[Whipped "buttercream" variation. Go ahead. . . lick the beaters.]
When we were kids, my sisters and I used to crowd round my mother every time she baked something (coffee cake, chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake, or her legendary chiffon cake) just so we could vie for who’d get to lick the beaters, or bowl, or spoon (this was before the days of, “eggs carry salmonella” and “never share a spoon with your sister” and “kids aren’t allowed near the electric beaters,” of course).
At those times when she also frosted the cake–if she were making a layer cake for guests, say, or a custom cake for one of our birthdays–the competition turned a little more fierce. Frosting-laden beaters or icing from the bowl were the real prizes. And when it was finally my birthday and I got to choose whichever piece of cake I wanted, I always selected the corner slice, since it contained the largest percentage of icing roses (because, really, that was the real reason I was eating the cake in the first place).
Around the time we began to bake our own cakes (when I was about seven or eight), the CFO and I quickly figured out that it wasn’t necessary to mix up a batter, bake it, cool it and frost it just so that we could get our icing fix; we started mixing up icing on its own, in soup bowls (my mother, who was at work and never got home before dinnertime, had no idea about our little habit, of course).
Even throughout my twenties and thirties when I had my own apartment in the city, I continued to feed my habit and would get my frosting fix on a regular basis. Ironically, at that time, I appeared outwardly healthy and slim, yet unknowingly feeding the latent spores in my system (doesn’t that sound incredibly sci-fi? Ooooh, creepy!). How could I have known that I was actually nurturing candida through my addiction?
When I first made today’s recipe, I was at first reminded of the frosting of my youth. True, feasting on frosting may not compare with shooting heroin, or snorting cocaine, or gambling compulsively, but it is an addiction nonetheless. I had completely forgotten about the old habit, burning it from my memory the way Bette Davis burns off her fingerprints so she can impersonate her twin sister in Dead Ringer. Around a dozen years ago, I had stopped cold turkey (cold ganache?) when the candida made itself known through a cluster of severe, chronic symptoms that all appeared within a few weeks of each other.
Totally unlike the icing of my youth, however, today’s recipe (a) has no refined sugar; (b) is low on the glycemic index; (c) contains a vegetable, for goodness’ sake!; and (d) is anti-candida friendly (if you’re in the later stages of the diet, as I am now). And guess what? Even though I assumed I’d want to eat it all, I discovered–miraculously–that this frosting doesn’t trigger the desire to consume the entire bowlful, even if I indulge my inner child and lick the beaters. It’s so full of nutrient density that I wasn’t able to eat more than a couple spoonfuls (no, seriously).
I spread some of this “buttercream” on the grain-free mini cupcakes from Kelly’s Divine Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe (have you entered the giveaway yet to win her book??) and later used it as the filling in my own Chocolate Whoopie Pies–my very first whoopee pie, ever! The HH sampled a whoopee pie and declared, “These taste just like regular baked goods.” Whoo hoo!
It feels great to know that I’ve kicked the frosting habit–well, even though I may have started a new frosting habit. This time, it’s a habit I’m happy to share.
This frosting can be used as soon as it’s mixed at room temperature as a dark, fudgy chocolate frosting that can be piped and will hold its shape. For a lighter frosting, refrigerate until firm and then whip into a “buttercream”. Either way, no one will believe what is–and isn’t–in this!
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp (150 ml) sweet potato purée (I always use homemade for this, so can’t vouch for the canned variety. I bake rather than boil my potatoes to bring out the natural sweetness as much as possible, then cool, peel and purée).
3 Tbsp (45 ml) coconut sugar
15-25 drops plain or vanilla stevia liquid, to your taste (I use NuNaturals)
2 tsp (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
pinch fine sea salt
1/4 cup (60 ml) carob powder**
2.5 ounces (65 g) good quality unsweetened chocolate (I use Cocoa Camino)
1/4 cup (60 ml) smooth natural cashew butter or sesame tahini (for nut-free)***
2 Tbsp (30 ml) extra virgin coconut oil, preferably organic
Place sweet potato, coconut sugar, stevia, vanilla and salt in food processor and process to blend. Add the carob powder and process until combined. Set aside.
In a small, heavy-bottomed pot, place the chocolate, cashew butter and coconut oil over low heat. Stir constantly until chocolate melts; remove from heat. Turn the mixture into the food processor and blend everything until smooth and creamy, scraping down sides as necessary.
Note: if the coconut oil begins to separate (the mixture will appear oily and a bit curdled), OR if you find that the mixture is too thick, add one tablespoon more of the sweet potato purée at a time and blend again; it should come together in a silky, spreadable frosting.
May be used immediately as a fudgy frosting; or else refrigerate until firm, then beat with electric beaters until fluffy and lighter in color for a “buttercream” frosting.
Makes about one cup (240 ml), enough for one layer or 12 mini cupcakes. Avoid the urge to eat most of it straight from the spoon. May be frozen; defrost overnight in the refrigerator, then bring to room temperature and beat with electric beaters before using. Great in these Whoopee Pies!
**I use carob powder because it adds a bit of sweetness that allows me to use less stevia. However, if you can use sweeteners, feel free to substitute cocoa instead of carob and add a bit more coconut sugar or some agave nectar to taste.
*** I’ve made this both with cashew butter and tahini (and one batch with cashini–a mix of the two) and I don’t taste the sesame in the finished product. Chocolate is great that way!
What was I thinking, agreeing to post an entry a day for a whole month? True, I have really been enjoying the whole Holidailies event, but given the whirlwind of events that are generally going on this time of year, coupled with the fact that I’ve been fighting some kind of weird virus the past two weeks (hope it’s not some alien quinoa I ate, or something), and this whole idea of posting to a schedule seems insane.
And so, I’m going to chuck the schedule tonight and write about something else entirely, instead of the pre-planned “diet” post. True, the title of my blog includes this very word, AND it is so often foremost on my mind that I may as well have a “diet” tatoo emblazoned on my stomach (where, of course, no living soul will ever see it if I can help it). Still, I am, every so often, occupied with something other than diets. Like dessert. Or dogs, for example.
These days, when I make or bake desserts, I tend to use organic, natural, unrefined sweeteners. That wasn’t always the case. I grew up in a home with an immigrant father who’d been raised on a dairy farm and was quite accustomed to home-baked desserts (not to mention everything else made from scratch as well). As it turned out, my mother was a dessert lover herself (the ultimate cause of her death, I’d wager) and an excellent baker. So we always had homemade goodies in our house, and my sisters and I would come home from school to cookies, cakes, or whatever else my mom had whipped up.
Growing up in a house like that was both a blessing and a curse. I knew how to bake by the time I was six or seven, helping my mother and aunt (who was also a professional baker and happened to live right upstairs in the same duplex). On the other hand, all the females in my family have or had weight problems, and struggle with sugar addictions. (My father, in contrast, is now in his eighth decade, has never been overweight, and just doesn’t understand how it can happen. “If I feel my belt getting a bit tighter,” he says, “I just stop eating dessert for a couple of days, and I go back to my normal size.” There’s no point telling him that (a) he doesn’t have an eating disorder, so of course he just “stops eating dessert”; and (b) he’s male, so all he has to do is have one less sip of coffee a day, and he’ll probably drop 10 pounds in a week.
The curse part is being so attached to dessert that I’m unwilling–perhaps unable–to cut it out of my life entirely, despite the deleterious effects I witnessed growing up. Even when my naturopath put me on a rigid diet that excluded all sweeteners for two years (including all fruits for the first 3 months), I eventually found a way to make dessert. I’d grind nuts with fruit puree–once the fruit was allowed–along with carob and spelt flour, shape it into patties and bake it; my HH called them “Dust Cookies.”
So maybe I just need to accept that baking is something I’ll always do, like writing, or patting my dogs, or brushing my teeth every night. I can live with that, as long as I’m not harming my health in the process. And that’s where the alternative sweeteners come into play.
It’s true that all “real” sweeteners will be converted to glucose in the body, thereby raising blood sugar levels. But there’s a huge difference between the immediate BOOM of sugar (converted quickly) and something like agave nectar, (converted slowly, more like a whole fruit would be, allowing for a more even rise in blood sugar levels). The lower GI (glycemic index) of agave also supposedly makes it appropriate for diabetics (if only it had been available when my mother was younger!).
It was a huge challenge at first when I began to bake with alternative sweeteners (not to mention the shift from regular flour to mostly spelt flour, from using eggs to no eggs, from butter to vegetable oils, and myriad other small changes). Eventually, though, I learned how to substitute healthier (for the most part, liquid) sweeteners for the sugar.
I use a variety of natural sweeteners now, but agave is by far my favorite. Somewhat like honey with a lighter consistency, it has a delicate flavor that won’t overpower the other tastes in your dessert (so, for instance, while I will use maple syrup in baking, I opt for agave when I’m making something light, like a lemon cake or banana cupcake). It’s also less sticky than honey, so it won’t cling to the bottom of the jar when it’s almost empty (just invert and wait a few seconds, and every last drop makes its way out).
If you haven’t tried it and would like to, here are a few quick tips for converting your existing recipes:
Agave is about 1-1/2 times sweeter than regular sugar. So if you’re replacing sugar with agave syrup, you can start with 2/3 to 3/4 cup agave for each cup of sugar.
Since agave is a liquid sweetener, simply substituting one for one with sugar will alter the chemistry of the batter by adding more liquid. To compensate, either cut other liquids in the recipe (say if it calls for 1 cup milk) by about 25%. In other words, if the original recipe used 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk, change that to 2/3-3/4 cup agave and 2/3-3/4 cup milk.
If the original recipe didn’t use much liquid, you can still compensate for the agave by increasing the flour. Add about 25% extra flour for each cup flour (in other words, if the original recipe calls for 1 cup flour, use 1-1/4 to 1-1/3 cups with the agave).
Baked goods made with agave may be a little heavier than what you’re used to, so you might want to increase any leaveners. If the original recipe calls for 1 tsp. baking powder, I usually up it to 1-1/4 or 1-1/2 tsp.
Finally, agave browns faster than sugar (just as honey does), and so should be baked at a slightly lower temperature for best results. If the original recipe uses 350F, I will bake an agave-based recipe at 325F.
Baking with agave allows me to create sweets that I’m willing to eat (that is, things that are actually tasty), without causing terribly unhealthy swings in blood sugar levels. And I do believe that dessert can be part of an overall weight loss eating plan (see, I didn’t say “diet.”).
I’m beginning to think this blog should be called “Chocolate, Chocolate and Chocolate.” I was truly not aware that one person could consume so much Lindt in a 4-day period and still survive. I think they should give me danger pay, or something.
So: what to do about my chocolate addiction? I’ve maintained for years that sugar is just as addictive as any drug, illegal or otherwise. Only it’s worse: you can live in a world without alcohol by removing it entirely from your life and cupboards. But you can never eliminate food entirely from your life (or even dessert, if you live and socialize among other humans). And given that my own mother died of complications related to diabetes, one would think I’d take special care to avoid a similar demise.
But that’s the conundrum: I am intelligent, educated, nutrition-savvy, quirky (okay, “quirky” isn’t really relevant, but I like that fact)–yet can’t seem to get a grip on my eating habits. I do know that, like any other addict, if I make it through an initial “drying out” phase and avoid chocolate and other sweets for a period of about a week or two, it will be smooth sailing from then on. So I’ve tried, many a time, to begin a new, healthy regimen and get past that hump. Lately, it seems an impossible task.
And so, back to a fresh attempt tomorrow. No, wait, not tomorrow, but right now! Just because I ate a bag of Lindt minis today doesn’t necessarily mean I need to stay off the wagon, does it? I can eat a healthy, nutritious, delicious dinner. I remember that obese woman, Stacey Halprin, who’d lost the equivalent of a person or two. At one point, she was interviewed on Oprah, talking about what she’d learned after being slim for over a year. She basically said that you don’t have to blow it just because you’ve eaten something ‘bad.’ She said, “If you wake up in the morning and you’ve been to a buffet breakfast or in my case, have a row of Oreos in the afternoon, I don’t starve because I know by noon, I’m going to tilt back the fridge. . . . What the winners do is they go to the exact next meal, and they start like it never happened.”
And so I shall (update tomorrow).
(“Good for you, Mum! We don’t mind healthy eating, either. Can we have some more of that sweet potato you gave us for dinner?”)
