Whole Wheat chocolate cake

I really wanted to make a cake today with Hugo, but alas, we were without a car and lacking lots of staple cake ingredients. I scoured the internet until I found this recipe whcih was close enough to what I had to make. I made some substitutions - the original called for sour cream, but thats just not something I would ever have. So I subbed whole fat yogurt. If you have more time and some cheese cloth I think the recipe would be even better if you drained the yogurt for about 30 minutes. Or, if its a new container use the creamy stuff on the top or use labneh.

Anyway, this cake is wonderful!! I really like eating whole-grain treats - it helps me avoid sugar triggered migraines and helps avoid those crazy blood sugar swings you get with all white-carb treats. I like the taste of whole wheat too. But this is definitely decadent treat food. No applesauce instead of butter here. I imagine it would be good with sucanat or maple syrup too.

Decadent Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

* 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
* 1 1/4cups sifted organic whole wheat pastry flour
* 2 tsp baking soda (1 tsp if you are using sourcream)
* 1/4 tsp sea salt
* 1/4 cup butter, softened at room temperature
* 1 1/4 cup natural brown sugar, lightly packed
* 2 eggs
* 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
* 1/2 plain whole milk yogurt
* 1/2 cup boiling water

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 375. Grease and flour a 9” cake pan.
2. Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt together and set aside.
3. Melt the chocolate and then allow it to cool slightly. Be careful to not allow it to harden.
4. Beat the butter and sugar for two minutes. Add the eggs and beat for an additional two minutes. Beat in the vanilla and cooled chocolate.
5. Gradually stir in the sifted flour mixture in approximate thirds, alternating each time with 1/4 cup of the yogurt.
6. Stir in the boiling water. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
7. Bake for 25 minutes. Do not overbake this cake! Allow the cake to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

I frosted this with an almond butter frosting. Its great. Mix powdered sugar, almond butter and butter to taste. Add milk to get the consistency you want. You can also beat in a spoon-full of coco-powder of an ounce or so of melted bittersweet chocolate. I think I used about 1/2 cup almond butter 1/2 c butter 1c powdered sugar. Not really sure though. I ended up adding more butter at the end.

Balti Butter Chicken with Pullao Rice

I made this last night and oh my goodness, is it amazing! Al said it was the best he's had. I hope that you like it too! I made the rice first because the chicken didn't take that long to assemble.

Pullao Rice:
1C Basmati rice, rinsed until water runs clear
2T butter
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
1 bay leaf
1t salt
2C water

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add spices. After 2 minutes add rice and fry for 1 minute. Add water, bring it to boil, cover pan and reduce heat. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Fluff with fork.


Balti Butter Chicken:

2/3C plain yogurt
1/2C ground almonds
1.5 t of cayenne pepper
3 bay leaves
1/4t ground cloves
1/4t ground cinnamon
1 t garam masala
4 cardamom pods
1t grated ginger
1t grated garlic
1.25t salt
2 C canned crushed tomatoes
2 lbs (roughly 6.5C) boneless chicken breast, cubed
3T butter
2T olive oil
2 medium onions, sliced
2T chopped cilantro
3T heavy cream

Mix yogurt, almonds, spices, tomatoes, add chicken, set aside.
Melt butter and oil in a deep skillet, saute onions until they are transparent, about 3 min.
Add the chicken mixture and saute for about 10-12 minutes, until the chicken is cooked.
Add cilantro, cook for 2 minutes. Add cream, stir and bring to a boil for only 1 minute.
Serve with pullao rice. Enjoy!