Chickpeas & Spice

Happy Spring and Happy Birth to Virginia Jean Giopponi, we’re so excited to meet you <3<3<3 We love this chocolate cake with strawberry icing so much. If you love it, you might also really enjoy our chocolate cake with hazelnut frosting.

We have not yet tried a gluten free version of this although we love this gluten-free cake mix, and it would be great with our strawberry icing. While the box mix says cupcakes, it also works great in a cake pan. To make this recipe you would likely want to have two boxes so you could have the two tier cake with frosting in-between.

Pans needed: 2 6-inch round cake pans (if you only have one you can make this in batches it will just take twice as long).

Serves: 4-6 servings

Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

For the cake:

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour

3/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder, plus extra for powering the pans

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla powder (option to replace with vanilla extract)

1/2 tsp salt

1 room temperature egg

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup neutral oil

1/2 cup hot coffee

For the icing:

3/4 cup soaked cashews

2 dates

squeeze of lime juice

Lime zest

1 tsp vanilla powder (option to replace with vanilla extract)

3/4 cup pureed strawberries (about 8 large strawberries), plus extra strawberries for topping the cake

1/4 tsp - 1 tsp agave (depending on your sweetness preference)

1/4 tsp salt

up to 1/2 water depending on how thick you want the icing to be. Less water is more fudgy, more water is fluffier. The puree is pretty wet so you may not need any water at all

This cake can be made by hand or with a mixer. We use a mixer because we have one.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and make hot coffee. Brush oil into your cake pans and add 1 tbsp of cocoa powder and shake until bottom and sides are coated. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla powder, salt). In a separate bowl or in a 2 cup liquid measuring cup combine the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, neutral oil, and the egg. Break the yolk up, but no need to whisk the egg. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, careful not to over mix. While you are stirring, add the hot coffee and watch it transform into liquid, smooth, velvety cake batter.

Divide the batter between the two cake pans as equally as possible. Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes or until you can touch the center of the cake and it bounces back, however it should not be firm and should still have a slight wobble to it. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool for about 5 minutes.

Wearing hot mitts, pick up the cake and tilt to about 45 degrees. Using the palm of your hand (in the hot mitt) pat the side of the cake pan and then turn the cake pan. Repeat this until you’ve tapped all the way around the pan. Next turn the pan upside-down, turning the cake onto a wire rack, clean counter top, or plate. Then lift the pan off of the cake. Flip your cake over so that the cake is right side up and let it cool completely before frosting.

Drain your cashews and add them, with the rest of the icing ingredients, to the bowl of a food processor. Blend, scraping down regularly until you have a smooth creamy icing. If you find you need to add water, add it 1 tbsp at a time until you have the consistency that you like. The less water you use the more dense it will be, the more water you add the more fluffy the icing will be.

Once your cakes have cooled, place the first cake onto a plate. Using a serrated knife, cut the rounded top of the cake off, just enough to create a flat surface. Generously spread icing onto the top of the first layer. Put the second layer on top, cutting off the top for a cleaner look or leaving it on for a rounded top. Spread icing over the top and sides. To get a smooth finish on your icing, use an icing spatula or knife to spread the icing onto the cake. In between strokes, wipe the icing off the spatula or knife and rinse in hot water. The hot knife will smooth the icing more effectively and stop the knife from creating a peak when you lift it off the icing.

Optionally top the cake with fresh cut strawberries. Cut into slices and enjoy!

Hi, this is Anne writing the intro.

Today would have been my father’s 104th birthday so we are sharing a chocolate cake recipe with you all to celebrate. When I was a kid, probably about the age of 12, my father started putting a box of cake mix and a jar of icing at my place at the table the morning of his birthday. He loved cake, but I suppose he didn’t think that he should have to bake his own birthday cake. So from a young age it was my job to make sure he had a cake each year for his birthday, and he would remind me with the box of cake mix. My father passed away 12 years ago now, and the first year after he was gone his birthday rolled around and I was in the middle of a move and felt like I couldn’t do justice to the day. But a few days later I baked a chocolate cake in his memory. It’s now a tradition for me. I bake a cake on my father’s birthday, and over the years I have developed this recipe for a chocolate cake with chocolate hazelnut frosting. When I first started to modify the recipe so that it would feel better in my body I felt like I was betraying him. I worried that he wouldn’t approve of the changes, but over time I realized that the cake isn’t for him. It’s for me, a way to recognize my grief. Grief is a funny thing. For years, every day I wished that I could call my father, hug him, bake for him, cook for him, or just know he was still in the world. There were many times when something exciting happened in my life and I thought I should call him, before remembering that was not an option for me anymore. These days I still miss him, I still love him, but I go weeks or months without feeling the pain of his loss. I make a point of remembering him every year on his birthday with this cake, and I hope you will join me in celebrating this day.

This recipe calls for roasted hazelnuts and coconut sugar. If you can only find raw hazelnuts you can roast them at home in the oven in about 15-20 minutes. Put them on a baking sheet in a 350 F oven and give them a stir or shake every five minutes until the skins are darker brown. Coconut sugar is sold under multiple names including coconut palm sugar and brown coconut sugar. Any variation would work in this recipe including replacing with cane sugar, date sugar, or maple sugar.

Pans needed: 2 6-inch round cake pans (if you only have one you can make this in batches it will just take twice as long).

Serves: 4-6 servings

Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

For the cake:

3/4 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour

3/4 cup coconut sugar

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla powder (option to replace with vanilla extract)

1/2 tsp salt

1 room temperature egg

1/2 cup almond milk

1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup neutral oil

1/2 cup hot coffee

For the icing:

3/4 cup roasted hazelnuts

3/4 cup soaked cashews

4 dates

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 tsp vanilla powder (option to replace with vanilla extract)

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

1/4-1/2 water depending on how thick you want the icing to be. Less water is more fudgy, more water is fluffier.

This cake can be made by hand or with a mixer, however we use a mixer because we have one.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 F and make hot coffee. Spread oil into your cake pans and add 1 tbsp of cocoa powder and shake until bottom and sides are coated. Mix the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, vanilla powder, salt). In a separate bowl or using a liquid 2 cup measuring device combine the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, neutral oil, and the egg. Break the yolk up, but no need to whisk the egg. Add this to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined, careful not to over mix. While you are stirring add the hot coffee and watch it transform into liquid smooth velvety cake batter.

Divide the batter between the two cake pans as equally as possible. Bake in pre-heated oven for about 30 minutes or until you can touch the center of the cake and it bounces back, however it should not be firm and should still have a slight wobble to it. Remove from the oven and let the cakes cool for about 5 minutes.

Put roasted hazelnuts in your food processor and blend, stopping to scrape down the sides regularly until you have hazelnut butter. Drain your cashews and add them, with the rest of the icing ingredients, to the food processor. Blend, scraping down regularly until you have a smooth creamy icing. For the water, start with 1/4 cup and then add the water 1 tbsp at a time until you have the consistency that you like. The less water you use the more it will be like Nutella, the more water you add the more fluffy the icing will be.

Once your cakes have cooled, place the first cake onto a plate. Using a serrated knife, cut the rounded top of the cake off, just enough to create a flat surface. Generously spread icing onto the top of the first layer. Put the second layer on top, cutting off the top for a cleaner look or leaving it on for a rounded top. Spread icing over the top and sides. To get a smooth finish on your icing, use an icing spatula or knife to spread the icing onto the cake. In between strokes on the cake, wipe the icing off the spatula or knife and rinse in hot water. The hot knife will smooth the icing more effectively and stop the knife from creating a peak when you lift it off the icing.

Cut into slices and enjoy!