Food is Love – A look inside Integral Yoga’s Kitchen

Food is Love – A look inside Integral Yoga’s Kitchen

Food is Love – A look inside Integral Yoga’s Kitchen

By: Diana Dharani Diaz

FOOD

BIG BEAR YOGA FESTIVAL
Founded in a NYC brownstone by Swami Satchidananda in 1970, Integral Yoga Institute of New York is still open and thriving as a teaching center, and a place where thousands of people experience Yoga and community. Many New Yorkers also discovered the joys and benefits of a vegetarian diet when the Integral Yoga Natural Foods store first opened in the West 13th Street building in March 1972, and for many years it was one of the only places in the city where they could purchase exclusively vegetarian products. Today people can enjoy vegetarian meals lovingly created onsite in the community kitchen to share together. Learn more about love, food and community from the Integral Yoga kitchen manager, Tinuola Bello.

What does “Food is Love” mean to you?
When I first came to volunteer at Integral Yoga’s kitchen in 2002, my Tuesday shifts with Kitchen Mother Andalamma were wonderful. She reminded me of my own mother – small, dark brown, no nonsense. When she cooked, she made the food that she ate and fed her own children. It was an invitation into her home, her space, her life. Into who she is. And when you do that, you’re inviting others to do the same. It’s an expression of love. 

Share with us what you love about the kitchen.
The kitchen operates mainly through Karma Yoga, the practice of selfless service, or volunteering. That in itself is an act of love. During my 18 years in the kitchen, it became a meeting place for the cooks and Karma Yogis to develop ourselves through friendships and through the food we prepared. Our cooking and sharing meals is an invitation for people to find a spiritual home here. Andalamma really created a sanctuary. As kitchen manager, it’s been important for me to continue that. We recognize who people are, not just what service they bring, and we nurture them. Karma Yogis have gone on to serve in other ways throughout Integral Yoga. Many, myself included, have become teachers. 

We‘ve also nurtured board members, program directors, sound healers and many more! People have met and married through this kitchen. The patience in learning, understanding proportions, and combinations of ingredients are still a labor of love and a metaphor for life itself.

What part of your life or yourself did you bring to the kitchen?
I grew up in a diverse neighborhood, Jamaicans, Indians, Pakistani, Italian, Irish and Chinese. Mr. Frederico gave me bread and salami from his deli on my way home from school, I ate homemade samosas at the Singh’s house (also where I first saw Michael Jackson’s Thriller video!) and of course fish and chips. There was a lot of food in my ‘hood, and it always came with a lot of love! This is reflected in our Integral Yoga’s kitchen. Here, you can share your culture and it will be appreciated. From time to time, teachers or staff would offer to cook the food they grew up with, and we would learn a lot about one another.  

And everyone is welcome. My Jamaican mother and Nigerian father raised five children in the ‘70s and ‘80s, during the Thatcher years. As hard as they worked, they always welcomed people into our home. I remember people stopping by and my father encouraging them to stay for dinner, telling them that we had more than enough to share. From a very early age, I remember eating every kind of food. Hanging with my mother at my Jamaican godparent’s parties at 12 years old, it’s the food that I remember – the salt fish fritters, chicken and beef patties and syrup. It was good and plentiful. 

Tell us more about this recipe.
Last summer, I spent many late nights driving uptown. We would usually stop at a really good Dominican eatery just before making our way over the bridge into the Bronx. This, my late night snack, was never disappointing. And those nights hearing music and simultaneous conversations, seeing the parked cars and the lines in all the restaurants made me feel there’s no community without love and no community without the love of food.

There’s something very loving about finger food and eating with your hands. You’re sharing with others. It’s communal. It’s also reflective of an important time in my life, when I was in Mexico teaching a performance workshop for young people. A local family cooked for us as a way of making money and at the time, I was a pescatarian. In Mexico, that’s a little problematic as dairy and meat are in almost everything. I asked if I could have a tortilla with just beans and  rice. They said of course. When I went to pay, they refused my money, even after I insisted several times. I once again experienced food as an expression of love and inclusion. 


Oyster Mushroom and Batata
(Purple-skinned Sweet Potato) Tacos

I am reminded of the combination of simplicity and creativity of meals that sit between a snack and ‘dinner.’ In these tacos, it was always about the batata for me – perfectly baked and naturally caramelized due to its own sugar. I love this purple sweet potato, and I remember the first few times I cooked them in the kitchen and how much they were enjoyed. The oyster mushrooms are delicious and versatile and remind me of a dear friend with whom I’m always sharing food. 

 Ingredients: (Makes 10 tacos)

  • 2 medium batata (or any sweet potato)
  • A large handful of oyster mushrooms  
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil
  • Salt and ground white pepper to taste
  • 10 soft corn or flour tortillas

 

For the garnish:

  • Finely grated red cabbage
  • Finely chopped cucumber
  • Lime zest
  • Sliced red onion
  • Fresh cilantro

 

Wash and dry the potatoes. Make a small incision across the top and allow them to completely dry before wrapping in foil and placing in the oven at 350°F.

Separate, lightly rinse, completely dry the mushrooms and continue to wipe clean if necessary. Season with garlic powder, smoked paprika, and a little white pepper. Mix well and place aside for at least an hour. Add oil, then place in the oven.

Check the potatoes periodically, between 45 minutes to an hour (depending on the size). Remove them from the oven once they are soft all the way through. 

Set them aside for 30 minutes to cool, then refrigerate for an hour. Carefully peel the potatoes and cut into bite-size cubes. Optional: Sauté the cooked, diced batata over medium heat, until golden.

Warm tortillas in skillet or frying pan on low heat. Once cooked, check the mushrooms for seasoning. Place mushrooms on the tortilla and top with cubed batata.

To garnish, add red cabbage and cucumber, a pinch of lime or lime zest if desired. Add a slice of onion and sprig of cilantro to the taco.

BIG BEAR YOGA FESTIVAL
Cauliflower Tacos

Cauliflower Tacos

Cauliflower Tacos

with Mushroom and Creamy Street Corn Salsa Avocado, Feta, Hot Sauce

By Diana Bezanski

FOOD

cauliflower tacos

Roasted cauliflower

  • 1 head cauliflower
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Smoked paprika
  • Sea salt
  • Black pepper

Cauliflower

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  • Wash and cut cauliflower into florets, add to a bowl and toss with extra virgin olive oil.
  • Sprinkle the smoked paprika, season with salt and black pepper to taste.
  • Roast for 25 minutes until fork-tender and edges golden
  • Set aside when done

Cremini Mushroom

Slice and sauté in wide pan with extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and black pepper
Set aside when done.

Creamy Street Corn Salsa

  • Two cups fresh corn or frozen thawed
  • Vegan mayo
  • Minced red onion
  • Minced sliced pickled jalapeno  (start small)
  • 1 Tablespoon jalapeno juice
  • 1 Tablespoon lime juice
  • 2 Teaspoon smoked paprikaSmoked sea salt or plain sea salt to taste
  • 1 Teaspoon cumin powder
  • 1 ½  Teaspoon chili powder
  • Handful chopped cilantro

Creamy Corn

Add enough mayo to make for a creamy consistency followed by remainder ingredients. Toss well and taste for seasoning.

Assemble Tacos

Heat flour tortillas over open flame or in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 seconds

Add a smear of smashed avocado, followed by the mushrooms, cauliflower, corn salsa, feta and hot sauce. Enjoy!

Bone Broth

Bone Broth

Bone Broth

By Andrew Sterman

FOOD

Bone broth

Bone broth has long been a secret both of fine restaurant kitchens and food therapists, but in the last few years it has become easy to find in food markets, restaurants, and even take-out places that specialize in chef-made broths. Bone broth has now come into the spotlight.

Is it a Paleo drink? Hardly. Do we really have to discuss the plausibility of prehistoric hunters cooking bones for two days, fighting off scavengers, patiently waiting for their broth, discussing how to skim foam or when to add aromatics, all tens of thousands of years before the invention of the first cooking pot?

In the dietary branch of Chinese Medicine, cooking bones into stock is a method to extract the essence of the animal for easiest digestion and assimilation. There is something shamanic about it; we are trying to absorb the deepest digestible energy of the animal. High cuisine chefs rely on stocks for finesse and depth, but the focus in dietary therapy is on the deep resonance between the bone essence of a long-cooked stock and our own deepest level: bones, joints, blood building marrow, kidneys, reproductive system and the very special organ that resides surrounded by bone, the brain.

That’s the theory, but does it do anything in practice? I’ll leave the studies to others, but in my experience, bone stocks are extremely helpful for individuals who are depleted or run down from stressful lifestyles, overexertion, poor diet, sleep problems, specific illnesses or old age.  Drinking good bone stock is grounding, fortifying, and stimulating all at the same time.

Making bone stock at home is easy, but it’s not for the fainthearted. There are bones in there, and the best stock is made from knuckles, knees, tendons… there’s no getting around it. This may not be paleolithic, but it certainly is primal.

According to the classical teachings of Chinese Medicine, each type of bone stock has a different influence within us:

  • Beef bone broth: strengthens our constitutional health and is very anchoring.
  • Chicken stock: stimulates our immune response and is more warming.
  • Turkey and duck stock: somewhere in between.
  • Fish bone broth: often forgotten but is fantastic as both a cooking stock and a health tonic, resonating with the skeletal and reproductive level. Fish bone stock cooks more quickly (fish bones are softer and quite skinny); 6-8 hours is ideal, but even one hour will make a good fish bone broth, useful for sipping or as a base for other cooking.
  • Shellfish: offers a wide variety to work with: lobster and crab shell (more stimulating or warming, for adrenal exhaustion), or oyster and clam shell (more calming or cooling, for emotional stress).

Although not bones, broth made from dried scallops, mussels, shrimp, abalone and other shellfish are also common and important, particularly in Asian cuisine. Shellfish are constantly in the process of creating their shells and are therefore seen as particularly supportive to our own bone maintenance level. All of these stocks provide minerals, including calcium. Vegetarian stocks can also be made. To make a vegetarian stock that approximates a bone broth, use seaweed (usually kombu/kelp) and dried mushrooms. These vegetarian foods resonate at the constitutional level.  I make vegetarian stocks often, for sipping or as a soup base, and they’re ready in only 20 minutes.

Stock recipes are personal. They have been the secret of the kitchen, and rightly so. These stocks reach deeply within us, and the constitutional level of our own health is private, it’s hidden, it is the reservoir of life’s mysteries. In the kitchen, what lurks beneath the surface of an ever-so-slightly gurgling stock pot is mysterious, like what lurks below the surface of the sea.  It’s always a surprise when you see something pop up from under the surface. But the mysterious quality of bone stock is not based on the recipes being secret, rather, it’s the mysterious level at which they work within us. This is not diminished at all by sharing the recipe.  Below is my recipe for basic beef bone broth, rich enough with vegetables and kitchen herbs to be called a soup.

If this is all it takes to be an urbane caveman, I’m in.

Beef Bone Broth Recipe
Serves: 4-8 quarts (depending on pot capacity)
Prep time: 30 minutes
Total time: two days
Ingredients:
fresh or frozen beef knee bones | 3-5 pounds
leek | 1 large or 2 small, white part and some green, chunked
carrots | 3 or more, medium, chunked
celery | 2-3 stalks, trimmed and coarsely chopped
olive oil | 1-2 Tbsp
salt | 1-3 Tbsp
vinegar (apple cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, or balsamic) | 1/4 cup
dried mushrooms (black or porcini) | 6-8 whole mushrooms, 1-2 ounces if porcini (or combine)
kombu | 2 strips
bay leaf | 2
seed spices | 1 tsp each of mustard seed, black peppercorns, fenugreek seed; 1/2 tsp allspice, 3-5 star anise pods, 6 green cardamom pods
other kitchen herbs | 6 red jujube dates, 1/2 handful goji berries, peel from 1/2 tangerine or mandarin orange (omit if not available)
water | 4-8 quarts, depending upon your pot size

Shopping Note: Buy knee and ankle bones from a good butcher shop.  They will quarter them with a table saw to allow best cooking.  Marrow bones are a delicacy for some but avoid them for making broth.  We are looking for the collagen in the bone joints, not the marrow of the long bones.

Directions

Roast the bones on a baking sheet in 350˚F oven for 20-30 minutes.

While bones are roasting, coarsely chop the leek, carrot, celery and any other root vegetable that you may have ready for the stock pot (try daikon, parsnip, etc.)  Toss the vegetables into the largest pot you have, add the olive oil, start them over medium-high heat with a good pinch of salt. Add the dried mushrooms and the kombu strips. Add the seeds spices and kitchen herbs.  Use aromatic spices but avoid hot peppers or garlic; those spices are too stimulating to be used here for best health.  Bone broth resonates with our deepest level of health, a level that deserves the cook’s respectful support and should not be overly stimulated.

When the bones have browned, move them from the oven to the stock pot (discard the fat they give off). Cover with plenty of water (your pot should be about 3/4 full of water). Bring to a simmer but not a full boil—boiling can turn the broth cloudy and slightly bitter.  The stock should have a slow-rising bubble every few seconds, no more.

Add the vinegar (I often include two or three types of vinegar to add complexity). The acidity of vinegar draws calcium and collagen from the bones into the broth.  The finished broth will not be acidic.

Simmer, partially covered for one or two days, non-stop. I often let bone stock cook for two and a half days. Check periodically that it is hot enough for an occasional bubble but not hot enough to reach a true boil. Too cool won’t extract essence from the bones and could at least potentially allow some bacteria to grow; too hot and the stock isn’t of the highest quality. Add water if needed.

After a day or two, pour the stock through a strainer into another pot, and discard the bones, vegetables and herbs. When cool enough, ladle the strained broth into refrigerator containers; refrigerate overnight. Fat will separate to the top for easy removal and the stock will show its character by congealing through the natural gelatin from the bones. Some may wish to reserve the beef fat for other uses, but fat is not needed in the bone broth itself—it’s the essence from bones and vegetables rendered through the cooking process that we’re after.    

Warm portions in a saucepan to use. Some people like to sip bone broth straight, others like to open its taste by diluting it with some warm water. Salt to taste as desired. For superbly nourishing cooking, use beef bone stock as the foundation for soups, braise dishes, sauces and stews. For the home cook, the addition of a great stock is the secret you need to match fine restaurant cooking.


Andrew Sterman is author of Welcoming Food: Diet as Medicine for Home Cooks and Other Healers, available Fall 2019. He sees patients in New York City for Chinese medicine dietary therapy, medical qigong and meditation.  Mr Sterman began studying cooking in 1988 at the Natural Gourmet Cookery School and at the same time entered Chinese medicine through qigong and tai chi. In order to deepen his understanding of food energetics, in 2001 Mr Sterman began formal study of Chinese herbal medicine, diagnostics, medical theory, and dietary therapy with Daoist master Jeffrey Yuen. Mr Sterman writes a regular dietary column for the Golden Flower Chinese Herbs newsletter.  In addition to his extensive travel schedule, Mr Sterman teaches food theory and practical home cooking in Manhattan, where he lives with his family. 

andrewsterman.com/food

Fermented

Fermented

Fermented

By LouLou Piscatore

FOOD

HEX brand Fermented Sauerkraut
Fermented foods have shown up for thousands of years in almost every culture in the world.  Historically they have been a way to preserve the harvest and make foods more digestible. We now understand that fermentation transforms food —enhancing nutrients, while adding naturally occurring probiotics (healthy bacteria) to the diet. In recent years, naturally fermented foods have been getting a lot of attention because they help strengthen the gut microbiome —the “good bacteria,” or “gut bacteria,” that live in your digestive tract. These healthy bacteria impact our digestion, immune system, heart health and even our mental health.

To learn more I chatted with my friend Meaghan Carpenter, an honest to goodness “Food Alchemist,” and co-founder of Hex Ferments.

What are fermented foods?

Fermentation is a process of microbial transformation that can be achieved using sea salt for vegetable ferments, a culture (like kombucha and kefir), an active starter like sourdough or yogurt, or inoculated and left to grow like koji spores on rice for miso.” What is created is a “living food,” which contains live, healthy bacteria or probiotics.

The fermentation process for veggies involves cutting or shredding to create surface area, and adding salt, “which releases water and exposes the sugars and nutrients that the lactobacillus bacteria need to grow and thrive. In a short time the vegetables transform into tangy, nutrient-dense and probiotic-rich sauerkraut, kimchi or pickles.

Why are fermented foods important?

They make anything you are eating instantly more bioavailable. There is a reason why you get a pickle with your sandwich or kraut on a hot dog. Fermented vegetables help our bodies to break down fats, nutrients and coat our digestive organs with beneficial bacteria that will make digestion and assimilation quicker and more efficient.

They are important for healthy gut bacteria, which is important for a healthy immune system, and even impacts mood. “90% of our immune system and serotonin is produced in our gut. Both are impacted by our gut bacteria. The more of a diverse bacterial environment you have in your body, the stronger your immune system. And it will help keep you happy! (Serotonin is the ‘feel good’ brain chemical.)

And they add fiber, vitamins and minerals that are already pre-digested. Think of your gut as a lush rainforest that you need to keep in balance with daily doses of delicious sauerkrauts, kimchi and kombucha tea. The more lush your forest the better you feel. So when you are feeling over-indulged, bloated, hungover etc. reach for a bite of sauerkraut or kombucha.

Not all fermented foods are created equal

To get the benefits of “living food” look for fermented vegetables that have been made using just sea salt and left unpasteurized. This ensures that the process has been done traditionally and not using a shortcut like vinegar. Look for the words “naturally fermented” on the label, and for telltale bubbles in the liquid when you open the jar.

Or make your own! Here’s a recipe from Hex Ferments for a quick Local Winter Kraut:

INGREDIENTS:

  • 5 pounds green cabbage
  • 2 pounds napa cabbage
  • 3 medium carrots
  • 5 small red turnips
  • 1 small onion
  • 1 Bosc pear or apple
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tablespoons grated ginger with skin
  • 1 orange juiced, approximately ¼ cup
  • 1 to 2 teaspoons dried pepper or to taste (Espelette, cayenne, or jalapeño)
  • 4 to 6 tablespoons coarse sea salt (taste after 4, then salt to taste)

 

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Wash produce well, and remove any bad parts. Reserve 5 to 6 outer cabbage leaves, set aside. Cut cabbage into 4 sections, and remove the core. Slice produce into thin, bite-sized pieces.
  2. Place everything in a large bowl, add salt, spices (wear gloves if adding hot pepper!) and orange juice. Mix and massage with your hands. Squeeze! Work those veggies! Work salt into the produce well to release the water and create a brine.
  3. Once a nice pool of brine has collected in the bottom of the bowl, approximately 2 to 3 cups, pack vegetables into a clean, 2-gallon crock or wide-mouth glass container. Be sure to push down with your hands to remove air pockets. After all vegetables are packed in to the jar, press down well so that the brine covers the surface, creating an anaerobic environment. Layer reserved cabbage leaves onto the surface of the kraut. Place a weight (a plate topped with a jar filled with water works well) over the surface, cover the top of the vessel with a clean towel and secure with a rubber band. Kraut should be covered in its brine with room at the top of the vessel to allow for expansion over the first few days of active fermentation.
  4. Date outside of the vessel and place in a location that is away from direct sunlight, and maintains a relatively even temperature; 64-72 degrees is ideal, higher temperatures will speed up fermentation, cooler temperatures will slow it down.
  5. After 5 to 10 days, active fermentation will slow as lactic acid bacteria begin to take up residence. Kraut will continue to ferment vegetables into sour, tangy Winter Kraut. At this point, jar up kraut into smaller portions and refrigerate or take what you want from crock and enjoy its flavorful changes until it’s all gone.

 

Different types of fermented foods

Kombucha: a fermented sweetened black or green tea drink

Kvass: fermented sauerkraut or beet juice.  In slavic cultures it is made from rye bread.

Yogurt/Kefir: milk fermented by added bacterias

Kimchi: Korean salted and fermented vegetables (usually napa cabbage and Korean radish)

Sauerkraut: finely-cut raw cabbage fermented by lactic acid bacteria.

Miso/Tempeh/Natt: fermented soybean products

Sourdough: bread made with fermented dough using naturally occurring lactobacilli and yeast

Olives: brine cured and naturally fermented

Pickles: vegetables fermented in brine (not vinegar)


Meaghan Carpenter is a “Food Alchemist” and Co-Founder of HEX Ferments, an award-winning, Baltimore-based fermented foods company. HEX Ferments specializes in creating living foods (sauerkrauts, kimchi, pickles and Kombucha) from local-organic and sustainably grown ingredients. HEX Ferments was born from a performance art piece that was a collaboration with her photographer husband. The concept of the art-piece touched on her pursuits of (re)creating gut-healthy communities centered on local food and delicious edible art. HEX Ferments has been nationally and internationally recognized for its creations, sustainability practices, fermentation education and advancing the frontier of the fermented arts.

Find them at  https://www.hexferments.com/pages/find-us

Chocolate Chipotle Cake with Roasted Cherries and Maple Salted Pecans

Chocolate Chipotle Cake with Roasted Cherries and Maple Salted Pecans

Chocolate Chipotle Cake with
Roasted Cherries & Maple Salted Pecans

By Diana Bezanski

FOOD

Yoga Plus Magazine - Chocolate Chipoltle Cake with Cherries

Cuisine: Vegan
Serves 7

For those of you who enjoy chocolate cake and spice will love this bold, and sexy combination using chipotle powder topped with roasted seasonal cherries. There’s an element of smoky, spicy surprise balanced by the sweetness, and crunchy nuts. The cake is very moist and wonderful on it’s own or take it up a notch with your favorite nice cream or coconut whipped cream.

Note: you can swap out the chipotle powder for ancho or ¼ teaspoon less if using cayenne depending on the heat of your spice.

Banana is used as binder here, but the taste is masked by all other flavors

  • Banana is used as binder here, but the taste is masked by all other flavors o ignored
  • spelt is a whole grain flour more nutritious and less refined than white flour, contains less gluten and has a slightly sweet and nutty flavor.  Can be found in natural food stores, and some supermarkets o ignored
  • some unrefined brown sugars are course – grinding them into powder using spice grinder dissolves better in the cake. o ignored
  • because the cake is eggless the vinegar used in recipe creates a nice rise and crumb while leaving no aftertaste.

 

Ingredients for Cake

  • 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
  • 3/4 cup spelt flour
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 ½ tsp aluminum free baking powder
  • ¾ tsp baking soda
  • ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • ½ tsp chipotle powder
  • 1 ½ tsp fine ground coffee – grind with sugar if course
  • 1/3 cup unrefined brown sugar such as coconut, sucanat or muscovado, grind to make
  • powder using spice grinder
  • 1 1/4 cup very hot filtered water
  • 1/3 cup mashed ripe banana
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 4 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup cold pressed olive oil
  • 1 ½  tsp pure vanilla extract
  •  

 

Method for Cake

Pre heat the oven to 350 with rack in the middle.

  1. Lightly oil the bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder
  2. In a large bowl sift the whole wheat pastry flour, spelt, sea salt, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, cinnamon, chipotle powder, ground coffee, and sugar, once passed through stir it again.
  3. In a medium bowl combine the mashed banana, vinegar, maple syrup, olive oil and vanilla extract and mix well, add the hot water and combine well, now add this to the flour mixture and using a whisk mix until just combined, do not over mix, quickly add to the bundt pan and bake for 43 minutes at 350 degrees. Toothpick inserted should come out clean and cake slightly firm to the touch. When done let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes on a wire wrack, after 10 minutes carefully flip the cake out of pan and continue to cool on rack before adding the ganache.

 

Roasted Cherries
Ingredients and Method
Raise oven to 400 degrees

  1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  2. 1.5 cups fresh cherries pitted and sliced in half
  3. Roast cherries for 10 minutes, remove from oven and transfer to a bowl, let cool

 

Maple Salted Pecans
Lower heat to 325

  • 1 cup pecans lightly chopped
  • 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
  • ¼ tsp fine ground sea salt

 

Method for Pecans

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and toss to coat – taste for seasoning
  2. Bake for 7-8 minutes at 325

 

Chocolate Ganache

  • 3.5 oz 70-72% chocolate chopped into small pieces
  • ½ cup almond or coconut milk
  • 1 tsp pure maple syrup
  • Pinch chipotle or cayenne powder
  • Small pinch sea salt

 

Method Chocolate

  • Chop the chocolate into small pieces and add it to a stainless steel bowl
  • Heat the milk until bubbly hot and pour it over the chocolate and let sit one minute undisturbed.
  • Stir the chocolate until melted then add the maple syrup, chipotle powder sea salt and mix well.
  • Let the chocolate sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken but still pourable.
  • Drizzle the chocolate on the cake on all sides and especially near the opening at top so the cherries and nuts can stick to it.
  • Now add the roasted cherries and pecans to the top of the cake.
Yoga Plus Magazine - Cherries for Chocolate Chipoltle Cake
Yoga Plus Magazine - Chocolate Chipoltle Cake with Cherries