Mother's Day Chocolate Celebration

I love chocolate, and I love holidays - I am the kind of person thrilled about baking my own birthday cake because I love the process just as much as I love the treats. Of course, Mother's Day was a perfect opportunity to indulge a little, both in the excitement of a project and the fruits of my labor. Around a week before Mother's Day, I came across a list of "must try" recipes from NYT Cooking, and among them fudgy brownies - count me in! I wanted to share with a friend (by mail) and based on her feedback I decided to replace the nuts in the recipe with caramel bits, so I went ahead and made caramel candy from scratch as well. Then, I went ahead and tried a host of (also chocolate based) ideas and created my own version of a lightened up chocolate mini bundt - wholesome but rich and decadent, perfect combination to share with the kids.

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The fudge brownies are indeed delightful - the ingredient list is short which means that quality of each and every one of them shines through, pick good stuff if you try it (find the recipe here). First, I made a batch of caramel candy. I had to work with what I had in my pantry (which did not include corn syrup), so I found this old school recipe - make sure you follow all the steps carefully when making caramel from scratch, it's really finicky and many things can go wrong, I've personally experienced several of them. It's important to keep the sugar from crystalizing, so don't mix as the temperature rises once the sugar is melted, and be diligent about brushing the sides of the pan with water to prevent sugar crystals from forming on the edges. Watch the temperature carefully too, but don't rush it! Mine took forever to get past 300F then got away from me pretty quickly at some point after that, then I made a second batch that I watched like a hawk :) I chilled it thoroughly then cut in really small pieces and sprinkled it all over the brownies (I made 1.5x the recipe and baked them in a half sheet pan).

Before I launched into the creative process of figuring out my own recipe based on sweet potato, I made a batch of nut butter chocolate chip cookies following this recipe with some modifications - instead of almond butter I actually used half Justin's hazelnut chocolate butter and half creamy peanut butter, then used only a fourth of the amount of sweetener as a result (maple syrup). They came out so tasty, you can't really go wrong with a chocolate hazelnut flavor profile after all.

Finally, I drew some inspiration from my friend Elif (her insta here) and whipped up a batch of chocolate tahini glaze, so easy and so much flavor - just tahini, cocoa, a dash of maple syrup and almond milk. It's delicious and versatile, like a chocolate ganache that stays at the perfect consistency without hardening or breaking apart. Tip: this is so good on strawberries!

First step for sweet potato cake is well, the sweet potato. Baking it really draws out the sweetness and creates an irresistibly creamy texture. I washed two small sweet potatoes well, then put them in a 375F oven for 40-45 minutes until cooked through and very soft - poke test should meet almost no resistance. After the potatoes were done, I let them cool to room temperature - not only are they easier/safer to handle but having all ingredients at room temperature when baking is generally best practice anyway.

The wet ingredients are pretty simple - the sweet potato (I measured out 5 oz), 2 oz of almond milk (I love toasted coconut and almond milk for the added flavor notes) and vanilla extract get blended together, or simply mashed/whisked if the potato is soft enough, then mixed in with 2 tsp of flax. You could use 2 egg yolks instead of the flax here if using whole eggs, see notes below. Separately, whisk together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt until uniform and there are no clumps (pass through a sieve if there are too many clumps present that the whisk can't break up). Mix the dry ingredients into the wet, but only until all of the powder is moistened, do not overmix!

I wanted to lighten this up a bit so I used a couple of egg whites, reconstituted from dried egg white powder (pantry friendly). If you prefer to use fresh egg whites, then follow the same steps and consider replacing the flax with the yolks from those two eggs in the wet ingredients mix. Whip the egg whites (4tsp dry egg whites + 1/4 cup water for the equivalent of two egg whites) until soft peaks form, then gradually add the sugar until stiff peaks form. Fold the whites in stages with the rest of the mix - the first third is useful in loosening up the thicker batter, then the second and third additions should be folded carefully with a spatula, keeping as much air in the whites as possible and avoiding overmixing (a few white streaks are ok, better than deflating the meringue to be extra thorough).

Spoon or pipe using pastry bag in nonstick oil sprayed bundtlet pans or cupcake tins, then bake at 350F for 13-15 minutes until set. After pulling out of the oven, let cool in a the pan for a couple of minutes, then turn out and chill on a cooling rack or in the fridge if you with to consume sooner. You want these cool both to set and to hold the glaze well. Dip one by one in the tahini glaze, decorate as desired and enjoy! The plate below was our family dinner dessert platter on Mother's Day - the kids spoiled me with wonderful home made cards and compliments and I even got flowers, and then in return they thoroughly enjoyed every component of the dessert, they even asked for seconds of the bundtlets!

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Sweet Potato Chocolate Cakelets

Ingredients

5oz baked sweet potato 

1/4 cup apple sauce

2 oz almond milk 

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp flax

1/4 cup pastry/cake flour (30g)

1/3-1/2 cup cocoa (45g, could have done with a bit less)

1.5 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

4 tsp dry egg whites + 1/4 cup water (or you can use 2 fresh egg whites)

pinch of cream of tartar

3 tbsp sugar

Method

1. Mix the sweet potato, almond milk and vanilla well until smooth. You can use a hand blender to puree the potato if it's not soft enough for the whisk to get through it. Add flax and mix well.
2. Whisk together dry ingredients (flour, cocoa, baking powder, salt), then incorporate in wet careful not to overmix.
3. Whisk egg whites (or dry egg white powder+water) with cream of tartar until soft peaks form, then gradually whisk in sugar until you get stiff peaks.
4. Mix 1/3 of the meringue in the batter to lighten it up, then add the rest in two batches gently folding to prevent deflating the air bubbles too much.
5. Pipe into oil sprayed bundtlet tin, you can use a regular cupcake tin or donut pan as well, I got 11 mini bundts.
6. Bake at 350F until puffed up and cooked throughout, for me that was about 14 minutes, you don't want to overbake this because it will get dry.
7. Let cool on rack (or refrigerate if you want to serve sooner), dip in tahini chocolate sauce

Notes

• You can use whole eggs if you prefer, just sub in the yolks for the ground flax seeds in the wet ingredients and whip the egg whites with the cream of tartar.
• I like using toasted coconut almond milk, but any plant milk or even dairy would work ok.