Moist Chocolate and Coconut Cake

By now, I think I'm finally starting to realize that for most people, healthy cakes should taste just as well as regular cakes for being worth eating at all. I'm that type of person that eat anything that goes under the designation "desserts", no matter if it tastes good or if it's not much to brag about. So, it's quite some good news on behalf of me, to know that it actually exists healthy, gluten and even dairy free (!!!) cakes that taste even better than the cakes we usually eat, which in most cases are stuffed with refined sugar, processed flour with added gluten and loads of bad fats! Now, I don't have to worry about the amount of cake intake, because it won't do any damage on by body, AND it tastes phenomenal. 

This lovely recipe of mine is actually so easy to make, and I bet even my little sister on nine years would have been able to create this beautiful masterpiece without any complains. The consistency of the cake itself is sort of like chocolate fudge, but at the same time incredibly light and airy. It's a cake you don't grow tired of, and you can easily store it in the fridge for up to a week. So in case you get some friends or family over, you already have a delight that you know everybody is going to love! 

MOIST CHOCOLATE AND COCONUT CAKE

Serves 8

200g (apx. 3) carrots

200g dark chocolate

200g coconut oil

4 eggs

150g coconut sugar

3 tbsp honey

1 tbsp coconut flour

2 tbsp almond flour

Boil the carrots for about 40 minutes until they are tender and soft. Mash using a hand blender.

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 320°F, and line a spring pan (24 cm / 9 inches). Melt the chocolate together with the coconut oil in a saucepan on low heat.

Separate the egg yolks and egg whites into separate bowls, and with a mixmaster, whip stiff the egg whites. Then, make eggnogg adding the coconut sugar and honey into the egg yolks.

Simply add the carrot paste, melted chocolate and coconut oil and the different types of flour into the eggnogg bowl. Carefully toss in the whipped egg whites and pour the batter into the spring pan.

Let cook for 30 minutes, let cool for about 10 minutes, and serve with your favourite berries and fruits. I like to drizzle over some honey as well!

Banana and Vanilla "Milkshake"

It's been a couple of fantastic weeks here. I've travelled from country to country, and I've seen and experienced so much new and exciting! What I really want to share with you, is this photo of the most beautiful place I've been to, ever! The picture you see below is taken in Albania, in a place called "Syri i kalter". It's basically a big hole in the middle of a river with only spring water coming up from the ground 50-100 meters beneath. The water here is so incredibly fresh and clear, and it's all just a perfectly turquoise hole with loads of different fishes and plants growing underwater. It's just like being in the middle of a jungle in Amazonas! For anybody who want to experience something new and undiscovered for most people, this is the place to visit!

The recipe for this post, is in my home, the thing that make me survive the intolerants of dairy products. This "milkshake" is so delicious. It has a lovely, silky consistency, it's really rich in flavour, takes only 4 ingredients to make, and it's ingredients that most people happen to have at home and it's fast and easy to make! So I say, why not try this one out if you're craving something sweet but nourishing!

BANANA AND VANILLA "MILKSHAKE"

Serves 2

1 tin coconut milk // 400g

3 large bananas

1 vanilla bean

1 tsp cinnamon

Start by scraping out the seeds from the vanilla bean. Simply combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until you see that air bubbles are created in the liquid. Pour into two nice glasses and enjoy!

Banana and Blueberry Muffins

Being on vacation can be both a real pleasure while leaving behind school work or job, but it can also be a little bit of a struggle. For me myself, I often find it hard to find right places to go and eat because there is a lot of food I simply can't eat! Well, I've sort of found out what kind of restaurants I can go to without any worries (such as Vietnamese restaurants or Asian in general), but when it comes to sweets I'm kind of stuck. It's often very hard – nearly impossible to find cafe's, restaurants or bakeries that make gluten and dairy-free desserts, so I therefore find it so much better to put together a couple of ingredients that they basically sell in whatever city you may be in! I was really lucky to have a complete kitchen in our rented apartment in Berlin, but you'll do fine as long as you have an oven! I've tried to make this recipe suit a typical holiday-lifestyle, where there isn't a lot of fancy whole food shops, and I've therefore have used soy flour when baking these ones. Until now I don't think I've been to a single shop without seeing soy flour placed in the shelves, so I think soy flour is a great option when you've got nothing else by hand. These muffins are so good-tasting, and are perfectly soft and moist in the middle. They have a lovely taste from the sweet banana, and the blueberry juice literally just melts in the mouth just by taking a bite! A lovely sweet treat on a summer day!

BANANA AND BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Makes 12 muffins

3 ripe bananas

1 cup soy flour

1/2 cup sesame oil

2 organic eggs

1 tsp natron bicarbonate

1/2 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat the oven to 150°C / 300°F, and line 12 muffin moulds on a baking tray. Mash the bananas in a bowl using the back of a fork, and mash until it's got a smooth and even texture. Simply add the rest of the ingredients, give it a good stir and add about 2 tablespoons of batter into each mould. Place in the oven for 20 minutes and enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Chia Cookies

Finally...my dear readers, I've found the optimal cookie recipe that tastes phenomenal! As for those who have read the "regular" yet heathier recipe of mine that I posted some while back (Healthier Chocolate Chip Cookie), I promised to find a great recipe for a vegan version of the delicious cookie. And I held my promise , and here you got the most fantastic recipe for classic chocolate chip cookies for anybody who happen to be vegan, or just want to try out something a bit unusual. These darlings are full packed with a sweet, round flavour and are perfectly soft but with a nice medium-hard crust. So, so delicious!

VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP CHIA COOKIES

Makes 8 cookies

2 tbsp chia seeds

2/3 cup water

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsp chia oil

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup almond meal/flour

4 tbsp honey

50g dark chocolate

Start by preheating the oven to 200°C / 390°F. Add the chia seeds into the 2/3 cup of water, and let it soak for 10 minutes. Have the oil, flour and honey into a mixing bowl and mix into an even but thick batter. Cut the chocolate into little chunks and add it into the batter. Finally stir in the soaked chia seeds. Line a baking tray and create the cookies by adding a spoon of batter, pressing down, and spreading out into a circle. Repeat 8 times until you have 8 even sized cookies. Cook for 10 minutes in the oven, take out and let cool for half an hour before eating!

Healthier Brownies

To me, chocolate is like heaven. I mean who doesn't want a piece of this moist, rich and tasty slice of brownie? It's an all time classic when having guests over or when you just want to make yourself a little something. Here, I'm taking a classic brownie recipe and I've tried to make it healthier. I actually think this healthier version tastes better than the classic one! The chocolate flavour is so much more intense, and I especially love the nutty flavour! This is actually a very easy cake to make, and it keeps wonderfully in room temperature for days and days!

HEALTHIER BROWNIES

Makes 10 brownies

1 cup almond meal

2/3 cup quinoa flour / buckwheat flour

6 tbsp coconut oil

4 tbsp raw cocoa powder

3 tbsp cane sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

2 eggs

optional: 1 tsp chilli flakes

Start by preheating the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Combine all of the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. If you don't know how to make almond meal, you simply do that by pulsing almonds in a food processor for maximum 2 minutes, or before the nut oils are released. Stir in the coconut oil and the eggs. Place the batter into a lined baking dish and cook in the oven for 25 minutes. Once taken out of the oven it's all ready to be eaten and enjoyed!

Pineapple and Coconut Sorbet On A Stick

In this warm and sunny summer season, ice cream is a must. And may"I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream", as they all say, be true! These fruity delights are so enjoyable to eat, and they're the perfect life saver in any warm situation. The tropical flavour due to the sweet and delicious pineapple and wonderful, nourishing coconut water is something you won't get in any store or market, no matter how fancy it may be. The only way to get a bite of these lovely ones is to make them by hand! It has no added sugar, and it's natural all the way through! So take your time, but you'll see that it will definitely be worth when you take your first bite! 

PINEAPPLE AND COCONUT SORBET ON A STICK

Makes 12 sorbet sticks

1 pineapple

1 cup coconut water

24 raspberries, frozen or fresh

12 lolly moulds

12 straws or lolly sticks

Prepare the pineapple by cutting off the top and bottom, and slice off the shell. Cut the pineapple into cubes, and put it in the juicer and wait till you get a lovely, smooth pineapple juice. Pour the juice over into a jug and add the coconut water. Prepare 12 ice lolly moulds (which you can buy in any kitchenware store or online). Pour some juice in every mould, but make sure not to fill it all the way to the top because the liquid expands when it freezes. Add two raspberries in every mould and place them in the freezer for about an hour. Take the moulds out, place one straw or lolly stick in every mould and place them in the freezer again. Let them sit there overnight or for at least 6 hours. Take them out, and they're ready to enjoy!

Quinoa Pancakes

We all love pancakes. We all love quinoa. We all love dessert for breakfast. I'm having a huge obsession with trying out weird combinations when it comes to food. Sometimes I fail, and sometimes the engagement pays off, and it all tastes lovely. So yesterday I cooked a batch ready of white quinoa. I was planning on using the quinoa for a little something besides when I was planning curry for today...But that didn't happen. Not today at least. I woke up this morning and had an unstoppable craving on pancakes. The bad news was that I was almost running out of buckwheat flour, and so for that reason I followed my heart and made an improvised version of the pancakes that I usually make. But, oh my gosh how delicious these ones turned out! The grainy texture inside of the pancakes is delightful, and surprisingly enough, when cooking the pancakes, it leaves the surface completely crispy - which really is a sensation.

QUINOA PANCAKES

Makes 10 pancakes

2 eggs (If you're vegan this could be replaced with 6 tbsp chia seeds + 1/2 cup water)

1 cup (250g) white cooked quinoa

 3/4 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup water

1 cup almond milk / yoghurt

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tsp baking powder

about 2 tbsp coconut oil (for frying)

Whisk the eggs and add quinoa and flour. If you don't know how to cook quinoa, simply boil 1 part quinoa with 3 parts water for 20 minutes, making sure so stir every 5 minutes. Mix in the liquid, cinnamon and baking powder. Place a pan on the stove top, add a little coconut oil and let it heat up. Pour a couple of spoonfuls of batter on the pan, shape it into a circle and let it cook for about a minute on each side. Repeat this step until you have all the pancakes ready. Serve with blueberry jam, nut butter, maple syrup or your own favourite topping and enjoy! What I think tops it all off is shredding on some lemon zest, because it adds a nice touch of bitter- and sourness!

Banana Ice Cream With Wild Berries And Chocolate Sauce

As you who follow me on instagram, you already know that I´m really into those simple effortless bowls of pure goodness - and I would for all reasons allow this bowl of banana ice cream to be called exactly that. I reckon with that if I'd come up with the idea of placing a couple of bananas and other good stuff in a food processor and mix, I would have eaten a countless amount of banana ice cream bowls already, today. Banana ice cream now is the love of my life, and I bet it's going to be yours as well if you try it out!

 BANANA ICE CREAM WITH WILD BERRIES AND CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Serves 2

Ice Cream

2 large bananas, frozen

1 handful wild berries, frozen or fresh

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Sauce

1 tbsp raw cocoa powder

1 tbsp honey

1 tsp water

All you really have to do when making the banana ice cream is putting the ingredients into a food processor and blend for a couple of minutes. Tip: When freezing the bananas, it may be a good tip to peel the banana and roughly cut into pieces before adding into a plastic bag and placing it in the freezer. Combine the ingredients for the chocolate sauce and pour it over before serving.

Rhubarb And Strawberry Crumble

Rhubarb and strawberries is the best combination ever! I remember gathering rhubarb stalks in the summer when I was little, and when I came home, we all ate the delicious fruit with some fresh strawberries and sugar - a lot of sugar, unfortunately. I have tried to make the perfect combination of fruits and sweetness into the ultimate crumble, and I can for certain tell you that it´s the best crumble I've ever tasted during my entire life. The ideal balance of fruits, sweetness from cane sugar (which is a much healthier option to plain white sugar), together with the crispiness and nutty taste from the crumble is something you really have to try!

RHUBARB AND STRAWBERRY CRUMBLE

Makes 1 large baking dish

Filling

1 large rhubarb

3 cups strawberries, frozen or fresh

2 tbsps cane sugar

Crumble

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup pistachio

1 cup gluten free oats

3 tbsps cane sugar

4 tbsps coconut oil

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F and grease a baking dish with some coconut oil. Roughly slice the rhubarb and add it into the baking dish. Have the strawberries and sugar in as well, and toss everything. Chop the almonds and pistachio into rough nut flour using a food processor, but making sure not to over-process it but leave some larger and smaller chunks of nuts to give the crumble more texture. Add the nuts and the rest of the ingredients for the crumble into a mixing bowl and blend with your hands until the coconut oil is evenly distributed. Add the crumble to the top of the fruits and let it bake for 40 minutes, until you see the crumble is turning golden brown. Let it cool for a couple of minutes before you serve with some ice cream. It will keep good in the fridge for four days.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi everybody! I truly have to admit that chocolate chip cookies are one of my weak parts. I just simply can´t resist the temptation. The super delicious hardness of the crust as opposed to the doughy inside when breaking it in half, as well as the oozing melted chocolate inside, is a temptation I believe nobody really ever will be able to resist. What´s then better than to make these cookies healthy and full of nutrition and all of the other good stuff? Nothing.

I´ve tried various variants of these cookies. I have tried to make these without eggs, but as a result I find cookies that are really fragile and that easily crumble apart. Therefore I decided to do this recipe using eggs, but for you vegans out there I will in not the longest period of time find the perfect recipe for you too!

HEALTHY CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

Makes 10 large cookies

2 eggs

6 tbsps extra virgin coconut oil

2/3 cup coconut flour

2/3 cup almond flour

4 tbsps agave syrup

1 tsp vanilla powder

1 tsp baking powder

100g dark chocolate, in a bar

Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F. Whisk the eggs together and add the coconut oil. With a wooden spoon, try and smooth out the coconut oil so that the oil and eggs form a thick "egg-paste". Add the coconut- and almond flour, as well as the syrup, vanilla powder and baking powder. Mash all of the ingredients together until you see that the dough is coming together well. Finally chop the chocolate bar into little pieces and pour it over into the dough. Give it a final mix. Place a baking paper over a baking tray and with a ice cream spoon, form ten equally sized chunks of cookie dough. Spread the chunks evenly out on the baking tray and press them down using a spoon. Tip: The shape you make at this point will be how the final result will look like. Place them in the oven for 10 minutes, take them out and let them rest on a grate for at least half an hour before you eat them.

Acai Wild Berry Chia Pudding

I hope you all are having a wonderful and relaxed morning! I surely do, and that is probably because of this breathtaking, fantastic (dessert) breakfast! Not only does it look stunning, but it tastes just as well as it looks and is one of the best health boosts you could get in the morning. Berries are the most clever food to eat to maintain a healthy heart health for the rest of your life and to keep you mentally sharp! Easier said, berries are the optimal food as they are full packed with all sorts of antioxidants, vitamins, fibers and other "more complicated" nutrition! All of these benefits packed inside a delicious tasting breakfast (or by all means dessert) makes the ultimate breakfast!

ACAI WILD BERRY CHIA PUDDING

Serves 1

1 cup almond milk

4 tbsps chia seeds

2 tsps acai berry powder

1/3 cup wild berries

1 mint leaf

Combine almond milk, chia seeds and acai berry powder in a glass or bowl, stir and let it sit overnight in the fridge. Before you eat it, pour over some berries and place a mint leaf on top! 

Mini Blueberry Tart

Tarts are just wonderful. They´re lovely as dessert when you got dinner guests or just want to eat an extra nice dessert by yourself! It´s so fun to make these small tarts, and they honestly taste as good as they look. As we all know blueberries are rich in antioxidants, so this tart is actually good for you! As well, they hardly contains sugar as in all of the other tarts we usually eat. I like using half the flour quantity spelt flour and the other half oat flour, to get the extra fibers, but if you are a gluten allergic you should probably skip spelt, and instead use buckwheat flour of a similar flour that bind the batter well. If you haven´t made mimi tarts before you truly should try to make these!

Mini Blueberry Tart

Makes 10 mini tarts

Crust

125g plant based butter

125g spelt flour

125g oat flour

1 dl almond milk

Filling

2 cups frozen blueberries

2 tbsps oat flour

2 tbsps cane sugar

2 tbsps lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F. Have the butter into a mixing bowl and mash it with your hands. Add the flour and keep mixing and mashing it. Pour in the almond milk a little at a time and give it a final mix. Now you should have a nice and firm dough that is easy to work with. Roll it into a ball and place it on a worktop. Sprinkle over some oat flour so that it doesn´t stick onto the worktop, and with a rolling pin, roll the dough into a large, thin dough. Prepare ten large muffin moulds on a baking tray. Cut out ten circles using a cup that is a bit larger than the muffin moulds you are using. Place the dough circles on top of the moulds and push the dough down and against the edges of the muffin moulds. Do this on all ten, and place the baking tray in the oven. Let them cook in the oven for 20 minutes, and then take them out. Prepare the filling by combining all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and distribute the filling evenly on all of the tart crusts. Place them in the oven for another 35 minutes, and let them cool a bit before serving. When you serve, you could drizzle over some powdered sugar from a health store and enjoy! These lovely tarts will keep good in room temperature for about four days.

Banana Bread

This must probably be one of my favourite recipes ever. I mean, it´s hard not to totally fall in love with this pure beauty. No milk, gluten or refined sugar is needed, which is probably the best part of it! No matter if you change the recipe a bit to make it suit your taste better, it´s still going to end up with a lovely soft and moist consistency. It´s so east to make and it´s amazingly healthy!

Banana Bread

Makes one big loaf or two smaller

5 large ripe bananas

2 eggs

2/3 cup pecans

2/3 cup walnuts

1 1/3 cup buckwheat flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinamon

1 tsp baking powder

Start by pre-heating the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Blend the nuts in a food processor until it has become a fine flour. Add this into a larger mixing bowl and with eggs that have already been beaten. Mash the bananas using a fork, and add that plus the rest of the ingredients into the large mixing bowl. Mix everything well together. Prepare the loaf tin(s) by greasing with coconut oil and sprinkling over some buckwheat flour. Pour the batter into the tin(s) and place the banana bread in the oven. Depending on if you made one big or two smaller banana breads, the large one should be in the oven for about 45 minutes. If you chose to make two smaller banana breads, they should be in the oven for about half an hour. Once taken out of the oven, let the banana bread sit for at least half an hour before you cut into it. Enjoy with your favourite spread or as good as it is on it´s own! 

Raw Avocado Three-Layer Cake

I love desserts, and after the previous raw strawberry cake I made, I have had such an obsession on raw food cakes. They are amazing! It in most cases takes short time to put together too - and that´s perfect if you really, really want a piece of cake fast. When I first decided to make the raw cake, I wasn´t really sure if it was going to turn out good with avocado in it, so at some point I was on the edge of not having avocado as the main ingredient and use banana instead. But that didn´t happen, and that I am happy for. I had always used avocado in more salty dishes, and thought it would be strange to have it in a cake. But as it turned out, it´s not strange at all. The rich and almost nutty flavour from the avocado does wonders, and the smooth and creamy texture makes the cake really moist. I have fall even more in love with avocados after I made the avocado cake, that because it is the perfect ingredient which can be used in any dish!

Raw Avocado Three-Layer Cake

Makes one round shaped cake mould 24cm

Bottom layer:

1 cup pecans

1 cup almonds

10 dates

1 cup shredded coconut

2 cups rolled oats

1 tbsp vanilla extract

5 tbsps coconut oil, melted

Middle layer:

1 cup cashew nuts

2 avocados

1 large ripe banana

 1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 tbsps coconut butter

Top layer:

7 tbsps melted coconut oil

4 tbsps raw cocoa

5 tbsps agave syrup

For the base of the cake, pulse the pecans and almonds in a food processor to a fine flour. Add the dates, and pulse again. Finally add the shredded coconut, oats, vanilla extract and coconut oil, and blend it. Prepare the cake tin with a piece of baking sheet and pour the batter into the cake tin. Spread it out into an even layer, and place it into the freezer.

Place the cashew nuts into the food processor and let it run for five minutes, or until some of the nut oil is released. Add the avocados, banana and vanilla extract and pulse. Melt the coconut oil in a casserole and add the coconut butter. Stir this together into an even liquid and pour it over the cake paste. Take the cake tin out of the freezer and pour the paste of the middle layer on top. Spread it out and place it in the freezer again.

In a casserole add all of the ingredients for the top layer and heat up so it´s an even chocolate sauce. Take the cake out of the freezer and pour the sauce over. Now it should set in the freezer until it´s time to serve. Enjoy this wonderful, delicious cake together with some fresh berries and fruit!

Raw Strawberry Cake

I love cakes, and all sorts of sweet treats. But the best thing is when you can actually eat a piece of cake and just enjoy it without any sort of guiltiness. This one is a favourite of mine, and a cake that always scores ten of ten when we have guests to join dinner. 

Raw Strawberry Cake

Makes one round shaped cake mold 24cm

3 cups cashew nuts

2 cups strawberries, frozen or fresh

2 tsps vanilla extract

10 dates, pitted

3 tbsps agave syrup 

8 tbsps coconut oil, melted

some fresh strawberries for serving

If you chose to use frozen berries, make sure to take them out of the freezer two hours or so before you´re going to make the cake. Simply put all of the ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend well until it´s coming out as a smooth, pink mixture. Pour thin into a round cake mold and put it in the freezer until it´s serving time. Once you´re guests have arrived, or you cave for a piece of cake, just take it out of the freezer, serve with some sliced strawberries and enjoy the taste of sweetness! You can store this amazing cake in the fridge for up to two weeks without any problem!