Ocean Greens (The Experiment, 2016) by Lisette Kreischer and Marcel Schuttelaar shows food-enthusiasts how they can deliciously incorporate seaweed into their daily diet. Kreischer and Schuttelaar educate their readers on the many benefits of eating seaweed, and offer dozens of recipes to make eating seaweed enjoyable. The following excerpt is their recipe for chocolate, raspberry, and seaweed cake.
In a book filled with delicious recipes, we shouldn’t be missing a cake! Even a book about seaweed should have a cake: a seaweed cake! You might not expect it, but seaweed and dark chocolate go very well together. Hence this fierce recipe for an even fiercer chocolate cake, suitable for gourmet cooks and foodies alike. Allow for some time, however, as the various layers that make up this cake deserve your attention. Once you’ve decorated it, you’ll steal the show with this special and festive treat.
Ganache
• 7 ounces (200 grams) dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup (120 milliliters) almond or soy creamer
• 2 tbsp. plant-based margarine, at room temperature
• 1 tbsp. maple syrup
Chocolate Cake
• 2 tbsp. ground flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup and 1 tablespoon (75 milliliters) boiling water
• 3/4 cup (190 grams) soy yogurt
• 1/3 cup (100 milliliters) applesauce
• 1/4 cup (50 ml) maple syrup
• 2-1/4 cups (275 grams) spelt flour
• 1 cup (100 grams) cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup (50 grams) hazelnut flour (see Tip)
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. vanilla powder (or vanilla seeds from 2 beans)
• 1/2 tsp. fine sea salt
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 sheet nori, crumbled in small pieces
• 7 tbsp. (200 grams) plant-based margarine, at room temperature
• 1 cup (200 grams) unrefined cane sugar
• 2 tbsp. hot water
Vanilla Chlorella Crème
• 1 cup and 1 tablespoon (225 grams) plant-based margarine, at room temperature
• 2 cups (250 grams) powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. almond, oat, rice or soy milk
• 2 tsp. vanilla powder (or vanilla seeds from 2 beans)
• Zest of 1/4 lemon
• 1 heaping teaspoon chlorella powder
Raspberry Sauce
• 3/4 cup (100 grams) fresh raspberries
Extras
• 1-1/4 cups (150 grams) fresh raspberries
• 1/4 cup (35 grams) unsalted raw hazelnuts
• 1/2 sheet nori, crumbled into small pieces
• Coarse sea salt, for garnish
1. To make the ganache, break the chocolate into small pieces. Heat the creamer, margarine, and maple syrup in a double boiler. Once the margarine has melted, remove the bowl from the pot of boiling water to stop heating it. Add the chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Allow to cool completely and stir before serving to loosen.
2. To make the chocolate cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius). Grease a cake pan with margarine and dust with flour.
3. Put the flaxseeds in a cup or small bowl and mix with the boiling water. Let soak for 5 minutes.
4. Mix the soy yogurt, applesauce, and maple syrup in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the spelt flour, cocoa powder, hazelnut flour, baking powder, vanilla powder, salt, lemon zest, and crumbled nori.
5. Whisk the margarine in a bowl with a fork. Cream the margarine and sugar by beating with a mixer for about 4 minutes until fluffy (you can also use a food processor).
6. Add the applesauce mixture to the flour mixture and then add in the creamed margarine. Add the flaxseeds and hot water and stir until any lumps have dissolved but not any longer. It should be a firm batter. Pour into the greased pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife slid into the middle comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Loosen the cake around the edges with a knife and then carefully remove it from the pan. Let cool completely. Then carefully slice the cake into two layers.
8. Meanwhile, to make the chlorella crème, beat the margarine in a bowl with a mixer at medium speed. Beat in the powdered sugar little by little. Increase the mixing speed and beat the margarine for about 2 minutes. Add the almond milk, vanilla, and lemon zest. Beat at high speed for 4 minutes until the sugar is completely blended into the margarine and the crème is light and creamy (you can also do this in a food processor).
9. To make the raspberry sauce, puree the raspberries into a smooth red sauce.
10. For the extras, toast the hazelnuts in a skillet until golden brown. The skin may stay on. Chop coarsely.
11. You now have three beautiful sauces to decorate the cake with: the ganache, the chlorella crème, and the raspberry sauce. It’s up to you to make it beautiful. One method is to spread one half of the cake with raspberry sauce and scoop a thick layer of ganache on top. Swirl some of the chlorella crème on top. Place the other half of the cake on top. Spread the remaining ganache over the entire cake. Swirl some chlorella crème on top and garnish with roasted hazelnuts, the remaining raspberries, and crumbled nori. Sprinkle with a little bit of coarse sea salt.
Tip: You can make your own hazelnut flour by finely grinding unsalted, raw hazelnuts in a food processor.
More from: Ocean Greens
• Sea Chowder with Shiitake Bacon Recipe• Squash and Seaweed Pancake Recipe
Recipe from Ocean Greens: Explore the World of Edible Seaweed and Sea Vegetables by Lisette Kreischer and Marcel Schuttelaar. © Kosmos Uitgevers Utrecht/Antwerpen 2015, 2016. Translation © Maria M. Reimer and Victor Verbeck, 2016. Reprinted by permission of the publisher, The Experiment. Available wherever books are sold. theexperimentpublishing.com.