Chocolate Sweet Potato Torte

YES, there’s sweet potato in it and NO, you won’t even know it’s there. The sweet potato adds an incredible texture to this wheat-free dessert. It’s sooooo decadent and fudgy but it’s gluten free and delicious!

Ingredients
1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potato
1¼ cups sugar, divided
1 cup almond flour (you can buy almond meal at Trader Joe’s)
½ cup unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
3 eggs
¼ cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 Tbs vanilla soy milk

Here’s what you do:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, blend sweet potato, ¾ cups sugar, almond flour, cocoa and salt with electric mixer until smooth. Separate the eggs, placing whites in a separate bowl. Add yolks to sweet potato mixture and mix to combine.

Beat egg whites with electric mixer at high speed until soft peaks form. Add remaining sugar, beat 2 minutes more or until stiff, glossy peaks form.

GENTLY fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture into sweet potato mixture and then gently fold in the remaining egg whites. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 45 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely.

Over low heat, melt chocolate in double boiler or in heat-proof glass bowl over simmering water in stock pot (don’t let the bowl touch the water). When chocolate has melted, remove from heat and add soymilk until combined. Spread over top of cake and let stand until chocolate sets.

Chocolate Lavender Cake

Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) has a fresh, sweet, floral, herbaceous aroma that is soothing and refreshing. Because it is the most versatile of all essential oils, no home should be without it. Lavender is an adaptogen, and therefore can assist the body when adapting to stress or imbalances. It is a great aid for relaxing and winding down before bedtime, yet has balancing properties that can also boost stamina and energy. Therapeutic-grade lavender may be used to soothe and cleanse common cuts, bruises, and skin irritations. Lavender may also be used to enhance the flavor of foods, which is what we're doing today!

This cake is very simple but its flavors are complex. You can also gussy it up with this delicious frosting recipe, dust some powdered sugar over the top or just plop a scoop of (low fat) vanilla ice cream next to it.

Ingredients
1 cup vanilla soy milk
2 drops therapeutic grade lavender essential oil (or 2 tbsp. dried lavender)
½ stick butter, melted and cooled
1 cup sugar (I use evaporated cane sugar)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. sea salt
4 egg whites
3 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup cocoa
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour

Here’s what you do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add lavender to soy milk or, if using dried lavender, bring the milk and lavender to a boil in a small saucepan, let it steep for 5 minutes and strain, discarding lavender. Set milk aside.

Cream butter and sugar, then add lavender milk, baking powder, salt, egg whites, and vanilla extract; stir. Blend in cocoa and flour.

Pour into a greased 9-inch cake pan or spring form pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. Let cool before serving or applying frosting.

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Cake

I love baking with Greek yogurt. It's a fantastic substitute for some of the less healthy ingredients you find in cake recipes and packs your food full of protein! This is not a very sweet recipe (most of my recipes aren't), but you can add another 1/2 cup of sugar if you want to increase the sweetness.

1 1/2 cups + 1 Tbsp whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar
2 extra-large eggs
1 tsp grated lemon zest (approximately 1 lemon)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350°F. With olive oil cooking spray, thoroughly spray your loaf pan (I use 3 small loaf pans, but you can also use one big one).

Sift together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt into bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, eggs, lemon zest, vanilla and oil.

Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of flour, and fold them very gently into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared pan(s) and bake for about 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the center of the loaf.

Cook the lemon juice and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. While the cake is still warm, brush the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool before serving.