Chocolate Tahini and Chickpea Cake

Healthy gut, healthy life…perhaps this is the truth. Often what doesn’t go well with a happy gut and gut flora though is sugar. In fact it is one of the easiest ways to promote the growth of the “bad bacteria” and lessen the “good bacteria”. But lets face it, the sweetness of life is just as important to overall health, so the best thing we can do is look to substitutes and healthy ways to integrate that beneficial bacteria in maybe some unexpected ways. Enter into the ring, my mindful cake.

I created this cake for an event at Moment Meditation, the Happiness Picnic,  that I co-hosted with some other exceptional nutritionists and masters and the topic du jour was gut health and the brain. So only fitting I practice what I preach and deliver the goods.

This night was magic. Not in the way we see or expect it to be. There was no champagne flowing, nor heels nor glamour, but there truly was in the sense that this was a group of individuals all looking to be present, be still and take care, and truthfully there is nothing much more beautiful in that. I got to make new friends, and some who felt like kindred spirits from a life before, Hiroko I am speaking to you, and Hadley, I feel like I could just nerd out on the brain for hours and I look forward to doing so with you. I saw some people in new light, and they never looked so stunning, and some new people filled with brightness that looked so promising just by being still.

Ok, I am digressing, I could go on for a while on this… but back to cake;)

This cake, maybe surprisingly, has all the goods that I would look for in promoting gut health with my clients. Its main ingredients contain the very stuff the conditions our micorbiome into super duper health that sets the stage for all the benefits to come. I mean have your cake and eat it to? I think so…

1. Large Amounts of Fiber
2. No Refined Sugar
3. Prebiotic in fruit purees and topping
4. Cacao! Yes, raw cacao and chocolate may be extra beneficial to a healthy gut, good news. It is one of the most potent carriers of probiotic as it helps maintain a certain ph that makes your colon and gut thrive off of what is living there.

So, I think I had you at cake. But if I didn’t…all these reasons should do the trick. Remember, it is your right as an adult, to eat cake when you want to, not just on your birthday.

This cake is Fudgey, Dense, Gooey and sweet. Sound good enough? It is somewhat raw-ish. What do I mean by this…well it won’t ever really be dry because of the whole and natural ingredients, but its more reason to love it too!

Peace love and cake

Kate

RECIPE

INGREDIENTS

4 tbls Flax meal (ground Flax Seed)  + 10 Tbls water

1.5 Tbls Apple Cider Vinegar

1 Cup Almond Milk

3/4 cup Maple Syrup

1/2 cup Melted Coconut Oil

1 Tbls Vanilla

approx 6 pitted dates with 1-2 tbls hot water

1 cup Applesauce

1 cup Pumpkin puree

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/4 cup Cacao Powder

1/2 cup Almond Meal

1/2 cup GF Oat Flour

2 cups GF flour such as Bob’s Red Mill

3 tsp GF Baking Powder

Frosting

1 lrg can Chickpeas

3 Tbls Tahini

3 Tbls Coconut Oil

5 Tbls Maple Syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of sea salt

Toppings

Fig

Blueberries

Cacao Powder and

Coconut oil

Edible Flowers

Ganache : Your favourite chocolate melted together with a nutmilk, and sweetend with maple syrup. So decadent

METHOD

Cake

1. Preheat your oven to 350
2. Mix together your flax and water and set aside for about 10 minutes
3. Mix Your Apple Cider Vinegar and Milk and set aside as well and allow to curdle
4. Mix your dry ingredients together in a large bowl
5. Blend your maple syrup, dates, and fruit puree’s together until smooth in your blender or vitamix.
6. Dump all ingredients together. The puree, milk, flax egg and dry ingredients. Mix until just all blended.
7. Divide batter between pans. I used 3- 6″ pans, but you can do larger and shorter cake, or even cupcakes.
8. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Mine were generally around 42 minutes until a toothpick came out clean. Note this is a raw-ish cake. It is dense and fudgey because of all of the natural foods in it so will never have the texture of a standard cake. But we aint standard so that should be fine with you 😉
9. Allow to cool before removing from pans and icing

Frosting

1. in Blender or Vitamix, dump and blend until smooth. Because of the different ingredients it won’t get exceptionally smooth but putting back in the refridgerator will help.

Assembly

1. Slice Cakes in half with a serrated sharp knife.
2. Ice between layers of the cake
3. Ice around the layers of the cake, presenting a line crumb crust. You see a bit of cake but not all
4. Top with your fruit, flowers and berries
5. drizzle with melted coconut oil and cacao and store in fridge until ready to enjoy