In the time of the Ancient Greeks(my area of study), figs were considered a food of the Gods. Chocolate meanwhile was considered a food of the Gods by Mayans and Aztecs living thousands of miles away in South and Central America. Now, I’m not saying the Greeks were wrong, but I’d have to side with the Americans on this one.

Even still, figs are pretty spectacular. For 2 weeks or so every year they’re at the peak of their season, and I always buy a few cartons when they go on sale. Figs remind me of France which leads me to France’s number 1 export(or at least in the heart of foodies): Nutella. The filling in this recipe is sort of like Nutella in that it uses cocoa powder and hazelnuts, but the raw ingredients produce a much more intense, dark flavor that pairs perfectly with sweet fruit.

Don’t have hazelnuts? This would taste great with almonds instead.

Chocolate Hazelnut Stuffed Figs

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(makes 16 amuse-bouches):

• 8 Figs
• 1/2 cup hazelnuts
• 2 Tablespoons agave nectar
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2-3 Tablespoons water
• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. In a food processor, blend the hazelnuts until they start to form a paste.
2. Add into the processor the agave, cocoa powder, and salt and continue blending until mixed.
3. Slowly add the water until the filling is loose and spoonable like a thick mousse. Make sure not to add too much water and make this runny.
4. Cut each fig lengthwise and lay them out cut side-up on a plate.
5. Spoon 2 teaspoons of filling onto each fig. Serve at room temperature.

I think the Greek Gods would be pleased.

If you’ve been reading for a long time, you know I don’t really like alcohol, unless it’s in dessert and then I go crazy for it. If I wrote It’s a Wonderful Life, the line would have been, “every time chocolate is mixed with liquor, an angel gets its wings.” I think these are that good. The texture is soft and almost chewy, like a chocolate candy with a sweet, seductive twist.

Embarrassingly enough I’m a lightweight and one of these is enough to make me feel way too good. When I was tempering and tasting the chocolate I wasn’t sure there was enough rum in it, but once the truffles were cooled and I took a bite—wow! They pack a punch of flavor.

No rum? No problem. Improvise the recipe with a different liquor. I can’t wait to try these with Kahlua.

Chocolate Rum Truffles

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time:

Ingredients(makes about 20 truffles):

• 1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips OR 9.7oz semi-sweet baking chocolate cut into chunks
• 2oz Bacardi rum
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder plus more for dusting

Method:

1. Melt the chocolate over a double boiler. Once it’s in a liquid state, slowly incorporate the rum until it’s all combined and evenly mixed.
2. Cool the chocolate and rum in a refrigerator for 10 minutes until it’s hardened but still sticks to itself.
3. Sift in the cocoa powder while mixing the chocolate until all the cocoa powder has been used.
4. Tear off pieces of chocolate and roll it into 1-inch balls.
5. Fill a shallow bowl with cocoa powder and roll each ball in the powder until covered all around.
6. Store at room temperature in an air-tight container.

After making these we’re almost out of rum and chocolate chips. That’s what I call an emergency.

The last time I posted was 5 days ago. There’s a reason for my absence. I spent all week in Philadelphia at the Healthy Living Summit living it up with some great friends. I learned and did so many things in Philly that I can’t wait to share. But not yet. I got home late last night and my head(and bedroom floor) are currently a mess.

One thing I can share is this brownie recipe. Like the almond flour brownie recipe, I baked these and packed them up to bring to Philly and share with bloggers. Most of all I was excited to share these with Cynthia, who also has food allergies(gluten, soy, almond, hazelnut, refined sugar, and dairy). I didn’t have a recipe that avoided all of those allergens, so I made one up and said a little prayer. At first I worried they came out too cakey for my preference, but one taste and I was sold. The only question remaining was how would other people like them.

The response to these was overwhelming. As soon as I tweeted out, the brownies started selling like hotcakes(but way better because they’re brownies, duh). Cynthia really enjoyed them, as did Meghann, Julie, and too many other bloggers to count. I don’t care how good food tastes; nothing feels as good as sharing it with others. 

If you’re baking for someone with a peanut or tree nut allergy, sunflower seed butter makes a great substitute for peanut butter.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Brownies

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients(makes 16 brownies):

• 4.5oz unsweetened baking chocolate(I used Scharffen Berger because it’s soy-free)
• 1 3/4 cups maple syrup, divided
• 1 cup unsweetened peanut butter, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour(I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all purpose flour)
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup water

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the chocolate and whisk in 1 1/4 cup maple syrup and 1/2 cup peanut butter. Set aside.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the baking powder, salt, flour, and cocoa powder. Whisk in 2 eggs and 1/3 cup of water.
4. Mix the chocolate-peanut butter mixture into flour and eggs until completely combines. Pour this into a greased 8×8 baking pan. If the batter is too thick to pour, add extra water until it’s runny but still thick.
5. Make the peanut butter part by whisking together the remaining maple syrup, peanut butter, and egg.
6. Pour the peanut butter mixture on top of the brownies and lightly swirl the two batters together a couple times, making sure not to over mix them.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Cool completely before cutting.

Make sure to share these after making them. That way they’ll taste all the better.

Saturday night we had a special dinner with family friends. For one weekend all 8 of us were around before starting vacations and school again; one of is even spending a year studying at Oxford(no, it’s not me; yes, I’m jealous). That called for cake. I had been wanting to make this recipe for a while and wanted to wait until just the right celebration. Everyone loved it, although when I told them the frosting involved avocado you would have thought I told them my own hair was in it. They started eating it again 2 seconds later when they remembered how good it was and decided you couldn’t taste the avocado.

I actually made this cake for Father’s Day last year and featured it as a guest post on Gena’s blog. Since then I’d completely forgotten about it and had to go look it up to remember how to make it. Now that I remembered, I kind of wish I could forget again. The ones that we didn’t give away didn’t last long in this house. It’s hard to say no to a piece of cake, and even harder when you can tell yourself it’s “healthy” because it has fruits and nuts in it.

Hazelnut Chocolate Cake {Raw/Vegan}

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(makes 5 2×3-inch frosted cakes):

• 2 cups hazelnuts
• 1 cup pitted dates
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder, divided
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons maple syrup, divided
• 1 medium avocado
• Crushed hazelnuts for garnish

Method:

1. Pulse the hazelnuts in a food processor until finely ground into a flour
2. Add in the dates, 1/2 cup cocoa powder, and 1/4 cup maple syrup and process until it forms into a thick dough that sticks together.
3. Lay the dough out between two sheets of parchment paper and roll to about 3/4-inch thickness.
4. With a sharp knife, cut the dough into either 8 or 10 equal sized rectangles. If there’s excess dough you can form it into a ball, roll it out, and cut again.
5. Make the frosting by blending together the remaining maple syrup, cocoa powder, and the meat from the avocado until it’s uniform in color and texture. Taste it and adjust the sweetness if need be.
6. Spread about 2 tablespoons of frosting over half of the cakes. Layer with another slice and spread an equal amount of frosting on top of that piece.
7. Garnish with crushed hazelnuts.

These took from start to finish about 20 minutes to make, maybe a little more than that because I was distracted. Even so these are much quicker to make than traditional cake and certainly have all the show-stopping qualities.

I’ve been going through bananas like crazy lately. Not because I actually like bananas, but because I love the creamy raw “ice cream” they become. I eat this once or twice a day to cut a sweet tooth craving, and this flavor is undoubtedly my new favorite. Cocoa powder and raspberries add the perfect sweet and bitter flavors that make this a true dessert, while the banana keeps it all smooth and creamy so you’d swear you’re eating actually ice cream.

A lot of people ask if these chocolate banana soft serves taste at all like banana. I’ll admit I’m not the most finicky when it comes to banana flavor, but I seriously cannot taste an ounce of banana in this behind the raspberry and chocolate. I’d love for a true banana hater to try it and leave a comment letting others know how it was for them.

Chocolate Raspberry “Ice Cream”

Ingredients:

• 1 banana, cut into quarters and frozen
• 1/2 cup raspberries, frozen
• 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1-2 Tablespoons almond milk(optional)

Method:

1. In a food processor, blend the bananas and raspberries until creamy. Add the almond milk as necessary if after a while the fruit still clumps together.
2. Once smooth, add in the cocoa powder and continue blending until entirely mixed.
3. Scoop and serve immediately.