Healthy and Green Living » Desserts

Chocolate Beet Cake

Melissa Breyer — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:00:15 +0000

Every once in a while I run across a perfectly confounding chocolate dessert recipe that incorporates an ingredient “X,” like dark chocolate zucchini cake, one of my favorites, or black bean brownies (I’ll post that recipe soon). This chocolate cake recipe from the Farmer John’s Cookbook tucks a bunch of sweet beets into the batter. Beets really aren’t that much of a stretch for a dessert, as sweet as they are, but still … beets? Sure enough, the beets give it their moisture, their sweetness, and their rich color–but none of their beet flavor.

INGREDIENTS
Oil and flour for preparing the pan
4 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup mild flavored vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar (or your favorite natural sweetener)
2 cups cooked pureed beets (3 medium beets)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Powdered sugar for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 375F degrees. Lightly coat a 10-cup Bundt or tube pan (or two loaf pans) with oil and dust it with flour.

2. Partially fill the bottom of a double boiler with water and bring to a boil over high heat; reduce to a simmer. Put the chocolate and 1/4 cup of the oil in the top of the double boiler. Heat until just the chocolate melts; remove from the heat and stir until well combined.

3. Combine the eggs and sugar in a large bowl and beat with an electric mixer until fluffy. Slowly beat in the remaining 3/4 cup oil, chocolate mixture, beets, and vanilla.

4. Sift the all-purpose flour and whole-wheat pastry flour into a large bowl. Stir in the baking soda and salt. Gently stir the flour mixture into the egg and chocolate mixture just until the flour is mixed in. Pour batter into the prepared pan.

5. Bake until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

6. Carefully remove cake from the pan and let cool on a rack. When completely cool, dust with powdered sugar.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumb Pie

Annie B. Bond — Sun, 11 May 2008 13:00:01 +0000

Here in the American Northeast, the appearance of the first rhubarb is a sign that winter is really, truly over–and that makes a great excuse for celebration. This luscious sweet-tart pie is the perfect way to throw open the doors to spring and enjoy the first tastes of its tender bounty: Juicy, tender strawberries paired with tart rhubarb make the perfect spring dessert. We also include a fun and easy way to make the tender crust–in a skillet!

Skillet Crust
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, sugar, and salt and set aside.

2. In a very large skillet over medium-low heat, melt the butter gently–do not brown–then stir in the vanilla. Add the dry ingredients from the bowl and turn off heat. Using a wooden spoon, mix the ingredients to form crumbs (they will be a bit clumpy, but be persistent). Allow the crumbs to cool for several minutes.

3. As soon as the crumbs are cool enough to handle, transfer two cups of them to a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie pan that has been buttered. Use your hands to gently press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Reserve the remaining crumbs to top the pie.

Filling
4 cups fresh rhubarb stalks, leaves removed, sliced in 1/4-inch thick crosswise slices
2 cups strawberries, hulled and sliced
3/4 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1. Make the crust, pressing 2 cups of the crumbs into a buttered extra-deep-dish pie pan (see directions below). Set the pie pan aside, reserving the remaining crumbs for topping.

2. Preheat oven to 350F. Combine rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, lemon juice, flour, cardamom, and ginger in a large bowl and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

3. Pour filling evenly into pie shell, smoothing the top with a spoon, then crumble the remaining crumbs for the crust recipe evenly over the pie. Press down gently.

5. Bake on the center rack for 30 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325, turn the pie 180 degrees, and continue to bake 40 to 50 minutes, or until crumbs are golden-brown and filling is bubbly. (You may want to ten the pie loosely with aluminum foil during the final 15 minutes, if the crumbs are getting too browned.)

6. Cool on a wire rack for at least 2 hours before serving.

Serves 8 to 10.

Guilt-Free Golden Door Chocolate Chip Cookies

Melissa Breyer — Wed, 07 May 2008 18:00:18 +0000

Adapted from The Golden Door Cooks Light and Easy by Chef Michael Stroot (Gibbs Smith, 2003)

Yes, they do make and eat chocolate chip cookies at the famed Golden Door Spa. Using fruit puree instead of butter and cream is an easy and nutritious way to maintain texture and flavor and cut the fat. Leftover prune puree can be used for other baked goods; store it covered in the refrigerator for four to five days. Or, to save time, use packaged prune puree or baby-food prune puree.

For the prune puree:
1 1/2 cups pitted prune
2 cups water

For the cookies:
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup sifted unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 egg whites
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Combine the prunes and water in a small pot set over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 40 minutes, or until the prunes are very soft. Drain, then transfer to a blender or food processor fitted with a metal blade and process until smooth. Strain the prune puree through a fine mesh sieve and set aside to cool.

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and brush with 1 teaspoon vegetable oil each.

3. Place the oats into a dry skillet set over medium heat; toast, shaking the pan lightly, for three minutes, or until lightly browned. Combine the toasted oats, flour, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl; mix well.

4. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whip, beat the brown sugar, eggs and egg whites at high speed, until the eggs are frothy and doubled in volume. Add the canola oil, vanilla, buttermilk and 2/3 cup of the prune puree; mix well.

5. With the mixer on low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, and blend well. Using a rubber spatula, stir in the chocolate chips. Spoon heaping tablespoons of dough about one inch apart on the prepared baking sheets; bake for 15 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown.

Simple and Sumptuous Chocolate Pav�

Melissa Breyer — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:00:44 +0000

Pav� is the French word for “paving stone.” Chocolate pav�s are very rich, smooth and dense and are often called flourless cakes, because they are completely gluten free. This recipe is lovely for the simplicity of its ingredients, even if it is a bit on the rich side. (It’s not named after a paving stone for nothing.)

INGREDIENTS
3 and 1/2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
15 tablespoons (2 sticks minus 1 tablespoon) unsalted butter
6 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350�F. Butter a 9- by 13-inch baking dish and line the bottom with parchment paper. Butter the paper and dust the pan with flour or cocoa powder, shaking out the excess.

2. Set a medium heat-proof bowl over (but not touching) simmering water and add unsweetened chocolate, semisweet chocolate, and butter. Heat until melted and smooth, stirring often. Set aside to cool.

3. Separate 6 eggs, and whisk the 6 yolks with 1/2 cup sugar. Continue to whisk until the mixture forms a ribbon when the whisk is lifted from the bowl and all the sugar has dissolved, about 10 minutes. Fold the yolk mixture into the melted chocolate.

4. In a separate bowl, whisk the 6 egg whites until foamy. Gradually add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Continue to whisk until the mixture looks glossy and holds a soft shape.

5. Fold the whites into the chocolate mixture in three parts. Fold only until there are no visible streaks of white.

6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish, smooth the top and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. As the cake cooks it will develop cracks on the top; this is normal. The cake is done when the sides are set and the center is still slightly soft. Let the cake cool completely. Invert the cake onto a baking sheet, remove the parchment paper and then invert onto a serving platter. Dust the top with sifted powdered sugar.

Makes one 9- by 13-inch cake.

Vegan Mixed Dream Cookies

Melissa Breyer — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:00:59 +0000

These vegan, fruit and nut cookies are full of texture, just slightly sweet but super delicious, and we’d expect nothing less from the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center. Tassajara is a legendary Buddhist monastery set deep in California’s Ventana Wilderness and is famous for its healthy gourmet vegetarian cuisine and their mixed dream cookies.

� cup dried apricots
1 cup mixed nuts, roasted (any combination such as walnuts, sunflower seeds, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts)
� cup soy margarine
� cup organic confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1� teaspoon vanilla
� cup agave syrup
1 cup unbleached flour
� teaspoon salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. If the apricots seem very dry, soak in hot water and then drain, saving the liquid; chop into small bites.

2. In a food processor, chop the mixed nuts; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream the margarine and then beat in the confectioners’ sugar, vanilla and agave syrup.

3. In another bowl, combine the flour and salt; fold into the margarine mixture.

4. Add the nuts and chopped apricots and mix well. If the dough seems stiff, add some of the liquid from the apricot soaking. Use a small ice cream scoop or melon baller to drop dough balls onto greased baking sheets. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on the size of the balls. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 1� dozen cookies.

Velvety Spelt Scones

Melissa Breyer — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 13:00:58 +0000

Healthy scones may sound like a cruel oxymoron, but by strategically swapping out some of the refined ingredients for more wholesome ones, healthy and delicious scones can indeed be yours. In this recipe for spelt scones, whole spelt flour and buttermilk are used in place of white flour and cream, and the result is as crumbly and velvety as anyone could dream a scone to be.

I don’t know what it is about spelt, but I’m just mad for it and have been adding it to everything I bake recently. Slightly nutty, this ancient grain is high in fiber, more protein-rich than typical wheat, higher in important B vitamins, and makes for such a tender texture.

This is a very basic recipe, quite amenable to additions. Currants are classic, but dried cherries or blueberries can be a nice surprise. Savory flavors work well too if you omit the sweetener and vanilla. Rosemary and sea salt? Yum.

INGREDIENTS
2� cups whole organic spelt flour
� cup Sucanat (see the Care2 Directory of Natural Sweeteners for more about Sucanat or alternatives)
1� teaspoons baking powder
� teaspoon baking soda
� teaspoon sea salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 organic egg
� cup organic buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400�F and line an ungreased baking pan with parchment.

2. Combine the spelt flour, Sucanat, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter and with a pastry blender or two knives, cut the butter in until it is well combined and resembles course crumbs.

3. In a separate bowl, lightly beat the egg and whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla. Add to the flour mixture and gently combine.

4. Drop the mixture into eight balls on to the baking pan several inches apart (they expand!).

5. Bake until golden, from 17 to 20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

Wholesome Maple Walnut Squares

Melissa Breyer — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 13:00:16 +0000

The maple sap is flowing and the sugar shacks are humming. So in a nod to sap season, we thought we’d share a recipe for one of our favorite maple treats. Imagine pecan pie, but pecan pie that you can eat with your hands, and that has walnuts instead of pecans, and a strong blast of maple. Doesn’t that make you happy?

Always engaged in the quest of making yummy food that is wholesome too, we have played around with the refined ingredients that might usually be used in a recipe like this. We have swapped out half of the white flour with whole grain flour, and we use maple sugar instead of granulated. If you can’t find maple sugar (which is available in health food or gourmet stores), you can use organic brown sugar instead. If you like a crust with a little more texture and a boost in fiber, add 1/2 cup whole rolled oats.

Crust
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup maple sugar

Filling
1/2 cup maple sugar
1 cup maple syrup
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

2. Mix flour and sugar, and cut in butter until crumbly. Press into baking pan.

3. Bake 15 minutes and allow to cool.

4. In a saucepan over medium low heat, place maple sugar and maple syrup and simmer for 5 minutes.

5. In a medium bowl, gently beat eggs and add vanilla. Pour hot syrup mixture steadily over the eggs, whisking constantly. Add flour and salt.

6. Pour maple mixture over crust, add walnuts, and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Cool, cut into squares, and serve.

Flaxseed Egg Substitute for Baking

Annie B. Bond — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:06:57 +0000

By the Care2 Green Living Staff

Using flaxseeds in place of eggs is a great vegan trick for baking, but you don’t have to be vegan to benefit from this great substitution. Flaxseeds are a nutritional powerhouse and sneaking some into baked goods is an easy way to get some of their wonderful nutrients into your diet. Read on for an easy tip on how to substitute flaxseeds for eggs.

Flaxseeds are rich in alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), an essential fatty acid that appears to be beneficial for heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis and a variety of other health conditions. They also contains a group of chemicals called lignans that may play a role in the prevention of cancer.

With all of this goodness, it seems like a great idea to get flaxseeds into one’s diet in any way possible. One great way is to use flaxseeds in place of eggs in baked goods.

To replace one egg:
1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
3 tablespoons water (or other liquid)

Stir together until thick and gelatinous.

You can also use whole flaxseeds:

1 tablespoon whole flaxseeds
4 tablespoons water (or other liquid)

Process seeds in a blender to a fine meal, add liquid and blend well.

You can make a bigger batch by increasing the ingredient amounts. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Honey Lemon Curd

Melissa Breyer — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 03:18:29 +0000

Give me a bolt of sour with my sweet, and I am very happy. Say the words “lemon curd” and a joyous little yelp may escape from my lips. And while I realize that a dish based on egg yolks, butter and sugar is not going to be winning any healthy food prizes, finding a way to slightly temper the sins of such a luscious concoction as lemon curd makes me want to do a little jig.

Using honey instead of refined sugar won’t really cut the calories, but it does make the dish more wholesome, and adds a little extra depth. It is still decadent, but more innocently so. Lemon curd has many applications: It can be spread on scones or biscuits, used in tarts, layered in cakes, rolled in pancakes, or simply eaten with a spoon.

INGREDIENTS
5 large organic egg yolks
1 large organic egg
2/3 cup fresh organic lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely grated organic lemon zest
1/3 cup honey
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1. In a medium stainless steel bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and egg with the lemon juice and honey.

2. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it becomes pale and thickened, between 7 and 10 minutes.

3. Remove the bowl from the heat and immediately pour through a fine strainer to remove any lumps. Whisk the butter in until it has melted.

4. Stir in the lemon zest, cover with wax paper, and let cool to room temperature.

Luscious Lemon Polenta Cake

Annie B. Bond — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 14:29:01 +0000

Fine polenta, otherwise known as cornmeal, adds a rich texture and pale yellow color to this dense, moist cake. The lemon polenta cake is delicious on its own, and when topped with marinated strawberries or winter fruit compote, depending on the season, the flavor combination is sublime.

INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon canola oil
1 cup unbleached flour, sifted
1/3 cup fine cornmeal
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon lemon zest
4 eggs, at room temperature, separated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
� cup low-fat buttermilk, room temperature
� cup sugar (or substitute with one of Care2’s recommended natural sweeteners.)
� teaspoon kosher slat
2 tablespoons canola oil

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch round baking pan or an 8- x 4-inch loaf pan with canola oil, set aside.

2. Combine the flour, cornmeal, baking powder and lemon zest in a mixing bowl; mix until completely blended. Set aside.

3. Prepare a shallow pan of hot, but not boiling, water. Combine the egg yolks, vanilla, buttermilk and � cup of the sugar in a mixing bowl, and place the bowl into the pan of hot water; use an electric hand mixer to mix for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the mixture is light, creamy and pale yellow in color, and the beaters make “ribbons” in the batter.

4. Using an eggbeater or electric mizer fitted with a whip, beat the egg whites and salt at medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaing � cup sugar; beat for 2 more minutes. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture. Then gradually fold the flour-cornmeal mixture into the eggs, � cup at a time. Gradually add the canola oil, blending until it is just incorporated.

5. Pour the cake batter into the prepared pan; bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake is a light golden brown color and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven, turn out onto a rack and let cool for about 20 minutes. If using a loaf pan, baking time may vary so keep a watchful eye on your cake for doneness.

6. Serve plain, or garnish with strawberries that have been soaked in Grand Marnier or winter fruit compote.