I went online to look up a recipe and decided on chocolate, because everyone loves chocolate right?! I quickly found a vegan chocolate cake recipe and started the “race”. It was exciting and reminded me of the time I was baking in a commercial kitchen I hired. I had to get as much baking done as possible in a short time frame.

I modified the recipe by cutting down the sugar content, adding in wholemeal flour and using coconut oil. I mixed cocoa powder with boiling water, so that it brings out its flavour. I used mini Bundt cake tins, but you can also use cupcake tins. You can use any topping, but here I used strawberries, blueberries, coconut chips and edible gold leaves. It also looks great without any toppings.

The cakes taste amazing! They are moist and melt in your mouth. This is by far the best vegan chocolate cake recipe I have ever tried! Everyone raved about it. It is easy to make and doesn’t use fancy ingredients.

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CAKE

Yield 16-18 cupcakes or 2-layer size 8 cake

INGREDIENTS

For cake

• Dry Ingredients:
• 225g All Purpose Flour
• 100g Wholemeal Flour
• 300g White Sugar
• 90g Cocoa Powder
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• ½ teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Salt

• Wet Ingredients:
• 200 ml water
• 500ml non-dairy milk (I use soy milk)
• 160ml coconut oil
• 2 Tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Vanilla Extract

For ganache

• 160 ml lite coconut milk
• 250 g 72% dark chocolate (I use Whittakers’ chocolate)

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven at 180°C.
2. Thoroughly mix all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, except the cocoa powder.
3. Boil 200ml water and set aside. Stir in cocoa powder and coconut oil and mix until smooth.
4. Add in the wet ingredients. Cool down in the fridge to speed up the process.
5. While mixer is running on low, pour the wet ingredients slowly into the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.
6. If making cupcakes, portion into the cupcake tins using a jug, because the batter is runnier than usual. Otherwise, prepare a size 8 cake tin and grease and line the bottom tin with baking paper. If making cupcakes, it takes about 20-25 minutes, rotate halfway. If making a whole cake, it takes 45-50 minutes.
7. Cool down on a wire rack for about 40-50 minutes. Flip it onto the rack and let them cool further.
8. To make ganache, boil coconut milk.
9. In a medium bowl, break the chocolate into chunks. Once boil, pour the coconut milk into the bowl. Leave for 5 minutes. Then stir until smooth. Let it cool down a bit. When it’s of pourable consistency, drizzle onto the cake and smooth off with a spatula. Decorate with topping of your choice.

Written by Lismi Wong

The post Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe – Vegan Friendly appeared first on Usana Health Sciences Organization.

There were some carrots sitting in the fridge so I thought I would make something interesting with them. I looked up recipes online to see if there is anything made with chocolate and carrots. Indeed, there is! I chose brownies because they’re easy to make.

This recipe was made healthier by reducing the amount of sugar by more than 1/4 C, adding in walnuts and LSA.  If you don’t have LSA, feel free to use all wholemeal flour, all purpose flour or half of each. LSA is a ground mixture of linseeds, sunflower seeds and almonds. It is a source of essential omega 3 fatty acids, B vitamins and fibre.

The brownies are very moist and fudgy because of the carrots. They keep well in an airtight container for 3-4 days in the fridge. The step where cocoa powder is mixed with boiling milk is important and it is called blooming. This brings out the full flavour of cocoa powder.

Choco & Carrot Vegan Brownies

Ingredients

• 75 g cocoa powder
• 1 cup soy, almond or coconut milk
• 125 g all-purpose flour
• 30 g ground LSA (can be substituted with wholemeal or all-purpose flour)
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 185 g coconut sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 C grated carrots
• 1/2 C walnut pieces

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C.
2. Line an 8″ square pan with baking paper.
3. Cook the milk until simmering, then pour it over the cocoa powder. Set aside and cool it down in the fridge to speed up the process.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, LSA, cocoa powder, baking soda and sugar.
5. In a smaller bowl, combine the cocoa- milk mixture, vanilla extract and carrots.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and fold in the walnut pieces.
7. Spread evenly into the pan.
8. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
9. Allow the brownies to cool for at least 20 minutes before removing and cutting into squares.
10. Dust with cocoa powder on top.

Written by Lismi Wong

The post Choco & Carrot Vegan Brownies appeared first on Usana Health Sciences Organization.