There was a really pretty post by someone on Facebook of some chocolate layer cakes with a link to the recipe, Chocolate Layer Cake with Black Cherry. I just had to try it out, I had the ingredients on hand. It's a delightful cake. Very dense and made with flax seeds and cashews, it's very nutritious too. Rachel came over for lunch and that's what we had. I'll be making this again.
My modifications: I used fresh blackberries for the creme frosting. I didn't have almond butter so I whipped some almonds in the blender and made my own, I used agave for sweetener. I don't have access to maca powder or lucuma powder and I don't think Longview ever will, so I omitted those. For the yogurt creme I omitted the Bio-k acidophilus and the sunflower lectithin because I just didn't have them and didn't think it would affect the taste or texture. It worked out just fine.
Chocolate Layer Cakes with Black Cherry and Orange
from a blog called Golubka - Food That Takes Love
Chocolate layers
3 cups nut or coconut milk
6 tablespoons cacao powder
4 tablespoons cocoa nibs
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons coconut flakes
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup sprouted pecan butter or almond butter
3/4 cup sweetener of your choice (I used Jerusalem artichoke syrup)
1/2 cup almond flour
1 1/2 cups ground flax seeds
3 tablespoons maca powder (optional)
2 tablespoons lucuma powder (optional)
In a high speed blender, combine all the ingredients until smooth. Spread evenly on 5 Teflex lined dehydrator trays. Dehydrate at 115F for about 6-8 hours, or overnight. Flip and peel the Teflex sheet away, then continue to dehydrate on screens only until completely dry. Cut each cracker into 4 pieces, you should end up with 20 total.
Yogurt Cream
1 cup macadamia nuts- soaked overnight
1 cup cashews - soaked overnight
2 tablespoons light agave syrup
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 tablespoons raw honey
zest of 2 lemons
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon nutritional yeast
pinch of salt
8 tablespoons Bio-k acidophilus
1 cup coconut oil
2 tablespoons sunflower lecithin (optional) - really good for you
In a high speed blender, combine all of the ingredients until smooth and creamy.
Orange Cream
1/2 of the amount of yogurt cream
zest of 3 oranges
1 orange - peeled and cut into chunks
In a high speed blender, combine all the ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before spreading.
Berry Cream
half of yogurt cream
any berries of your choice - add until you achieve the desired color
If using raspberries or blackberries, puree them first, then run through a fine mesh sieve to remove the seeds.
In a high speed blender, combine all the ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours before spreading.
Assembly
Spread a thin layer of the cream on chocolate crackers layer by layer, sprinkling with cocoa nibs on top of each layer. You can use all 10 pieces to make a 10 layer high cake each - orange and berry. Or you can make 8 layer cakes, like we did, and eat the remaining crackers for a snack.
Refrigerate the prepared cakes for 1-2 hours until set and ready to be cut. Cut each cake into 4 even pieces with a sharp knife. Decorate with cocoa nibs, orange slices and berries. Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
