Chocolate Cherry Cake (Vegan & Gluten Free)

Makes One 9” Cake

Recipe from From My Bowl 
Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Oh!!  This cake!!!  It was beautiful and so delicious that everyone had a second piece!!  It looks quite fancy, but it was very easy to make.  You can make it a layer cake by doubling the ingredients.  

My friend, Juliet, the birthday girl,
getting ready to make a wish.

Ingredients:

1¼ cup (133 g) quick-cooking oats, blended into a fine flour*
⅓ cup (27 g) cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon sea salt
2 flax “eggs” (2 tbsp ground flax + 5 Tablespoons water)
1 cup unsweetened soy milk*
½ cup (130g) unsalted almond butter
½ cup (75g) coconut sugar
1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
(I added 2 teaspoons of espresso powder to the dry ingredients as suggested by one of the reviewers.)
For the Cherry Jam:
2 cups of pitted cherries (fresh or frozen) (I used frozen.)
2 Tablespoon maple syrup or coconut sugar
⅛ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 Tablespoon filtered water
For Serving:
1 cup coconut whipped cream* (I whipped 1 cup of Silk Dairy Free Heavy Whipping Cream Alternative and then added ¼ cup powdered sugar + 1 teaspoon vanilla.) 
Chopped and/or shaved chocolate (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly grease or spray a 9” cake pan with a neutral cooking oil.
Prepare the Wet Ingredients: Mix the ground flax together with filtered water to create a flax “egg” in a small bowl. Combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar in the base of a medium bowl – the vinegar will curdle the milk to create a “buttermilk”. Let both mixtures sit for at least 5 minutes, then add the thickened flax egg to the larger bowl with the almond butter, coconut sugar, vanilla, and almond extracts. Whisk until well-combined.
Mix the Dry Ingredients together in a separate, larger bowl. Form a well in the center of the mixture, pour in the wet ingredients, and use a spatula to mix everything together until no clumps remain. Pour the cake batter into the cake pan and bake on the middle rack for 20-22 minutes. (If you are baking multiple cakes, bake for 23-25 minutes).
Once cooked, remove the cake from the oven and let sit in the pan for 5 minutes before loosening the edges with a butter knife and flipping onto a baking rack to let cool completely.
Make the Cherry Compote: in the meantime, add all of the ingredients of the cherry compote to a large, nonstick pan. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Let the cherries cook down for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set the compote aside and let cool completely.
Assemble the Cake: top the cake with a layer of coconut cream, then spoon the cherry compote (and extra liquid) on top. Garnish with chopped and shaved chocolate, if desired. Serve immediately – leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Notes: The recipe listed above makes one cake. If you would like to create a layered cake, double all of the ingredients (compote and cream included)
Nut Allergies: replace the almond butter with tahini or sunflower butter
Coconut Whipped Cream: If you don’t want to make it yourself you can replace it with store-bought coconut whipped topping or a vanilla frosting of your choice! You can also use a super-thick coconut yogurt for a completely sugar-free option.
Other Substitutions: Almond butter can be replaced with another nut or seed butter and coconut sugar can be replaced with brown sugar or another granulated sweetener. I do not recommend replacing the soy milk* as other plant milks do not create a good “buttermilk” due to lower protein content. This recipe has not been tested with any other flours.

Chocolate Cherry Overnight Oats

Recipe from Whole Food Momma

Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen

Makes 1 serving

This yummy breakfast is right up my alley.  Using a really ripe banana (lots of black spots on the peel) sweetens the oats.  Do yourself a favor and make a quadruple batch so that your breakfast will be set for four days!  

1/2 banana, mashed

1/2 cup old-fashions rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon flax meal or chia seeds (I used flax meal.)

1 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1/2 cup plant milk (I used unsweetened almond milk.)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup frozen cherries

Add the mashed banana, the oats, cinnamon, flax meal, cocoa powder, plant milk and water to a 2 cup mason jar.  Put the lid on the jar and give the jar a really good shake.  Remove the lid and add frozen cherries.  Place the lid back on the jar and give it another shake.  Store in the fridge over night.  Enjoy cold in the morning (like I do) or put the contents in a microwave safe container and warm it up.

Nutritional Information per Serving: 313 calories; 8.2 g fat (1.2 sat. fat); 0 mg cholesterol; 101 mg sodium; 57.1 g carbohydrates; 11.6 g fiber; 14.7 sugars; 9.8 g protein; 1 mcg vitamin D; 215 mg calcium; 4 mg iron; 692 mg potassium

Chocolate Cherry Smoothie

Recipe from Simple Veganista

Husband-Tested in Alice's Kitchen

Make 2 servings (or one very generous serving)

I was recovering from fever and a major body aches from my second vaccine dose (for which I am truly grateful) and I needed a treat.  After all, I wasn't going to be given a lollipop like when I was a kid.  Well, this was phenomenal.  What's not to love?  Make this up and prepare to be wowed.

2 cups frozen cherries

1 cup unsweetened plant milk (oat, almond, soy, coconut, cashew, etc.)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1 Medjool date, pitted or 1 teaspoon maple syrup

2 Tablespoons almond butter or 1 scoop protein powder (plain or vanilla)

(Feel free to add a little flax meal and or chia seeds.)

Add the ingredients to a high speed blender.  Blend until smooth.  Add a little extra milk, if you prefer a thinner smoothie.

Nutritional Information: (1 of 2 servings) 162 calories; 2.5 g fat (0.5 sat fat); 0 mg cholesterol; 94.2 mg sodium; 37.6 g carbohydrates; 5.6 g fiber; 27.8 g sugars; 3.6 g protein; Vitamin A 7%; Iron 11%; Magnesium 14%; Zinc 5%; Thiamin B1 11%; Niacin B3 4%; Folic Acid B9 3%; Vitamin E 25%; Calcium 22%; Vitamin D 13%; Potassium 14%; Phosphorus 7%; Riboflavin B2 11%; Vitamin B6 8%; Vitamin B12 0%; Vitamin K 5%

Classic Sour Cherry Pie

Recipe from Lori Longbotham via Bon Appetit

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

Makes 8 servings

This is the dessert I would request for a last meal.  It’s just downright scrumptious.  Top with star-shaped pastry for the perfect Independence Day celebration or picnic.  For convenience, the pie can be prepared up to the point of baking.  Wrap well and place in the freezer.  Thaw in the fridge the day before baking. 

1 Recipe Perfect Pie Dough

1 cup sugar

3 Tablespoons cornstarch

¼ teaspoon salt

5 cups whole pitted sour cherries (about 2 lbs. whole unpitted cherries)

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

1 small egg, lightly beaten

1 Tablespoon milk or cream or water

1 Tablespoon sparkling sugar

Vanilla ice cream for serving

Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425°F. Whisk 1 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt in large bowl to blend. Stir in cherries, lemon juice, and vanilla; set aside.  Mix together the egg and milk.  Set aside.

Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim dough overhang to ½ inch and crimp the edge as desired. Transfer filling to dough-lined dish, mounding slightly in center. Dot with butter.  Roll out second dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Cut stars (or other shapes) using cookie cutter. Arrange dough stars atop filling. Brush the pastry stars with egg wash. Sprinkle the pastry with 1 Tablespoon sparkly sugar.

Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pie until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown, covering edges with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 1 hour longer. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve with vanilla ice cream.

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Cherry Berry Cream Tart

This tart is divine. First there’s the buttery, flaky crust.  Then there’s the creamy, perfectly rich pastry cream topped with sweetened fresh berries of the season.  This takes awhile to make, BUT all the components can be made in advance and then you will be rewarded with a dessert that is for the gods.  You can make the pie dough as early as a month before your party and freeze it.  The day before you plan to make the tart, remove the dough from the freezer and place it in the fridge to thaw.  Roll it out and bake it, the morning of your party.  The pastry cream can be made up to two days before your party.  Fill the tart with the pastry cream a couple of hours before the party.  Keep it chilled until ready to serve.  The berries can be sugared and kept in the fridge the day before the party.  Top the pastry-cream-filled-tart with the sweetened berries just before serving.

Pastry Cream with Cognac*

1 Baked Perfect Pie Dough*

4 cups berries (I used about 2 cups blueberries and 2 cups pitted cherries sweetened with 2-3 Tablespoons sugar.)

Pastry Cream with Cognac

Yield: 2 cups (excluding the whipping cream folded in)

You’ll have more than you will need for one pie.  Use what’s left for parfaits or mini tarts.

5 extra-large egg yolks, room temperature (if using large eggs, just add another egg yolk)
¾ cup sugar
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
1 ½ cups scalded milk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Cognac
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon heavy cream

1 cup heavy cream, chilled

¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed for 4 minutes, or until very thick. Reduce to low speed, and add the cornstarch.

With the mixer still on low, slowly pour the hot milk into the egg mixture. Pour the mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens, 5 to 7 minutes. Don't be alarmed when the custard comes to a boil and appears to curdle; switch to a whisk and beat vigorously. Cook, whisking constantly, for another 2 minutes; the custard will come together and become very thick, like pudding. Stir in the vanilla, Cognac, butter, and heavy cream. Pour the custard through a sieve into a bowl. Place plastic-wrap directly on the custard and refrigerate until cold.

After the pastry cream has chilled, make the sweetened whipped cream.  Place 1 cup of chilled heavy cream into the mixer with the whisk attachment.  To keep the cream from spattering all over your kitchen, place a towel over the mixer.  Turn the mixer on low and then after a minute, turn it to the highest setting.  Gradually add the sugar and then the vanilla.  Allow to mixer to whisk the cream on high until it looks like whipped cream.  Be careful not to overbeat or you will have butter!  Gently fold the whipping cream into the pastry cream.  Place this in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Perfect Pie Dough

Makes enough for two 9-inch one-crust pies

From the kitchen of Martha Stewart

Husband-Tested in Alice’s Kitchen

The secret to making perfect pie dough is to make sure the ingredients and then the dough itself are very cold.  Baking the chilled pie dough in a hot oven makes the butter melt so that it creates steam inside the baking dough.  That makes the flaky crust we all want!

2½ cups all-purpose flour            

½ teaspoon salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, chilled   

½ cup ice-cold water

Measure the flour and salt into a food processor with the blade.  Cut the ice-cold butter into pat-sized piece and add to the flour mixture.  Press the pulse button on the processor until you see pea-sized pieces of butter mixed in to the flour.  Don’t over mix.  Press the On button of the processor and slowly drizzle the ice-cold water into the feeding tube.  When the dough becomes a ball, stop the machine.

Divide the dough into two equal pieces.  (The dough won’t be smooth.  It’ll be sticky.  That’s okay.)  Place each piece of dough on plastic wrap and press into thick disks.  Wrap the dough in the plastic wrap and chill for at least a half hour before rolling it out.  (Place the other piece of dough in a freezer bag and freeze for another pie. Thaw in the refrigerator before rolling out.)

Remove the dough disk from the fridge.  Lightly flour the counter.  Starting from the center of the disk, gently roll out the dough into a circle that is about 2 inches larger than the dish you plan to use.  Lightly sprinkle with flour as you roll out the dough.  Flip the dough over occasionally for easier rolling.  Before placing it in the 8 or 9-inch tart pan or pie dish, brush the excess flour off with a pastry brush.  (Too much flour on the dough makes it tough.)  Fold the dough in half and place it in the dish.  (Do not stretch the dough because that will make it really shrink.)  Fold the extra dough under or over the edge and crimp.  Prick the dough with a fork on the bottom and sides of the dough.  Place the plastic wrap back over the dish to keep the dough from drying out.  Put the dough in the refrigerator while the oven is preheating.

Preheat the oven to 450F degrees.  Remove the dish from the refrigerator and discard the plastic wrap. Place a piece of foil that is larger than the dough inside the dish and then pour about 2 cups of dried beans into the dish over the foil.  Place the pie dough in the hot oven and set the timer for 12 minutes.  (The weight of the beans keeps the dough from puffing up.)

When the timer beeps, carefully remove the foil and beans from the dish.  (Keep the beans in a glass jar and reuse them as pie weights.)  Place the dough back into the oven and continue baking until it is golden brown all over.  Since ovens vary, you will need to check every two minutes or so.  Remove from the oven and allow it to cool on a baking rack.

When the pie dough is cooled, fill it with Pastry Cream with Cognac* and top with your favorite fresh berries or fresh peaches. 

Gorgonzola Ale Dip

Recipe from Tastebook.com and Husband-Tested in Debbie’s Kitchen


Our friends Debbie and Bob recently came back from a trip to Michigan where they enjoyed a fabulous appetizer dip at a restaurant there made with gorgonzola cheese, cherries, pecans and pale ale (type of beer.) I did a little online research for the recipe for Debbie and found one that had those same ingredients. I sent the recipe to Debbie and she gave it a try for a small dinner party she had for us on a lovely summer evening. We all agreed that this was definitely a keeper. The original recipe had a note about halving the ingredients to make a smaller version, but we all thought that this would be a big mistake! Make the recipe as is because it’s going to go fast at your next party and everyone will ask you for the recipe! You can get pale ale in the beer and wine section of Lost River Market & Deli. The pecans can be found in the bulk section. Debbie served this with Lavash. It can be found at the end of aisle one in the refrigerated section of the store. She baked the Lavash in the oven for a few minutes until crisp and broke them into serving size pieces for us. However, Lost River Market & Deli has a nice variety of crackers from which to choose.  If you have any beer left, try making Beer Bread.


¾ lb softened cream cheese
½ lb softened gorgonzola cheese
¼ cup Berghoff Pale Ale or other Pale Ale
½ cup pecan pieces
¼ cup fresh cherries, pitted and chopped or dried cherries, chopped


Bring cream cheese & gorgonzola to room temperature. Place in mixer & blend with paddle attachment until smooth. Add pale ale; blend until smooth. Add pecan pieces to cheese mixture. Finish mixture with rough chopped cherries. Bake in shallow dish at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, uncovered, until brown at edges.