Chocolate Persimmons Breakfast Bowl

I have been without a kitchen for more than 2 months thanks to a “minor” flood back in April caused by a leaky refrigerator water line. The repairs, which commenced after thanksgiving were scheduled to last 5 days but were barely completed before Christmas. I am still working to restore order to my kitchen. 

I have missed my kitchen, not just the food delights, but being in it, handling and preparing my food, planning, experimenting, anticipating, playing… Within a week of eating out, I started feeling sluggish. We were making healthier choices, even for eating out, but didn’t feel I was fuelling my body.

For weeks, my husband and I have been dreaming about and planning our first official meal to celebrate the return of our kitchen, the heart of our home. You’ll have to wait and see what we craved most in the absence of our beloved kitchen. For now, with half my utensils and tools still in boxes, this is all I could manage, but oh what a concoction.

My mother sent me home with a case of persimmons. Yes, a case all for me!! My husband doesn’t eat them due to texture issues, which means they are all for me and I have no problem devouring them. Of course, my favourite way to eat them is straight up for breakfast, but I love them in the parfait and even make vinaigrettes with them. This is one of the most luxurious fruits I eat and in many respects, a specialty item. Its vibrant orange colour is arresting. The texture silky and smooth (and a little slimy, if you don’t mind that sort of thing). It is distinctly fragrant and supremely sweet with a taste all of its own.

The only persimmons we eat are the hachiya type with the dome/pyramid shape and only when they are ripe, otherwise they leave an awkward drying taste in the mouth. You’ll know they are ripe for the picking when they are soft to the touch from top to bottom. 

Persimmons pair beautifully with yogurt and when mashed work as a fresh compote to sweeten it. The hint of saltiness from the toasted pumpkin seeds in the dark chocolate bark tingles on the tongue and offsets the ultra sweet persimmons beautifully with the sweet / salty effect in play. You don’t need much chocolate, but what a treasure when you encounter it! Along with the crunchiness of the granola and slivered almonds, this combination makes a gorgeous breakfast treat. 

If you use sweetened vanilla yogurt (omit maple syrup), it doubles up as a dessert.

It’s simply my favourite parfait combination. Here’s to new twists on old favourites. Happy new year everyone!!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

Yogurt, unsweetened	1 cup
Maple syrup	1 tbsp
Persimmons, medium-large	2
Granola	1/2 cup
Almonds, slivered	1/4 cup
Chocolate bark (toasted salted pumpkin seeds), broken up into small pieces	2 pieces

1. Wash persimmons and cut in half. Scoop out flesh and place in a small bowl. Using a spoon, combine until mashed and uniform consistency is achieved.

2. In another small bowl, add maple syrup to yogurt and combine. Divide yogurt between two serving breakfast bowls.

3. Divide persimmons mash between both bowls using a spoon to fold the persimmons mash elegantly into the yogurt leaving streaks.

4. Add and top with half the granola, slivered almonds and chocolate bark.

5. Combine and enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Cake Two Ways

  

Given the choice between chocolate and vanilla, I’ll choose any and all things vanilla, anytime. However, I live with a choco-holic.

This treat started out like all other banana cakes around here, because we had overripe bananas to salvage. John just recently finished his muffin stash, so I was due to bake muffins and since I do very little baking with chocolate, I thought I’d treat him to something chocolate.

I’ve had this recipe in my dessert binder for years. It arrived in the mail, as a leaflet booklet, in some magazine, from the Robin Hood kitchen. I looked for the recipe online, but it is not available. The opportunity presented itself, so I finally gave it a try. I’ve made only one small adaptation to the original; I’ve upped the chocolate by an ounce.

Wow!! This is the absolute moistest cake I have ever tasted! Though chocolate cake isn’t my favourite, there’s something about the combination of chocolate and banana. Not only does the banana add much needed sweetness, but its intense flavour stands up beautifully to the richness of the chocolate to combine to produce a brownie-like abyss, in which you don’t sink, but dive deeper, ultimately surrendering with each bite.

Then you top it off with more chocolate, which happens to be combined with creamy peanut butter. Need I say more? How many classic combinations are at play here? Chocolate and banana, banana and peanut butter, peanut butter and chocolate… “Mmmmm” was the only thing my husband could say with his first bite. Most of the desserts I bake end up at John’s work, but he was extremely reluctant to share this one. In fact, he outright refused!

This dessert is so quick that it’s great for those occasions in which you are required to bake during the week (bake sales, potlucks). It’s a one bowl batter that literally takes 10 minutes to prepare and only 30 minutes to bake.

I call it banana cake two ways for two reasons. It was so quick to prepare that the minute I placed the cake in the oven, I took that same bowl and whipped up (literally) another batch to make muffins. If you are using this recipe to make 4 large muffins, they require 35 minutes in the oven.

The second reason is because upon sampling this cake, I knew it would lend itself beautifully for vegan-izing. Mainly because it was so moist, it didn’t require milk, only used one egg, and was already employing bananas (I added a little bit extra as an egg replacer).

Both versions are good, but I’ll admit, I actually prefer the vegan one (my husband does too). It’s also healthier, less guilt involved. In this version, I used cocoa powder instead of semi-sweet chocolate, I upped the chocolate, replaced the sugar with maple sugar (a more natural sugar), replaced the white flour with spelt, and to produce a less cliche option, replaced the peanut butter with almond butter producing the ultimate deep, rich, velvety chocolate experience. Brigitte, this one’s for you.

I’m not a chocolate lover, but do love this cake (in any form)!

Ingredients:

	Vegetarian	Vegan
Oil, canola	1/3 cup	1/3 cup
Chocolate, semi sweet	3 oz	X
Cocoa powder	X	1/3 cup
Water	3/4 cup	3/4 cup (boiling water)
Bananas, mashed	1/2 cup	3/4 cup
Sugar	1 cup	1 1/4 cups (maple sugar)
Egg	1	X
Flour	1 1/4 cups	1 cup (spelt flour)
Salt	1/2 tsp	1/2 tsp
Baking Soda	1/2 tsp	1/2 tsp
Vanilla	1 tsp	1 tsp
Glaze:
Chocolate, semi sweet	2 oz	X
Cocoa powder	X	1/3 cup
Water, boiling	X	4 tbsp
Peanut butter	1/3 cup	1/3 cup (almond butter)
Maple syrup	X	5 tbsp

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Line an 8 inch (2 L) square cake pan with parchment paper (all the way up all 4 sides).

3. In a double boiler, combine oil and chocolate until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly.

Vegan option: Bring the water to a boil (3/4 cup). Remove from heat and combine with cocoa powder. Mix well until smooth. Allow to cool slightly.

4. In a medium bowl, combine: chocolate mixture, water, bananas, sugar, egg, flour, salt, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix by hand until smooth, about 2 minutes.

Vegan option: In a medium bowl, combine: chocolate mixture, oil, bananas, sugar, flour, salt, baking soda, and vanilla. Mix by hand until smooth, about 2 minutes.

5. Spread batter evenly in pan.

6. Bake vegetarian version for 30 minutes and vegan version for 35 minutes, until a cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool. Remove from pan.

7. To make the glaze, in a double boiler, melt chocolate and peanut butter until smooth.

Vegan option: Bring the water to a boil (1/4 cup). Remove from heat and combine with cocoa powder. Mix well until smooth. Allow to cool slightly. In a double boiler, melt almond butter. Add chocolate mixture and maple syrup . Remove from heat.

8. Spread glaze evenly over cooled cake.