What if I told you that you could have a chocolate cake in all its decadence and a welcome chocolate coma to boot without it interfering with your weight loss goals or putting a dent in your dietary lifestyle? This chocolate cake recipe is not only vegan but also packed with a good dose of veggies.

Before you cringe at the thought, rest assured that the vegetable component is none other than beets and the earthy taste and dense starchiness only adds more flavor and texture to what we have come to love chocolate cake for. Grab the forks and gather round, because one piece just won’t cut it. Enjoy!

Regular chocolate cake is full of offenders such as white sugar, white flour, butter, eggs, milk, and preservative-laden chocolate chips. So while the result may be delicious, it’s not the kind of chocolate cake that you can enjoy regularly or be particularly proud of in terms of nutritional stats. This chocolate cake recipe uses unrefined sugar – turbinado sugar – and replaces white flour with whole-wheat flour and spelt flour to up the ante of fiber content. The spices give an aromatic twist and the roasted beets are a surefire vegetable surprise. The beets have such a glorious color and its depth in flavor further accents the chocolate. Because of the beets, the chocolate cake retains a denser, moister texture that makes each bite feel naughty. This recipe is most definitely unique, but it is sure to be a crowd pleaser, especially when you reveal the “secret” ingredient.

Vegan Beet Chocolate Cake

Makes one 10-inch cake

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 2 large beets, baked
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 2/3 cup turbinado sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• Dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

For the chocolate cream glaze:

• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup vegan chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash beets, remove their stems and wrap each in aluminum foil. Bake for 1 hour or until tender. Remove beets, set them aside, and lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chop the beets and add them to a food processor along with the liquid they gave off while baking that has collected in the foil. Add the vegetable oil, sugar and vanilla. Mix until smooth.

Transfer the beet mixture to a large bowl and add the dry ingredients: flours, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and pepper.

Stir until evenly combined, but do not over mix. Fold in the chocolate chips and pour the mixture into a lightly greased 10-inch round baking pan or bunt-cake pan. Put into the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the center is firm. Test with a toothpick in the center – if it comes out clean, it is done!

Set the cake aside and let it cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, melt the coconut oil and chocolate chips over a double broiler, stirring constantly. When serving each slice of cake, spoonful the mixture atop each slice before eating.

Image Credit: GlowKitchen

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The post Vegan Chocolate Cake Recipe with Beets (And It’s Totally Yummy) appeared first on EcoSalon.

Born in an Ithaca, New York kitchen when founders Samantha Abrams and Ian Gaffney developed a special macaroon recipe one night, Emmy’s Organics has become of the most conscious snack food producers in our country.

Priding themselves on the use of organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, and raw ingredients, the company is also committed to eco packaging, sustainable business practices, and exceptional employee care. As Samantha affirms, “we put a lot of effort into every step of the process and we’re very aware of the impact we make.”

Low temperature dehydration is the process used to make the Emmy’s Organics tasty products. Nothing is heated above 115°F so that many essential and beneficial nutrients are retained in these energy-packed snacks. Emmy’s macaroons are available in a range of delectable flavors and the scrumptious granolas, trail mixes and sprouted sunflower seeds are great snacks when on the go. Sweeter treats include raw food super fudge and the mouth-watering chocolate sauce sweetened with agave – perfect over a bowl of fresh fruit! Their fantastic gift boxes are the ideal way to send some birthday wishes or warm greetings – who wouldn’t love a box of tasty and healthy treats?

All of the products are nut, coconut and fruit based, so the ingredients come from all over the world. As Samantha says, “we really care about each ingredient that goes into our products. We have a lot of control over the quality of our product as everything is made in-house.” The company communicates directly with its suppliers to learn the stories behind the nuts, fruits, oils and sweeteners. “A dream of mine would be to connect with a local farm that can provide us with our ingredients,” Samantha says.

Sharing a love of healthy food and wellness with Ian, Samantha has always been dedicated to and passionate about conscious living and “looking for natural ways to take care of herself.” After experimenting with a strictly raw diet for a long time, she realized the benefits of running her body on pure foods that are full of nutrition and energy.

Samantha and Ian initially worked in Ian’s mother’s (Emmy’s) kitchen, selling their macaroons and other culinary creations at farmer’s markets and small local stores. Soon after the treats began appearing in Whole Foods Markets across the East Coast and by 2010 the company had grown large enough that a move to a manufacturing facility in Ithaca. Emmy’s Organics is now available in stores on both coastlines and nationwide online.

Samantha and Ian’s efforts and success were recognized in 2012 when Miss Abrams was invited to the White House for President Obama’s signing of the JOBS Act. “It was one of those experiences that I’ll never forget and I felt so supported as a small business owner” Samantha says. As a young woman with a successful and consciously-driven venture, Samantha truly is an example of the potential for creating sustainable solutions that actually benefit customers and create strong community influences. “What inspires me is making an impact on people. We hope that when people pick up our products they experience the benefits of them and also realize the simplicity of the ingredients, the integrity of our values and how sustainably we operate our company. We hope that through that we can inspire people to make better choices, whether it’s with their diet or their environmental impact or any type of lifestyle choice.”

In honor of Earth Day, the company is donating 15 percent of all April proceeds to the Youth Farm Project in Ithaca. The project provides teens ages 14-18 with the opportunity to learn about growing food for their community, preparing that food and working together to achieve their goals. Take advantage of a 10 percent discount on all Emmy’s Organics items for the rest of the month by using the code YOUTHFARM when checking out online!

Images: Emmy’s Organics

The post Emmy’s Organics: A Vegan Snack Company with Integrity appeared first on EcoSalon.

Nothing satisfies a sweet tooth quite like chocolate does.

However, the dessert snack gets such a bad rap considering its milk and sugar content — to say nothing of its addictive nature! The good news is that you can enjoy chocolate, and all its nutritional glory, by stripping it down to the essentials and replacing certain ingredients with healthier alternatives. Munch into this raw chocolate recipe, which takes under five minutes to prepare. Enjoy!

Let’s take a look at a popular chocolate bar – Hershey’s Milk Chocolate – and consider exactly what we get ourselves into every time we peel the wrapper. A 1.55-ounce (43-gram) Hershey’s bar contains 210 calories, 13 grams of fat–8 of which are saturated–26 grams of carbohydrates, 24 grams of sugar, and only 1 gram of dietary fiber. The ingredients are simple but unforgiving – sugar, milk, lactose, milk fat, emulsifiers and artificial flavors.

With more than half of the calories derived from fat and only 1 gram of dietary fiber, Hershey’s milk chocolate bar is devoid of nutrition and is simply a dessert to be enjoyed purely for its taste, but with an air of restricted indulgence. With milk and sugar as the base of its ingredients list, the bar ultimately promises peaked blood sugar levels and a dessert that is hard to digest.

Chocolate in its raw state is actually a “superfood” boasting amazing nutritional benefits, including high levels of antioxidants and the ability to reduce heart disease. However, over-processing and the addition of sugar and milk often outweigh what it has to offer.  The following recipe takes out the milk and the sugar and replaces them with wholesome goodness of vegan, raw ingredients.

The chocolate industry is no angel either in terms of labor laws, so there is something to be said for taking your new-found chocolate-making skills to the kitchen. Luckily, this recipe only take minutes and offers room for improvisation. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 cup raw cocoa powder
• ¾ cup coconut oil
• ¾ cup agave nectar or maple syrup
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• Dash of sea salt
• Dash of cayenne (optional)

Directions

If the coconut oil is hardened, place its container in a bowl filled shallow with warm water. Once melted, mix the coconut oil with all the other ingredients in a blender and pour the chocolate into molds (ice cube trays work if you don’t have molds). Store at room temperature, or in the refrigerator to speed up the process, until the molds have hardened. Enjoy!

Photo Credit: Chocolate Reviews

The post Healthy Indulgence: Vegan, Raw Chocolate Recipe (in Less than 5 Minutes!) appeared first on EcoSalon.