Chocolate Birthday Cake with Blackberry Ice Cream

Happy Friday! You've almost made it to the weekend, congratulations :) As a reward, I am finally sharing my vegan chocolate birthday cake with fudge filling, buttercream icing, and blackberry coconut ice cream.

Well, in all of my recipes thus far, I've been able to give logical reasoning as to why you would want to put that food into you. I can't begin to pretend that this post is about a health food. This post is about a decadent vegan dessert that I made for my fiancé for his birthday. It would also serve as an amazing source of calories after a long ride though! Especially the ice cream, as the antioxidants in blackberries and the medium chain triglycerides in coconut have been shown to speed recovery and enhance athletic performance.

The one question that remains to be answered... why a vegan dessert? I have nothing against eggs... except their cholesterol, which over time can wreck havoc on your heart. In this recipe, we replace the eggs with flax seed, which also is known to prevent coronary heart disease, so you can feel good about that.

Chocolate Cake 

I borrowed the base cake recipe from Kathy at Happy. Healthy. Life. I omitted the maple syrup/ agave though and added a total of 1 1/3c brown sugar. I also used canola oil rather than safflower. No cayenne and I used white whole wheat flour. Let the cake cool completely before you start going at it with the fudge filling and the icing :)

Chocolate Fudge Filling

1/4c chocolate chips

1/4c powdered sugar

3T cocoa powder

2T coconut oil

In a small microwave safe bowl, microwave the chocolate chips for ~1 minute, until they are soft and melty. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Continue microwaving for 30 second intervals followed by stirring until you have a thick fudge sauce.

Vegan Buttercream Icing

3/4c earth balance vegan buttery spread

1/4t vanilla

3c powdered sugar

2T vanilla almond milk

Cream "butter" and vanilla using a beater. Add powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until thoroughly mixed. After the last cup is added, the mixture should ball up slightly. Add almond milk to return to creamy texture and beat until light and fluffy.

Blackberry Coconut Milk Ice Cream

1 bag frozen blackberries

1 can coconut milk (the low-fat coconut cream type that comes in a can)

2c coconut milk (the thinner type that comes in a carton)

1c white sugar

1. Let blackberries defrost then puree until mostly smooth in a food processor. 

Note: If you don't like bits in your ice cream, you can pass this through a strainer to get rid of the seeds and chunks and get get blackberry juice. We do like the bits so we left them.

2. Add coconut milks, sugar, and blackberry puree to a large pan. Heat on high stirring constantly until it begins to boil, then reduce to medium heat and let bubble for 2 minutes. Keep stirring.

3. Remove from heat and let cool. (I usually let it cool overnight in the refrigerator.

4. Transfer to ice cream maker and let it do it's magic. 

5. Enjoy alone or a la mode with the cake above!