chocolate Archives - Just J.Faye

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

July 18, 2017 by Jenna

A quick and easy recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake. It’s a moist, chocolaty cake that is studded with fresh zucchini – a delicious summertime dessert!

On Sunday I was going to go hike a 14er, but for a variety of reasons and factors I ended up not doing it. This meant that I had an entire free day to myself. No people to see. No things to do. No commitments. It ended up being quite luxurious.

After some strength training at the gym, a walk to the farmer’s market, and a little reading outside on the patio I decided to dig out The Duesterhoeft Café cookbook and whip up something from my family’s collection of recipes.

Since it’s the time of year when my fridge is stocked with zucchini I landed on the chocolate zucchini cake. Also, chocolate cake on a Sunday (or any other day, really) is never a bad idea. Ever.

The cake comes together very quickly. First, cream together the butter, oil, egg, sugar, and vanilla. Next, stir in the zucchini and finally, mix in the dry ingredients. The batter is a little bit looser compared normal cake batter, due to the moisture from all the zucchini.

Pour the batter into a 9×9 baking dish and sprinkle it with chocolate chips and brown sugar. The chocolate chips and brown sugar melt together in the oven and form a sort of caramely, crispy layer on top.

I hope that doesn’t sound gross/weird. I just don’t know how else to explain it!

The cake has a nice, light crumb and the perfect amount of chocolaty flavor.

Cut a generous slice and top it with a dollop of ice cream. Grab a glass of wine and a good book. Then take everything outside to enjoy.

If that’s not a lovely summer evening, I don’t know what is!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

40 mins

Total time

50 mins

A quick and easy recipe for Chocolate Zucchini Cake. It's a moist, chocolaty cake that is studded with fresh zucchini - a delicious summertime dessert!

Serves: 16 pieces

Ingredients

1 medium zucchini
¼ cup canola oil
¼ cup unsalted butter, softened
heaping ¾ cup granulated sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup buttermilk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
2 ½ tablespoons cocoa powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup chocolate chips
¼ cup brown sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grate zucchini and set aside in a strainer to drain excess water. You will need one cup.
In the large bowl of an electric mixer, add the oil, butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla. Beat on high for 2-3 minutes.
Mix in the zucchini.
Add in the buttermilk, baking soda, flour, and cinnamon and mix on low until everything is combined.
Pour batter into an ungreased 9x9 cake pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and brown sugar.
Bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely before cutting.

Notes

Try to drain most of the water from the zucchini. I’ll usually let mine sit in a strainer for a few minutes and then soak up some moisture with a couple paper towels.

If you don’t have buttermilk on hand (do people normally?) replace it with ¼ cup milk (dairy, almond, soy, whatever) mixed with 1 ½ teaspoon lemon juice. Stir it up and let it sit for a minute or two before using.

Adding ¼ cup chopped walnuts on top with the chocolate chips and brown sugar would be a delicious idea.

This recipe can be easily doubled and baked in a 9x13 pan.

My mom likes to store it in the fridge, but it's delicious stored at room temperature as well!

My mom’s personal notes on the recipe in the cookbook: “I love zucchini from the garden; raw, sauteed, roasted, baked into breads and muffins, and especially baked into this cake recipe. My mom would make this often in the summer. I like to keep it in the fridge… no reason, I just like it that way. This recipe is in honor of my mother’s good friend Marlys Stockman from Plato.”

More The Duesterhoeft Cafe cookbook recipes: Coconut Coffee Cake, Rhubarb Cake, and Basic Banana Bread.

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Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake

October 25, 2016 by Jenna

This Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake is exactly what you need right now. It’s chocolatey, pumpkiny, but not too rich or dense or PSLy – the perfect afternoon treat!

It’s still in the 70s and 80s here in Denver, which IMO is far too warm for this time of year. I want to wear sweaters and leggings and boots and to bake all the pumpkin things. I’m going to do all that stuff anyways and just try to will the weather to cooler temperatures. I think it’ll work.

I started out by baking this Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake. It’s a light, moist chocolate cake that’s flavored with a little bit of pumpkin and cinnamon. It’s not full on in your face pumpkin spice, but if that’s what you’re looking for feel free to add some ground nutmeg, ginger, and cloves.

I’m kind of in love with it and I think you will be too.

Snack cakes in general are kind of amazing. They are super approachable and quick to whip up. You don’t need to drag out your mixer or worry about frosting a 3-tier layer cake. But the lack of hassle does not mean lack of flavor, so it’s all pretty ideal.

This snack cake in particular is full of chocolate and pumpkin and all sorts of deliciousness. Then it’s topped with a chocolate almond butter drizzle, because we can.

To start, you’ll mix together all your dry ingredients. Then you’ll melt the butter and unsweetened chocolate together, whisk in some eggs, and add the sugar, vanilla, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and milk. Then the wet gets mixed into the dry to make a big ole bowl of batter. If it seems too thick feel free to add an additional tablespoon or two of milk. Bake it up for 25 minutes and try your best to let it cool completely.

Once it’s cool you’ll melt together the chocolate almond butter drizzle ingredients and spoon it over the cake.

Finally, pour yourself a big cup of coffee, sit down, and enjoy a piece (or two) of this delicious Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake.

Get after it!

Chocolate Pumpkin Snack Cake

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

40 mins

This chocolate pumpkin snack cake is a light, moist chocolate cake flavored with pumpkin and cinnamon and topped with a chocolate almond butter drizzle. It's a perfect afternoon treat!

Serves: 12 pieces

Ingredients

For the cake:

1 ½ cup all purpose flour
⅓ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons butter
2 oz unsweetened chocolate
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup milk (dairy, almond, soy, whatever you have on hand)

For the chocolate almond butter drizzle:

2 tablespoons almond butter
2 tablespoon chocolate chips
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon maple syrup

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the cake can easily be lifted out of the pan.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, cocoa powder, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter and chocolate on low heat. You can also do this in the microwave.
Let it cool for a minute or two then whisk in the eggs.
Stir in the vanilla, brown sugar, pumpkin, and milk.
Pour batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes. Set aside to cool.
To make the drizzle, combine all of the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in 30-second increments until everything is melted. Drizzle over the cooled cake. Then eat and enjoy!

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Ginger-Orange Brownies

March 29, 2016 by Jenna

These ginger-orange brownies are delicious, fudgy brownies with a hint of orange, ginger, and salt.

Ever since moving to Denver I feel that I bake much less than I used to. I think a large part of it is that I used to bake a lot on the weekends; however, now that I have easy access to the mountains and an overwhelming amount of things to see I try to spend the bulk of my weekends out exploring rather than in the kitchen experimenting.

I mean, when you have the chance to go see this and this and this and this can you really blame me!?

But then there are things like this – these ginger-orange brownies.

They make me remember how much I love to bake (and eat) brownies.

Surely, there is plenty of time to both bake and explore.

Ginger and orange and brownies may seem like a strange combination, but it works. Quite well, actually.

Or at least it does in my opinion. Bake them and let me know your thoughts!

Ginger-Orange Brownies

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

These ginger-orange brownies are delicious, fudgy brownies with a hint of orange, ginger, and salt.

Serves: 12 brownies

Ingredients

1 cup granulated sugar
zest from one orange
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
¾ cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup butter
6 oz bittersweet chocolate
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon espresso powder (optional)
3 eggs
3 ounces high quality dark chocolate, chopped (I used a Lindt Intense Orange chocolate bar)
Sea salt (optional)

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 350° F. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place them perpendicularly in an 8x8” baking pan. Leave some overhang so that the brownies can easily be lifted out of the pan. Grease with butter or oil.
Add the sugar and orange zest to a bowl. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until fully combined. Set aside.
Combine the cocoa powder, flour, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
Melt the butter and bittersweet chocolate in a double boiler (a saucepan over a larger saucepan of boiling water) or in the microwave (heat for 30 seconds then stir, continuing this pattern until everything is melted). Let this cool slightly.
Whisk in the vanilla extract, espresso powder, and orange-zested sugar, then whisk in the eggs one at a time.
Stir in the dry ingredients, then fold in the chopped chocolate.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan and top with a generous amount of sea salt.
Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Do not overbake! Brownies can be slightly underdone and gooey (<-- the best!).

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Chocolate Banana Bread

November 10, 2015 by Jenna

Last Thursday I was supposed to have a 5:30am client, so I got up, got dressed, ate, drank coffee, and was about to head out the door at 5:00 when I see a text, “I’m not feeling well, can we push our session out to tomorrow?”

Ugh.

Typically I would have said no and burned the session, but due to other circumstances I let it slide and pushed the session out to the next day.

So there I was awake at 5:00am and I decided to make some chocolate banana bread.

Most people probably would have gone back to bed, but I decided to take advantage of the peaceful morning hours that I don’t typically see. Plus, there was some sort of rain-snow situation going on outside, so baking a warm chocolate-y loaf of banana bread just seemed right.

And then I had a loaf of chocolate banana bread at my fingertips to enjoy, soooo… no complaints.

This chocolate banana bread recipe is adapted from this basic banana bread, but I replaced some of the flour with cocoa powder and traded the walnuts for chocolate chips. The wet ingredients are mixed into the dry before pouring the batter in a loaf pan. I decided to sprinkle some coffee grounds on top for an extra crunch and a light hint of coffee flavor to balance out the chocolate. I really liked it, but you could totally skip it if you wanted. It’s simple to make, even in the wee hours of the morning while your eyes may only be half-open.

The result is a delicious, moist loaf of banana bread with just the right hint of chocolate. It’s perfect for a mid-morning snack, but I wouldn’t argue with you if you ate it for breakfast and/or dessert.

Oddly enough I posted that basic banana bread recipe almost exactly one year ago. Isn’t that weird? I can still clearly remember sitting down to type up that post as the banana bread was baking in the oven.

My life is so different now than it was then: Minneapolis to Denver. Supply Chain to Personal Training. Owning a condo to renting a garden level duplex. Lakes to mountains. Family close by to family far away. Not different in a bad way, just different.

I haven’t quite gotten into my groove here in Denver, but now I’m ready to start hustling.

The chocolate banana bread helps with the motivation.

Chocolate Banana Bread

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour

This chocolate banana bread is moist and delicious with the perfect hint of chocolate. It's perfect for a mid-morning snack accompanied with a big mug of coffee, but would be great for breakfast and/or dessert as well!

Serves: 12 slices

Ingredients

1 ¼ white whole wheat flour
½ cup cocoa powder
½ cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
2 medium overripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
¼ cup buttermilk
½ cup chocolate chips
1 teaspoon coffee grounds (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
In a small bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
In a medium bowl, combine the melted butter, mashed bananas, vanilla extract, eggs, and buttermilk. Whisk until combined.
Add the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined.
Stir in the chocolate chips, saving some for the top of the loaf.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan then sprinkle with the coffee grounds and remaining chocolate chips
Bake for 50 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.
Let the bread cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes before removing and transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

You can make your own buttermilk by adding a little bit of lemon juice to regular milk (soy, dairy, almond, etc) or yogurt.
This bread will keep for a few days wrapped in plastic wrap or in the freezer for a few months.

Side note: I brought a majority of this loaf into work and crossed my fingers that the other trainers wouldn’t shame me and hate me for bringing in something not so healthy. They didn’t. They ate it and they loved it. I can’t explain to you how happy it made me.

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chocolate pistachio meringues

October 20, 2015 by Jenna

So I made meringues for the first time.

I never really had the urge to make them before. I like meringue when it comes on top of pie (because, pie), but otherwise it is just kind of meh for me. I’ve never been super impressed, you know?

These chocolate pistachio meringues, though. I’m converted. I’d make them again and again and again.

I’ve been following along with The Kitchn’s Baking School series. The first week was all about eggs and after reading a little more about meringues I decided to give them a shot. I had the afternoon free and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to experiment in the kitchen. Because that’s what I do when I have free afternoons.

Bake and drink a lot of coffee.

At first glance meringues seem a little intimidating. I think it’s all the whipping and the watching for the peaks to progress.

Is it to the ‘stiff peak stage’ yet?!

However, they are actually quite simple. Don’t be scared. Remain calm. Be patient.

You probably already have all the ingredients on hand, which is essentially just egg whites and sugar. We do add some cream of tartar for structure and some vanilla and salt for taste. If you don’t already have cream of tartar in your pantry, get some so that you can make dozens upon dozens of snickerdoodles to go with your meringues. I added chopped pistachios and chocolate to these, because I had both in my cupboard and this flavor combination makes my heart glad.

To make meringues you basically just combine all the ingredients in a bowl and whisk them until the mixture gets super smooth and glossy with stiff peaks.

That’s the very simplified way to put it. I would recommend reading this first.

I wasn’t really expecting much from these and made them just for the sake of trying something new. However, I was totally blown away by how much I liked them!

And by how cute they looked.

They aren’t like the dry store-bought meringues that I’ve tasted before. These are crisp on the outside and soft on the inside with just the right amount of sweetness.

I brought them into work and received high praise. I even got an “I don’t normally like meringues, but someone told me I had to try one. I did and then I ended up eating 4.”

This was a feeling of which I was well aware.

This recipe was inspired by The Kitchn. Try them out and let me know what you think!

chocolate pistachio meringues

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

90 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

These chocolate pistachio meringues are less intimidating to bake than you would think, making for a very simple, impressive, and delicious dessert!

Author: Recipe inspired by The Kitchn

Serves: 20 cookies

Ingredients

3 large eggs whites, room temperature
¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup granulated sugar
⅓ cup unsalted pistachios, chopped
⅓ cup dark chocolate chips, chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 215 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat mat.
Add the eggs whites to a medium bowl (or the bowl of an electric mixer). Using the whisk attachment, whisk eggs on low speed. They should start to foam.
Add the cream of tartar, salt, and vanilla.
Increase speed to medium. Begin to add the sugar, a little bit at a time whisking well between each addition. The mixture will start to form soft peaks. Gradually increase the speed to medium-high and continue to slowly add the sugar. Be patient. The mixture will continue to stiffen.
Once the mixture has formed stiff peaks (where you dip a spoon in an the peak is able to stay sticking straight up), gently fold in the chopped pistachios and chocolate, saving a little bit of each to sprinkle on the top.
Dollop spoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared pan. The larger they are, the longer they will need to bake. Sprinkle the remaining pistachios and chocolate on top of the meringues.
Bake for 60-90 minutes depending on the size of the meringues. I was able to get about 20 meringues out of the batter and baked them for 85 minutes. When fully baked, you should be able to lift the meringue off of the baking pan without it breaking.
Turn off the oven, crack open the door, and let the meringues cool in the oven completely.
Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

And if you love baking (as I do) you should follow along with The Kitchn’s Baking School. Last week was all about butter and this week is about yeast. Yay learning!

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Guilt-Free Tahini Brownie Bites (v, gf-o)

September 30, 2015 by Jenna

I was in Seattle this past weekend visiting my best friend. We celebrated her birthday, explored the city, and were so happy to be reunited after a crazy 2.5 months of not seeing each other.

The great thing about a best friend (or any really good friend for that matter) is that you can pick up right where you left off and 2.5 months can seem like it had only been 2.5 hours. We all need people like this. People who get you when you don’t make sense, who support you when you’re feeling a little unstable, who laugh with you at stupid things that no one else things is funny, and who make you amazing Powerpoint weekend itineraries. It’s just the best.

Amiright?

Alongside of having a best friend and group of people you can forever count on, it’s also good to have chocolate.

And chocolate gets even better when it comes in this guilt-free tahini brownie bite form.

These little friends are made of a chia seed egg, oats, salt, cocoa powder, tahini, maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and almond milk. This is why we can call them friends; no bad influences in sight.

I know that chocolate and peanut butter is like the ultimate BFF combo, but the mix of chocolate and tahini is pretty dern good too. Plus, they are vegan and can easily be made gluten-free, if that is what you need.

These bites will be there for you when you need a mid-afternoon snack or a post-dinner dessert. They are perfect for moments when you aren’t quite ready to indulge, but are craving a sweet treat that won’t wreck your week.

This is a good friendship to have.

Plus, they are easy to make! You just throw everything into a food processor and let it whiz away for a bit. Divide the batter into a 24-cup mini muffin tin and bake for 8ish minutes. Then eat, enjoy, and go meet up with your friends.

They will stay fresh in an air tight container for a few days, but you can also store them in the freezer. I love topping mine with a little bit of tahini, but almond and sunflower butter tastes great too.

So yeah, these tahini brownie bites are guilt-free and good friends to have!

And now some Seattle pictures.

We kicked off our Saturday with brunch at Tallulah’s and then went on a hike around Rattlesnake Lake. From there we belted out some karaoke at Rock Box, ate dinner at Tin Table, and had ice cream at Molly Moon’s.

On Sunday we grabbed coffee at Stumptown (!!), walked around Pike Place Market, ate some chowder, and enjoyed a beer at Fremont Brewing. Then it was time to part ways and go back to Denver. Weekend over. Sigh.

But you know what? It was exciting to fly back into Denver. I’m still getting used to the fact that I live here now, not Minneapolis. So strange! I like it 🙂

Guilt-Free Tahini Brownie Bites

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

9 mins

Total time

19 mins

These tahini brownie bites are easy to make, delicious, and totally guilt-free!

Serves: 24 bites

Ingredients

3 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon ground chia seeds
1 cup old fashioned oats (gluten-free if needed)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
⅓ cup tahini
⅓ cup maple syrup
⅓ cup tablespoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons almond milk

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease a mini muffin tin.
In a small bowl, stir together the water and chia seed meal. Set aside for at least 5 minutes.
Add the oats and salt into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until the oats reach a flour-like consistency, but there can still be some bigger pieces.
Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth, 2-3 minutes. Add 2-3 tablespoons of almond milk if the batter seems thick.
Divide the batter evenly between the mini muffin cups, about a heaping teaspoon.
Bake for 8-9 minutes, then let cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Notes

You can substitute the chia seed egg for a flax egg if you prefer. A real egg would probably work as well!

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