Whole Wheat Orange Pancakes with Chocolate Sauce

Light ~ Fluffy ~ Spongy ~ Flavourful ~ Indulgent

Whole wheat orange pancakes, or how to make perfect vegan pancakes the easy way. They could well be the simplified version of my Orange Cake with Chocolate Cream.

Drenched in chocolate sauce, these pancakes are absolutely delicious...and addictive. It's up to you whether this recipe serves four...or just one;)

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

I am so in love with this pudding. It's indulgent without being overly chocolaty or sweet, and it feels light even though it doesn't appear so. Before making this recipe I used to add chia seeds, whole or ground, to my breakfast cereal and milk for a boost of nutrition. I'd seen many chia seed pudding recipes before, but it wasn't until I saw Food Doodles' mouthwatering pictures of Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding that I finally gave in and tried it.

Crunchy Sticky Bites

The purpose of these bites was to satisfy my craving for dates and nuts. Although I had used all these ingredients before, what I didn't expect was their combined taste which instantly reminded me of a childhood favourite - nougat (halvita in my language). That nougat had peanuts and was sandwiched between two thin wafers.

Crunchy Banana Chocolate Bites (no added sugar)

Crunchy ~ Nutty ~ Fruity ~ Simple ~ Decadent ~ Addictive ~ Satisfying

These treats are insanely delicious - you wouldn't expect that from a combination of such simple ingredients, but these bites are the real deal. They were a mega hit at a dinner gathering I made them for. Kids loved them too!

If you're a crunch or chocolate addict, you can have as many of these bites as you want - there is no added sugar here, no nasty fats either.

Super Moist Orange Cake with Chocolate Ganache

Orange, vanilla, chocolate and coconut, this cake has every flavour my heart desires. A foolproof, blissfully easy to make dessert, this is indulgence at the highest level! The cake is heavenly moist and light, with a melt-in-the-mouth texture and a soothing, gratifying effect that will make anyone love it. Dressed up for a celebration or served in all its simplicity, it is nothing short of magnificent. You don't need to wait for a special occasion to come up in order to enjoy it, make it simply because it's Monday or because you deserve a treat and I guarantee you it will make your day.

Chocolate Mousse (no added sugar)

One of my recent kitchen adventures turned simplicity into pure decadence. If you're not new to my blog, you already know how much I love the combination of chocolate and coconut. With this new experiment I wanted to replace sugar/agave nectar and make a healthier chocolate ice cream without compromising on taste.

I had successfully used homemade date paste before in several recipes, so I knew this would work great in this dessert, but I could not anticipate just how light and creamy it would turn out. Instead of the soft serve ice cream I had in mind, I created a luscious chocolate mousse. It was in fact so good that I didn't want to risk spoiling the texture and taste by freezing it. While sugar and agave nectar only add sweetness, dates also add a delicate fruity flavour that makes this chocolate mousse even more delicious.

Raw Blackberry Banana Ice Cream

Not long ago I thought I had found the most delicious and easiest to make ice cream (see my post on No-Churn Coconut Chocolate Ice Cream). Recently, however, I wanted to see what all the hype was about the magical one-ingredient ice cream and that was a fantastic surprise. Frozen then puréed ripe bananas make the creamiest, lightest alternative to custard-based ice cream. It is rich yet feels light, it's naturally sweet and creamy and, when frozen, doesn't form all those nasty ice crystals. With no ice cream maker needed, this dessert is a breeze to make and the result spectacular.

Plum Semolina Cake

Aren't these little cake squares pretty? This is the kind of dessert I love to make - quick, simple and bursting with flavour. This plum cake is moist, tender, wonderfully fruity, and has just the right amount of sweetness. I instantly became a semolina fan a few years ago after tasting RedChillies' Eggless Mango Cake. I turned out many versions of that cake and each one was a hit. With this cake instead of mashing the plums and adding the purée to the batter, I preferred to dot the cake with halved plums for a more appealing look. This also created a delicious contrast of textures and colours.

Semolina gives the cake a pleasingly grainy texture. It also helps retain moisture, making it less dense than similar flour-based cakes. This semolina cake is flavoured with Bramley applesauce which adds a pleasing touch of tartness and makes it light and fresh tasting.

Coconut Cherry Ice Cream Layer Cake

There is something hopelessly cheerful about this cake with its alternating layers of delicate pink and vibrant red that create a delicious contrast and give it a celebratory appearance. I made it for a recent birthday party and it was a total sensation. Prior to the event I had tried this combination of coconut and cherry in ice cream form and its raving success made it the obvious choice for the special occasion instead of the usual chocolate cake. The flavours are fresh and bursting with each bite. It turns out that homemade ice cream is great fun both to make and to eat. Making an ice cream cake from scratch is deeply rewarding and justifies all the effort put into it.

No-Churn Coconut Chocolate Ice Cream

There is something truly magical about this ice cream that turns its simplicity into pure decadence. The rich coconut and chocolate flavours meet almost halfway, with chocolate slightly taking over. They're so wonderfully balanced that even someone who is not a coconut fan would love this ice cream. The heavenly fusion of flavours makes for an exquisite taste sensation. The texture is seductively smooth and velvety, forming a thick coating inside the mouth as the ice cream melts. Had I not made it myself, I wouldn't have believed vegan ice cream could be so incredibly creamy and light, especially without using an ice cream maker. Once you taste homemade ice cream the ready-made one becomes a distant memory.

Coconut Hazelnut Balls

I have got into the habit of making raw nut milk and sweet treats using the leftover pulp. After enjoying those delicious Chocolate Balls with almond pulp I wanted a more exotic taste, so I made these pretty little coconut snowballs with hazelnut pulp. I also used virgin coconut oil for the first time and the balls had the most amazing aroma. No wonder coconut oil is used in aromatherapy for its soothing, stress-relieving effects. This recipe is very simple and requires minimal preparation.

Chocolate Balls

Chocolate balls are a very simple, healthy and delicious way to use up leftover pulp from making Raw Almond Milk (my previous post). With only three main ingredients to combine, they are ready in just a few minutes. These chocolate balls are not overly chocolatey and sweet, but are decadent enough to make you want more. There is no added sugar and they are gluten-free too. They make a great snack or dessert and if you pack them in a nice little box they make a wonderful gift.

Muffin Lamingtons

Some kitchen accidents result in surprisingly delicious creations, as it was the case yesterday. I wanted to use the Orange Cake with a Heart of Chocolate recipe to make muffins with chocolate cream, only that I added too much milk to the cream, and so I got the idea of cutting the muffins in half and use them to make lamingtons instead. Lamingtons are Australia's signature dessert: heavenly pieces of vanilla sponge cake dipped in chocolate icing and rolled in desiccated coconut. I'm actually quite proud of this little "accident", as I haven't found a similar dessert on the internet:)

Apple Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is a rather unusual dish in my country and it's only during the past few years that it gained popularity. I learnt about it when I moved to the UK and after making it the first time it became a favourite treat in my family. I greatly enjoyed that simple bread and butter crunch with a thick layer of custard underneath and topped with raisins and almonds. I was using eggs and dairy at that time and it took me a while to make a vegan version.

Black and White Bean Fudge (soy-free, fat-free, gluten-free)

I got the idea of making a black and white fudge when someone asked me how she could make the Cheesecake Brownie soy-free. There's really nothing to it, with the help of a blender or food processor this dessert is ready in no time. It's very flavourful, not too dense and it's best eaten chilled. For the dark fudge I followed the Black Bean Brownie recipe and added melted chocolate for a deeper flavour (it came out darker than in the pictures). For the white one I doubled the amount of oats and added white chocolate and orange zest for extra flavour.

Chocolate Coconut Marble Cake

Cake is a generic term for many types of desserts. In Romania we have two distinct categories, prajitura and tort, but both are translated in English as cake. A tort is mostly made on special occasions, like birthdays, Easter, Christmas, New Year and is very beautifully decorated. A prajitura, on the other hand, can be made all year round and cut into different shapes, while a tort is only sliced. Prajitura is for tort what appetizer is for main course; on special occasions you can't have a tort without at least one type of prajitura.

Strawberry Mille-Feuille

Mille-feuille (thousand sheets), also known as Napoleon, is a classic French dessert made up of alternating layers of puff pastry and pastry cream, with a black & white pattern icing. Although it is ready in just a few easy steps, making the cream from scratch and creating the icing pattern can be daunting for someone who's never done this before.