fresh Cranberries

1 or 1/2 cup Maple Syrup

Zest of 1 Orange

1/2 cup Cream Cheese

In a sauce pan over medium heat, add cranberries and simmer until berries burst and release juices(5-10 minutes). Add zest and syrup to taste and let cool. In a mixing bowl, add the cranberry mixture and cream cheese and combine. 

 

Assembly 

Take two like sized ginger snaps and place about a tablespoon of the ganache in the center. Press together and practice serious self control in trying not to eat them all!

Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Carrot Butter Cream

I have such wonderful memories of Halloween. My entire neighborhood would always celebrate it. They would come out to see what the kids were wearing and hand out candy. My crew and i trick or treated till we were upwards of 17, simply because everyone was so accustom to the tradition, and still wanted candy. My family always carved a silly pumpkin, ate toasted pumpkin seeds, and my sister and I would lay out all our candy, organize it and plan trades. It was serious business. 

However these days there are some scary things hiding in our unassuming fun sized candy. Dyes, petroleum and modified ingredients lurk around every wrapper and the halloween baked goods are often filled with red dye #40, which is banned in europe because of its strong ties with cancer and hyperactivity. Scary stuff. 

When I wanted to do a fun halloween cupcake for the kids I take care of, I knew I wanted to do it from scratch and skip the dyes and unknown chemicals in most store-bought baking mixes. I knew I wanted to try to do a play on black and orange but wasn't sure of how I could incorporate the bright orange color into the icing without using any food dyes, which yes, are filled with these toxic colored chemicals. Hmm whats orange in nature? carrots! no kid will want to have grated carrot in their icing, no how could I incorporate it? Carrot Juice! Sweet and easy to find or make I had found my 'dye'. Chocolate is already relatively black but i made it extra dark and used the good stuff, extra dark cocoa powder. So skip the chemicals and start from scratch this halloween. 

Spooky Dark Chocolate Cupcakes with Carrot Butter Cream

Cupcake

3/4 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. in a mixing bowl shift together all ingredients. in a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. add eggs one by one. add vanilla. combine dry ingredients slowly and add the sour cream. pour into 12 pre lined cupcake molds, about 3/4 full and bake for about 20 minutes. 

Carrot Butter Cream

3 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup butter, at room temperature 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoons whipping cream

2 tablespoons carrot juice

Beat confectioners sugar & butter until combine, at least 5 minutes. add remaining ingredients and beat for an additional minute. When cupcakes are cool from the oven, ice the cakes with about 2 tablespoons of frosting.  

Cheddar, Chive & Jalapeno Corn Bread

Corn bread is one of those classic additions for a lot of meals. I have always loved it with chill, but it lends its self to a lot of fare. Cornbread can be dry & boring but I like to let it steal the show with adding a few extra delicious things. I'm a big fan of Cheddar & Jalapeno but also like adding chives, garlic or caramelized onions. You can't really go wrong with additions, as cornmeal is a blank canvas to play with. Adding some fresh or frozen corn kernels is also a playful add on. A nice heirloom corn meal also makes this dish that much more interesting and flavorful. 

Cheddar Chive Jalapeno Cornbread 

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus enough to grease the pan

1 cup cornmeal

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar or honey

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1 cups buttermilk

1/2 jalapeño, seeded, and diced

1/2 cup cheddar

2 tablespoons minced chives 

1/4 cup corn kernels  

Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder & soda, salt. Beat eggs with the milk and butter and slowly add to mixture. Mix until combine (batter will still be lumpy). Add desired seasonings. Pour into greased pan and bake at 425 until golden brown, about 20 minutes.