Ever felt like cutting into your food to mutilate it before you consume it? Me too.

I used to carve my bread and vegetables before I ate. My friends would call me a “food cutter.” Well, it appears that there is at least one other person who likes to cut and play with their food before they eat it — the food surgeon. Watch the Reese’s Peanut-Butter-Ectomy with Oreo Cream Transplant below.

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The post We Need Something Sweet to Eat, Stat [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.

‘Tis the season of sweet treats! Avoid all the toxic sugar and food coloring with this nutritious truffle recipe from Debbie Adler, author of Sweet Debbie’s Organic Treats: Allergy-Free & Vegan Recipes.

If a blueberry walked into a bar and hooked up with a cosmopolitan piece of chocolate sass, their love child would be this açaí berry truffle recipe. you would get a taste of açaí. A popular berry from Brazil, açaí conveniently comes in powdered form, so you can easily add it to this truffle recipe. Unlike their store-bough counterparts, these raw truffles are filled with calcium and vitamins A, B6 and E, and are high in antioxidants.

No-Bake Açaí Berry Truffle Recipe

Yield: About 18 Truffles

Ingredients & Materials for Truffles

8 x 8-inch sheet of parchment paper
12 Medjool dates, pitted and halved
1 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup raw pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons açaí powder
3 tablespoons frozen (thawed) cranberries
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
2 teaspoons cacao powder
1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt

Topping

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Instructions

1. Line an 8 x 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.
2. Combine the dates, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, açaí powder, cranberries, orange juice, cacao powder and salt in a
food processor or blender and process until almost smooth.
3. Take about 1 tablespoon of the date mixture, and with wet hands, shape it into a ball. Place the ball on the prepared pan.
4. Repeat until you have used up all the date mixture.
5. Pour the shredded coconut into a small bowl. Roll each ball in the coconut and place it back on the prepared pan. Put the truffles in the freezer to chill for at least 1 hour.
6. Place the truffles in a sealable plastic bag and keep them frozen until ready to eat.

Nutrition Information Per Serving (1 truffle):
110 calories, 5 g total fat, 0.0 mg cholesterol,
15 g carbohydrates, 30 mg sodium, 3 g fiber,
3 g protein, 9 g sugars

Debbie Adler is the owner and biggest nosher at Sweet Debbie’s Organic Cupcakes in Los Angeles. Her debut cookbook, Sweet Debbie’s Organic Treats: Allergy-Free & Vegan Recipes, features 50 delicious recipes for muffins, brownies, cookies, cupcakes, bread and even energy bars that are safe for everyone to eat–every recipe in her book is gluten, dairy, soy, nut and sugar free!

Related on EcoSalon:

Easy Homemade Breakfast Bar Recipe Featuring Goji Berries

When Candy Is Good For your: The Psychology Of Sweets

Kakadu Plum: The New Superfood?

Image and recipe copyright Debbie Adler

The post Easy No-Bake Açaí Berry Truffle Recipe appeared first on EcoSalon.

Make this classic Black & White cake, and you’ll get rave reviews from vegans and non-vegans alike.

When bridal showers, birthdays and celebrations of all sorts roll around, there’s nothing that says “Let’s Celebrate (in style)” like Black & White cake. And, this regal dessert, as I discovered quite by accident, has many forms and flavors. The first version I created was white(ish) inside and black outside, compliments of a simple (accidental) ingredient omission—cocoa powder. So naturally, I had to try again. My second go at it, everything went smoothly (cocoa powder included) until, while putting the finishing touches on the frosting, the whole cake tumbled to the ground just minutes before it was due for serving at a party.

With crumbles left behind on the cake stand, I was able to resurrect some pieces, however, this time I lost the cake’s outer, gleaming white hue, as the (vegan) cream cheese frosting melded into the moist chocolate cake.With this mishap, I stumbled upon the creamiest, sweetest, moistest and unbelievably gluten free- and vegan– delight to date. While it tastes sinfully rich and creamy, each bite comes with a dose of vitamins A & E, magnesium, zinc, potassium and even fiber thanks to a secret (moistening) addition—pumpkin puree. So, if your sweet tooth craves chocolate and cake, you really can’t go wrong with this one. Forget an ingredient or send the cake flying in the air and you too might find a new spin on this classic cake.

The Original – Black & White Cake
from Clinton Street Baking Company

Ingredients

• 1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• ½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners’ sugar
• ½ cup whole milk
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• ½ cup semisweet chocolate chunks (52–62% cacao)

The Vegan Version – Black & White (or just Black) Cake
Generously serves 8

Ingredients

• 1½ sticks (12 tablespoons) vegan butter, softened (I used Earth Balance)
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• Egg substitute equivalent to 2 large eggs, plus 1 yolk (I mixed 3 tablespoons flaxseed meal with 7 tablespoons warm water)
• 1½ cups gluten free flour blend:
• (1/2 cup brown rice flour_
• (1/4 cup white rice flour)
• (1/4 cup sorghum flour)
• (1/4 cup potato starch flour)
• (1/4 cup minus 2 tablespoons tapioca flour)
• (2 tablespoons almond flour)
• (3/4 teaspoon xanthan gum)
• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup buttermilk (easily make your own by mixing ½ cup dairy free milk, like homemade cashew nut milk, with ½ tablespoon white distilled vinegar; let sit for 10 minutes)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting
• 8 ounces vegan cream cheese, softened
• ½ stick (4 tablespoons) vegan butter, softened
• 4 cups confectioners sugar (sifted)
• ½ cup dairy free milk (Mine was thin enough that I omitted the milk all together)

Glaze
• ½ cup heavy cream (I used homemade cashew nut milk)
• 3 tablespoons light corn syrup (I used homemade cane juice by melting a few tablespoons of sugar in a pan on the stove top)
• 1 tablespoon vegan butter
• ½ cup semisweet, vegan chocolate chunks (52–62% cacao)

Directions

Make the Cake
1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Lightly grease (with vegan butter) and flour two 8-inch round cake pans.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the vegan butter and sugars. Add the egg substitute mixture, and combine. Whisk the gluten free flour blend and remaining dry ingredients together, in a separate bowl.
3. Whisk the pumpkin puree together with the buttermilk and vanilla in another bowl. Alternate mixing dry ingredients with the pumpkin mixture into the egg mixture. Start with dry and end with wet.
4. Divide the batter between the prepared cake pans. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool and unmold.

Make the Frosting
In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the vegan cream cheese and butter together until soft. Add the sifted confectioners sugar, blending in 1 cup at a time. Add the dairy free milk slowly, as needed, and mix until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

Make the Glaze
Heat the “cream,” corn syrup (or cane juice), and vegan butter in a saucepan until boiling. Place the chocolate in a bowl. Pour the cream mixture over the chocolate until it is completely melted, mixing gently with a rubber spatula until the glaze is smooth.

Assemble the Cake
Place 1 of the 2 cakes on a cake plate. Ice the top with 3 to 4 tablespoons frosting, and place the other cake on top. Then use a cake spatula to mask the top and sides until the cake is evenly frosted. Set it in the fridge for 10 minutes. Then, remove the cake from the fridge and pour the chocolate glaze over the center of the cake until the top is covered and the glaze runs over the sides, still showing some frosting. Let the glaze set and serve.

Whatever happens, enjoy!

Images: Jennifer Barckley

The post Vegan This: Decadent Black & White Cake appeared first on EcoSalon.

National Candy Day is a good reminder that there is such a thing as too much sugar.

Turns out that today is National Candy Day. No joke.

So in honor of this truly special occasion – well, special until Sunday rolls around and it’s National Nachos Day – we’re featuring anything that’s candy related. Because who doesn’t love a little cotton candy foie gras? That and more in today’s Foodspotting Friday. Can someone get me a bowl of organic, locally grown broccoli please?

Cotton Candy Foie Gras

Candy Bar Pie

Yogurt Covered Pop Rocks

Octopus Jelly Candy

Piruleta

Strawberry Nerds Mojito

Candy Bar Waffles

Chocolate Covered Green Apple Candy Corn

Savory Bacon Mints

Cheesecake Lollipop Tree with Bubble Gum Whipped Cream

In Foodspotting Friday we highlight one of Foodspotting’s – or our own – top picks from our Foodspotting guides. Be sure to check them out and tip us off to your own favorites in our Readers’ Picks guide. Want to start spotting food on your own? Join Foodspotting and take part in the food spotting revolution. It’s visual, it’s positive, it’s global and we are in love with it.

Images: ZanyLibra, Sara, Stacy, karamat, Amy Cao, Carlos Sanz Ramirez, Sarah, Jamie, Charles, Keith Kendall, Heath W.

The post Foodspotting Friday: Sugar Can Kill You appeared first on EcoSalon.