STRAWBERRY CHOCOLATE CAKE
Saturday, June 20, 2015Happy Father's day!!!
Today is a special day dedicated to all the hard working fathers out there. So to make this father's day celebration an exceptional one, I decided to make my dearest husband an extraordinary strawberry chocolate cake.
It was my first time to bake a cake and I was a little bit worried of failing on this first attempt. I've been baking (cupcakes, cookies, and banana bread) for several weeks already, but sometimes I still tend to mess up on a few recipes. I admit, I am still on the learning curve and there are still a lot of things that I have to learn. I just hope I won't have to learn from disastrous kitchen experiences because that would be really, really, really sad (and embarrassing)!
Anyway, I got this recipe from Deliciously Ella's Triple Layered Chocolate Cake with Thick Frosting and Fresh Raspberries. I just replaced the raspberries with strawberries because they're my husband's favorite. And I wasn't able to source the exact ingredients required so I ended up making a few alterations with the original recipe like:
(1) I fell short of avocados so I used banana as a substitute;
(2) I didn't have vanilla bean paste so I used the commercially available vanilla extract;
(3) I used cocoa powder in lieu of the raw cacao powder (which has more anti-oxidant content) because I wasn't able to find one in the supermarket; and
(4) I used only 2 cups of sweet potatoes instead of the recommended 4 cups because I decided to make only two layers of cake instead of three.
Aside from the few alterations with the recipe I mentioned above, the other challenge I had to face in making this cake is the non-availability of a food processor. We didn't have a food processor at home, so I had to use the chopper as an alternative. The chopper actually worked well and the end result went exactly just fine. The only thing is, it's a little too small to hold the entire mixture so I had to make everything by batch. In short, it was too time consuming! It actually took me four hours in the kitchen to finish this strawberry chocolate cake. It was tedious but definitely worth every effort because I made it for the most special person in my life. That's what you call "labor of love." (Ewww... I'm getting cheesy! Pardon my ka-cornihan.)
This cake is super healthy and nutritious! It's loaded with vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber -- making it a super perfect dessert for your loved ones. Honestly, I never have imagined that such vegan dessert can actually taste this good. Try it and you'll never have to feel guilty indulging over a sweet dessert ever again!
STRAWBERRY CHOCOLATE CAKE
Serves 12
For the cake:2 cups sweet potatoes, mashed
1 cup almonds, ground
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup dates
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup of maple syrup or honey
3 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt
For the icing:
4 avocados
2 ripe bananas
1 cup dates
3 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons maple syrup or honey
For the toppings:
1 cup of strawberries
Pre-heat oven to 180C. Peel the sweet potatoes and slice them into chunks. Steam for twenty minutes or until soft.
Place all dry ingredients – ground almonds, whole wheat flour, cinnamon, cocoa powder and salt into a large bowl and mix well. Set aside.
Make the icing. Peel the avocado and banana. Remove the avocado and date stones. Place all ingredients into food processor and blend for a few minutes until a smooth, thick, creamy mix forms. Place into a new bowl and store in the fridge.
Transfer sweet potatoes into the (empty) food processor with the dates, vanilla extract, water and maple syrup and blend until smooth. Mix this into the bowl of dry ingredients until well blended. Pour cake mixture into two separate cake tins and bake for twenty minutes or until you can put a fork in and pull it out clean.
Once cool, assemble the cake. Put the thickest cake on the bottom and spread a layer of icing over it before placing a circle of strawberries around the edge and a few in the centre for balance. Then place the second layer on top and do exactly the same thing.
Serve and enjoy!
35 comments
The cake looks really delicious. I hope you don't mind me noting the recipe, as I'll try this on my own next time :)
ReplyDeleteGo ahead Joan! Enjoy! :)
DeleteIf I had myself a proper oven I would love to try this! But since I don't, I hope you won't mind if I just popped over at your place to get a taste of said cake? hahaha just kidding! BUt seriously, this looks so delicious and something that my kids are sure to enjoy :)
ReplyDeleteHi Nicole! I'd be more than happy to give you a slice if you came knocking at our doorstep.. Lol!
DeleteWooooww! i really wanna try baking kaya lang wala akong pasensya. Hahah!
ReplyDeleteWala rin akong pasensya, Celerhina.. Kaya tingin ko, you can learn how to bake too..
DeleteThat looks delicious. I see this trend of having these kinds of cakes for rustic weddings!
ReplyDeleteThanks Louisa! I didn't know that this kind of cake is popular among rustic weddings. I am only familiar with fondant since that is more common..
DeleteI tried baking some cookies before pero epic fail sya. So now, I don't know if I still want to try baking again! haha. PS: the cake looks very yummy!
ReplyDeleteHi Nilyn! I have my fair share of epic kitchen recipes too.. But I just keep on trying til I get everything perfect, then I make it sure to save the recipe that worked well... It's like trial and error.
Deletemmm, looks really yummy!
ReplyDeleteI really wish I had an oven so that I could try to make recipes like this! Looks so yummy!
ReplyDeleteI guess, you would really love baking once you've got yourself an oven! Thanks Jackie!
Deletesarap!! Yun lang wala pa akong oven eh. Frustrated pastry chef pa naman ako haha! Pwede patikim na lang sis kung meron pa?! =)
ReplyDeleteHi mommy Jen! How I wish I can just invite you here at home so that you can try this cake and also, so that we can bake together!
Deletehope to grow a talent for baking. that strawberry cake picture looks yummy!
ReplyDeleteI wish I have that talent too! Thanks Lorly!
DeleteThe ingredients sound yummy! I hope I can try making this at home. XD
ReplyDeleteI hope you can try it Rowena! It really tastes good for a vegan cake.
DeleteSounds yummy! I love that there's healthy ingredient substitution for a healthier dessert.
ReplyDeleteI was really happy to find this vegan dessert too, Phenomenal Mama! It's really a great alternative to commercial cakes which are very high in fat and sugar.
DeleteYummy! I love strawberries!
ReplyDeletexoxo
MrsMartinez
Thanks Mrs Martinez! :)
Deletethanks for the recipe. I am already decided to buy an oven so I can start baking myself. I have been baking cookies using the oven toaster but I couldn't make anything else since the toaster is too small. I will bookmark this page for my reference :)
ReplyDeleteHi zaineandi! Congratulations in advance for your new oven! I'm pretty sure it's going to be a very busy kitchen for you once the oven comes in! :)
DeleteThis looks delicious. Will give this a try :) Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteWow, avocado and banana icing? Sounds delish to me!
ReplyDeleteYup Sharlene! It's really delicious! I never have thought that a cake's icing can actually be this healthy too.
DeleteBaking is something I can't do at home right now since we don't have an oven, but once I've acquired one, I want to try this healthy recipe. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteGo ahead and give it a try (once you got your new oven), Maria Teresa! I bet you'll love baking too!
DeleteThis looks like a really yummy recipe! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSarap! Makes me want to get one now!
ReplyDeleteThanks Que! :)
DeleteLooks yummy. I'm sure your husband enjoyed the treat :)
ReplyDeleteYes, he did! He loved all the ingredients I used in this cake that's why it's not surprising that he loved the finish product as well! :)
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