Chocolate Dipped Tuxedo Strawberries

Ten years have passed since I accidentally melted a chocolate heart I bought for J for Valentine’s Day. It’s a hilarious story - I wrapped it all nicely and popped it on my dining room table on 13th February. I had my storage heater on, as it was still very cold in Southampton. After I switched the heater off, I went to get ready for bed and decided to have a quick tidy around. This tidy around involved putting the chocolate heart on the heater…

Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

It was J’s 24th birthday yesterday…. yeah, right! Switch the numbers around and you’ll get his real age. You must remind me to ask what the view is like at the top of the hill...

He’s a die-hard chocolate fan, so what could be more appropriate than chocolate cupcakes for his birthday? These babies are vegan-friendly, moist, delicious and packed full of chocolaty goodness.

Dark Chocolate & Banana Ice-Lollies

These babies are gluten-free, vegan-friendly and super-delicious! Frozen bananas are enrobed in a high-quality dark chocolate and then rolled in roasted hazelnuts.

When you bite into these frozen treats, there’s a wonderful crack from the chocolate, which reveals the sweet, semi-frozen flesh of the banana. It’s a beautiful combination of flavors and textures, one that needs to be celebrated!

Chocolate Chia Pudding

The first time I heard about chia was from those annoying ch-ch-ch-chia adverts – arggh! Searching for that link just now, reminds me why we don't have TV, ha.

You can in fact eat chia seeds - they’re tiny nutritional powerhouses. Chia (salvia hispanica) belongs to the mint family and is commercially grown for its seed. The seed’s extractable oil is highly concentrated with omega-3 fatty acids. They also contain a high proportion of protein, dietary fiber and significant levels of antioxidants.

Dark Chocolate Muffins - Gluten-Free & Vegan

I never thought I’d be baking a chocolate muffin that was gluten-free… vegan maybe, but never gluten-free. I was inspired when I finally got myself to The Flying Apron in Fremont, Seattle. This place is somewhat out of our way, but it was my birthday weekend and I wanted to try it.

The Flying Apron Bakery is absolutely awesome – it sells vegan and gluten-free items and uses almost all organic and unrefined ingredients. These days, it IS possible to enjoy mouth-watering cupcakes, muffins, shortbread and cookies even if you are vegan and/or have allergies.

Raw Chocolate Cheesecake

Raw-food purists would never call this raw, as it has cashews in it. So to call this raw, isn’t entirely true – alas…

Although raw, by definition is also vegan – I would like to point this out to people who aren’t huge raw-food fans, like myself. So, not only is this cheesecake raw, it’s also vegan and has no processed sugars in it. You can of course sweeten it with agave nectar or maple syrup, but this will no longer make this cheesecake “raw”.

Raw Raspberry and Chocolate Fudge Cake

Who would think that a cake that was vegan, gluten-free and raw could taste so darn good? Well, believe me, it does!

It’s also packed full of goodies, such as omega-3 fatty acids, flavonoids, monounsaturated fats, dietary fiber and more.

This cake is definitely not low-calorie, but if you compare the nutritional value and health benefits of eating this cake compared to that of a conventional cake made from refined flour, sugar, fat and eggs, this cake wins hands-down every time.

Vegan Chocolate Brownie Bites

These do NOT last long in my house – I just can’t help myself!

Their fudgy brownie center is simply made of dates, walnuts*, vanilla and cocoa, which is then drenched in molten chocolate^. The taste and texture sensation is incredible – you initially get the crack of the chocolate when you bite into one, which then allows your tongue to be tantalized by the dark, chocolately, goodness inside… reminiscent of a fudgy brownie. They taste so decadently sinful, yet they aren’t.

Chocolate Layer Cookies

Another one of my recipes I dig up for when we need a hostess gift. These are a little more tedious than the Viennese Fingers, but the resulting biscuits (cookies) are not only beautiful, but also delicious.

These bite-sized biscuits (cookies) are layered vanilla and chocolate shortbread that are crisp, buttery and coated on one-side with dark (semi-sweet) chocolate.

Gluten-Free Chocolate Cake

You’ve probably guessed that there's a certain someone in this household that LOVES chocolate, and that certain someone is not I.

This cake contains no flour, butter or refined sugar, but it has a very dark secret. The secret being that its base is made of black beans. You read correctly, black beans!

Dark Chocolate & Roasted Hazelnut Spread

We used to love Nutella. So much so, that one Christmas, my brother-in-law bought us a humungous jar (3 kg, 6.6 lb) from Luxembourg. Let’s say that jar didn’t last very long!

When we relocated, we ceased to consume it. The Nutella available in the Americas contain modified palm oil, whereas the European variant contains vegetable oil. I would have liked to say that the European stuff is better, but sadly, it’s not. I was blissfully ignorant of the ingredients at the time. All variants of Nutella, regardless of which country it’s sold in, contains soy lecithin and artificial vanillin - two ingredients that I choose not to eat. Read about soy lecithin and vanillin in my nitty gritty pages.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Frosting

Cupcakes weren’t called cupcakes when I was growing up, they were called fairy cakes. Fairy cakes in those days were nothing special – they were usually served at a child’s birthday party, and that was it.

Nowadays, cupcakes and their availability have not only been spreading throughout the US but they have infiltrated many markets Worldwide. It’s not as if cupcakes are new, it’s the way that they’re beautifully decorated, the flavor combinations and being marketed more at adults that make them popular.

Easy Moist Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Sauce

I baked this moist chocolate cake with dark chocolate sauce for J’s birthday. The cake itself is dairy-free and was pretty damn delicious on its own, although it doesn’t taste as chocolately as it looks. When serving this cake with the warmed chocolate sauce (not dairy-free), it's pretty close to perfect. The sauce does set, so you could theoretically throw it on top of the cake and allow it to set before devouring.

Vegan Chocolate Cheesecake

You’ve probably guessed that I’m a real sucker for desserts. However, moving to the US has really put a dampener on things – it drives me insane. Some days I just want to buy a dessert, without having to worry about my ill effects afterwards. If I’m lucky, I get bloated and diarrhea, if I’m unlucky I get a hives or mild anaphylaxis.

Profiteroles with Coffee Flavored Crème Patisserie and Chocolate Sauce

Profiteroles (cream puffs) have never been a favorite dessert of mine. I blame it on my experiences with choux pastry when I was younger – the slightly salty flavor and texture made me wanted to vomit. Since then, I’ve grown up believing that I disliked choux pastry, and anything that was made with it. That was until I decided to make profiteroles for dessert one Christmas.

I wasn’t going to fill them with vanilla-laced sweetened cream (chantilly), nor was I going to fill it with ordinary crème patisserie (pastry cream) - I was going to use coffee flavored crème patisserie. Of course, they’d have to be served with dark chocolate sauce!

Vegan Dark Chocolate Truffles

Mmmm....there’s nothing quite like homemade chocolate truffles. Once you’ve made these, you'll never look at the store-bought ones in quite the same way.

These truffles are made with a coconut milk base, that’s no cream or butter! How cool is that?

Chocolate Lava Cakes

This recipe for chocolate lava cakes is not for the faint hearted – they’re pretty deadly! I made them one Christmas for dessert, and even for chocolate lovers, like us, one small ramekin would have been plenty.

The dessert has a light chocolate-sponge encasing a pool of liquid chocolate. Depending on how long you cook the cakes, you either get a huge pool of liquid chocolate or a very moist cake.

Chocolate Syrup

Last summer, I had this thing for Caffé Ladro’s dark chocolate mocha, made with soy milk. Don’t ask me why, I’m usually a double espresso girl.

As most people know, any blended espresso drinks aren’t cheap and it can soon turn out to be an expensive habit.

With a dark chocolate mocha, I know that it consists of milk, chocolate syrup and coffee – sounds easy enough to replicate at home, right? I also know that MOST store-bought chocolate syrups are packed full of nasties, such as corn syrup. Thus, I was in the hunt for a good chocolate syrup recipe. My hunt came to an end when I found this recipe. It sounded easy and I had all the organic ingredients at hand.

Viennese Fingers

This is one of my recipes that I usually dig out when we need a host/hostess gift. I love to package them in a cellophane bag, tie it with a red bow and pop an ingredients tag onto it.

The trick to a good Viennese finger is the butter. Use the best European butter you can find/afford for this recipe.

These Viennese fingers are slightly crisp, buttery and melt in the mouth. They are quick to make, taste delicious, and the recipient will certainly thank you for them.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cookies

This is a slightly modified version of Chewy Chocolate Chip & Walnut Cookies. I substituted some peanut butter for butter, which added a new depth of flavor. What could be better than peanut butter with chocolate???

The recipe is definitely a keeper - they are slightly crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside and full of choco-peanutty goodness.