Despite my tiny kitchen, I do have quite a few kitchen gadgets that I love, and I had the chance to use my newest one for this decadent chocolate dessert this week. The more recipe searching I do, the more recipes I come across that have measurements in weight as opposed to volume, so I thought it was about time that I bought myself a kitchen scale. This is not a fancy scale. It only cost about $10 and weighs up to 500g of stuff, but it's small and easy to store, and available in a variety of colors. It did the job well, so I can't complain.
Here are a few of my other favorite kitchen tools that I use on a regular basis. I haven't included any of those tools that I think are standard in everyone's kitchen like pots and pans or utensils:
KitchenAid Stand Mixer - this was that gift on our wedding registry that everyone wanted to give us
KitchenAid Immersion Blender with Chopper Attachment - my favorite Christmas gift last year. I use it at least once a week. It's great for making dips and creamy soups.
Pastry Cutter - I use this to make the topping for crisps and crumbles which are probably my favorite desserts
Garlic Press and Garlic Peeler - because chopping garlic yourself leaves you with stinky fingers for days
Bamboo cutting boards and spoons - so much better than wood. They don't hold the flavour of whatever you're making
Large Pyrex Measuring Cups - measure, mix, microwave, pour all with one bowl. Who wouldn't like that?
Coffee Grinder - because fresh ground coffee is so much better! I actually have two of these. I sometimes use the other one for grinding things like nuts or spices.
Pizza Stone - Pizza is one of the first things I ever made from scratch ( besides cookies and cakes) and its still one of favorite things to make. The pizza stone makes it more authentic. Lately I've even been tossing the dough - so much fun although it can be messy!!
Mortar and Pestle - Such a classy tool. It can be used as a decoration or for grinding spices.
Tea Infuser - My cousin who worked for David's Teas got me hooked on loose teas. I have quite the little collection going now, and there isn't a day when I don't have a cup of tea.
Ice Cream Maker - I actually only use this about once or twice a year, but it brings back wonderful childhood memories of making ice cream from scratch at Grampy's farm. This is much easier, but the end result is just as good.
Pepper Grinder - Freshly ground has more kick.
Pepper Grinder - Freshly ground has more kick.
Decadent Sugar Free Chocolate "Torte" adapted from this recipe by The Healthy Chef
250g walnuts
1 heaping Tbsp Cocoa Powder
1.5 tsp chia seed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
8 pitted dates
a little almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate Vegan Whipped Cream
Chocolate Infused Honey for Decoration
For tart:
1. Combine walnuts, cocoa powder, chia seed, cinnamon, and salt in food processor.
2. Process until ground, but not extremely fine
3. Add dates and vanilla. Process again. Test to see if mixture sticks together. If it does, no need to use almond milk. If it doesn't, add almond milk 1 tsp at a time until cake sticks together (I didn't need to add any).
4. Line a 9 inch round pan with parchment paper.
5. Press mixture into pan, and store in fridge for 2 hours and voila...chocolate torte. No baking required.
6. Carefully remove from pan onto a nice plate. Serves 10.
Vegan Whipped Cream
If you're really well prepared, you can make some whipped cream for the tart.
1. Place the can of coconut milk in the fridge and leave there overnight.
2. Open the can, and discard the watery solution (unless you want to use it for something else). Whip the creamy milk that's left just as you would dairy whipping cream, and in a few minutes, you will have vegan whipped cream. You can add in the cocoa and honey and whip again if you so desire.
Drizzle with chocolate honey if you want to make it pretty. I got this honey from a local company http://www.cornectfamilyfarm.com. To liquify honey so it was easy to poor, I boiled some water, then placed the jar of honey in the hot water for a few minutes. This liquified it enough so I could poor a thin line straight from the jar.
Keep refrigerated.
Note: Coconut milk does have saturated fat. The brand I used resulted in 1.75 g saturated fat and a total of 5.6g fat ( no trans) per serving. To compare with dairy whipping cream which would have had 5 g saturated fat and a total of 8g of fat (no trans) per serving. If you want to forgo the whipped cream all together, and just drizzle with a bit of honey, it would be equally delicious.
mmmm. totally gonna try to make that. :D
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