Happy Easter! I don’t ‘do’ chocolate eggs – and, in fact, I had a piece of The Husband’s and it was now unpalatable to me – and I’m not much into celebrating beyond the Triduum because the meaning of Easter that The Lord is Risen is important to me. But it’s Easter, and that’s always an important time to acknowledge and share the love for.
Anyway, I did have the full bank holiday off, so, given the extra time/less stress of having to multi-task my life and sort out work, I decided to do some baking.
This is the result. I’m actually super chuffed with the way it looks, as presentation would be my downfall on Masterchef (actually, the time limit would be, but that’s another story). It looks like a Pac Man because I couldn’t resist trying it before it cooled. Okay, thatĀ would be my Masterchef downfall.
It’s a vegan chocolate cake – no flour, no eggs, only sugar-substitute and sweet potato and beetroot to bolster its body, moisture, and flavour. The ‘ganache’, which set surprisingly well for what it is, is comprised of a coconut-based yoghurt combined with some leftover dark chocolate I had hanging around then sprinkled with pecans and the king of all decorations – edible ball bearings. Truly a lockdown bake!
The main recipe is based off Rosie Brandreth (of Great British Bake Off and also the same school as me) – you can see all of her recipes on her site Rosie and Ralph Bake. I’m not sure I’d use dried rice again as with the food processor I have, I struggled to grind it finely enough – this didn’t affect me as I rather enjoyed the texture – got to have some crunch in there! – but when offering it to other people, I can see how it might be a little off-putting.
Nevertheless, that’s a flaw of my equipment not of the recipe.
It turned out delicious and (annoyingly) moreish. I’m not sure, strictly, how good it is for you, even with only a sugar substitute added. I used cocoa powder, which naturally has no added sugar and I loved the flavour of that. You have to bear in mind that, although a decent tuber, sweet potato can still raise the blood-glycemic index. It’s about that balance of protein and natural sugars together, especially if your hormone profile is easily affected by thyroid and blood sugar levels.
Even my husband liked it – which is saying something as he tends to staunchly avoid vegetables. I need to up my sneaky veggies game!
So Happy Easter! What’s more Easter-like than doing a bit of chocolate baking!
Alexandrina Brant 