chocolate Archives - domenica dreams of calamari

September 28, 2016September 28, 2016

Chocolatey Date and Banana Breakfast Bowl

This one goes out to the late Beach City Burrito. Which closed a long time ago and has been many things since but still haunts my memory with its date shakes. When I was learning to surf as a youngin with my dad, the mention of a date shake was a sure fire way of getting me out there even in the worst conditions. They came in big styrofoam cups and were so creamy! What was their secret? We’ll never know. And I’m sure they were nowhere near healthy.

Well, life goes on so I guess I’ll just work on perfecting my rendition. This really wasn’t anything like ye old BCB date shake but it had dates and bananas and tasted really really good so.. there’s a connection.

3 dates
1 1/2 frozen bananas + a couple slices of a non-frozen one for garnish (optional)
1/2 tbsp cocoa powder (unsweetened)
a few dashes cinnamon
1 tbsp greek yogurt
2 tbsp sunflower seed butter (or your nut butter of choice)
a splash water
chia seeds/ flax seeds

pit dates and cut one in quarters for garnish (optional)
in a blender blend frozen bananas, yogurt, sunflower seed butter, cocoa powder and some cinnamon and some water
add water as needed for your desired consistency
pour into a bowl (or cup, whatever floats your boat) and top with more cinnamon, seeds, banana slices and the last date

November 15, 2014January 22, 2015

Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

2 cups hazelnuts
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp olive oil

roast hazelnuts for 15 minutes at 350°F, on a lined baking sheet
let cool then add to Vitamix with half of the cocoa powder and agave nectar

November 10, 2014January 22, 2015

Nutella Palmiers

When I decided to take French as my language in high school I had no idea how many class food parties would come out of it, but if I had known, it would’ve just made my decision that much easier. Last week my professor decided to take a break from writing essays and take two days of “food days”. Everyone brought dishes from different regions and did short presentations on how they made them, while the rest of us stuffed our faces. It was a great time and I think I ate more butter in those two days than I normally do in a month. One of the girls made palmiers, which are my favorite. They always seemed like they would be so complicated to make but she let me in on her puff pastry shortcut. Which made me think; thank God for puff pastry and why didn’t I think of that sooner. For my contribution to the food party, I made my own version of nutella with actual hazelnuts and chocolate, and sugar cookies (or “sand cookies” in french, because the dough is the consistency of sand). Anyways I ended up with some leftover nutella and a craving for more palmiers so I thought NUTELLA PALMIERS, why not? Adding “iers” to the end of basically anything in french specifies its’ tree form, so a “palmier” is a palm tree. It is also the world for elephant ear, because french likes to make things interesting and have words that mean 10 different things.

1 sheet puff pastry
2 cups nutella or Chocolate Hazelnut Spread
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp butter

thaw puff pastry, pre-heat oven to 350 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
spread your spread of choice over puff pastry, then roll tightly from either side
put the roll in the freezer for 10 minutes, this will make it easier to slice
remove from freezer and brush top with butter and sprinkle with sugar
slice thinly and place on the lined baking sheet
bake for 15 minutes or until puff pastry puffs and begins turning golden

October 24, 2014October 24, 2014

Dark Chocolate Avocado Brownies

1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp honey
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp cinnamon
2 oz dark chocolate chunks

pre-heat oven to 350° and line a pan with parchment paper or baking spray
combine mashed avocado, sugar, egg and vanilla extract in a medium sized bowl
in another bowl whisk together the cocoa powder, flour, 2 tbsp of cinnamon and baking soda
mix together wet and dry ingredients until just combined and add chocolate chunks
bake for 8-10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean, sprinkle remaining tbsp cinnamon over top