Let’s start with a simple equation: Collin + Desserts = Epic Domination. If I bake a pie and he sees it, within a couple hours it’ll be gone. There have been instances at our dinner parties where he’ll even hoard a few portions of desserts for later, when after the guests leave. Recently he’s been so good at sneaking my baked goods that I don’t realize anything is missing, until I pull the pan out of the oven. The point is the man has no self-control when it comes to desserts, and he simply cannot stop. When I make dessert recipes for the blog and you wonder “Wow who gets to eat that?” The answer is Collin; he eats all of it, that night usually.
As a result of his bad boy behaviors, consequently his waist line suffers and then that leads to frustration towards me. “I was SO hot before I met you, remember when I had a six-pack and some monster biceps??!! Now look at me! YOU DID THIS TO ME, STOP MAKING DESSERTS!!!” He’s right. I did. I did do that to him. But I didn’t mean to! Desserts are evil, the only way they’re good is if they’re packed full of cream, eggs, sugar and butter. How can the best things in life be so bad for us? WHY IS THE WORLD PACKED FULL OF CONTRADICTORY SITUATIONS?
So this year I’ve been on a mission. I realize to keep my Superman around I have to keep him healthy and in good shape. However, it’s impossible to say I won’t make any desserts, life is too short for that but I can try to find dessert recipes that won’t give you a third ass. This is one of them.
I finally found the ultimate vegan dessert recipe. For all you vegan haters, hey I feel you – I was on that boat of “Uhm vegan dessert? Those two words don’t ever go together.” But this recipe changed my mind. After trying a couple vegan cake recipes, I found this to be the best one. The addition of the coffee along with the Valrona cocoa makes this cake moist, rich and delicious. For the filling I used all natural peanut butter and sweetened it with some raw honey. It is important that you opt for all-natural peanut butter; it contains monosaturated fats that are good for lowering LDL cholesterol as well as a good source of protein. When you buy regular peanut butter, it usually contains high levels of hydrogenated fats (bad fats), preservatives, sugar and salt – save yourself go natural. The banana ice cream is just frozen bananas blended – due to the low liquid content in bananas, when blended it turns into this creamy, milky texture. It’s so easy to make and it tastes incredible, the more ripe the bananas the sweeter your ice cream (I wouldn’t recommend using bananas that don’t have brown spots on them)! Top it off with some cocoa nibs and cocoa powder for that nice earthy touch and I promise you’ll forget its even vegan.
Recipe for Chocolate Vegan Cake with Vegan Banana Ice Cream:
<Print Recipe Here>
Banana Ice Cream (makes about 3 cups)
- 3 very ripe bananas, frozen
- 1 Tablespoon soymilk (optional)
Using a blender or hand-held immersion blender, blend the bananas into a smooth paste. If it feels a little thick, feel free to add the soymilk. Place in a medium glass container and freeze for 30 minutes or more before using.
Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes (8-10 cupcakes)
- 1 1/4 cups flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, I highly recommend you using Valrhona (yes it makes all the difference in the world)
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup warm water
- ½ cup brewed coffee
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon distilled vinegar
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- 1 ½ cups all-natural peanut butter, room temperature
- ½ cup honey
- Cocoa nibs and cocoa powder for garnish
Mix peanut butter and honey together in a bowl until combined. Set aside until ready to use.
If you’re interested in making the candied hazelnuts you can find the manual over at Martha Stewart.
Preheat oven at 350F.
In a large bowl mix the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together until well incorporated. Add water, coffee, oil and vinegar into dry mixture, mix until fully blended. Fill muffin pan with liners and fill with batter ¾ the way full. Bake in oven for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Place on rack to cool. Using a paring knife or tiny circular pastry cutter (1”-1.25”) cut out a hole in the center of each cupcake for the peanut butter filling.
Take banana ice cream out and set aside. Fill each cupcake with peanut butter mixture up to the top and scoop banana ice cream on top. Garnish with cocoa nibs and cocoa powder. Serve immediately and eat often.
*** If you feel this dessert needs to be sweeter, simply add more honey on top!
(p.s. I know "technically" honey is not vegan so feel free to use agave as a substitute.)
