Clementine Fudge Cake

Happy Holidays, everyone! To celebrate, here's a fudge cake made with black beans and studded with the fruit of the season - the sweet clementine.

I also came across a star fruit and thought it looked festive enough to accompany the clementines. If you've never tried one, it's both sweet and tart, and somewhere between an apple and a persimmon.

This cake is a bit like a brownie, but also a lot like fudge - full of rich and creamy chocolate flavour. We like it much better after refrigeration, although it doesn't technically need to be refrigerated. Somehow, the cool makes the taste and texture more unified.
We're busy with the book, on the intense recipe editing stage right now, but also taking some time to enjoy the festivities.
Hope your holidays are peaceful.

Clementine Fudge Cake
(makes one 8" x 8" / 20cm x 20cm cake)

about 5 clementines - divided
2/3 cup coconut sugar - divided
3 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup hazelnuts
1/4 cup chocolate chips - I used vegan mini-chips
1 cup cooked black beans
2 tablespoons sesame tahini or another nut butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
1/4 heaping cup (50g / 3/4 oz) brown rice flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 ripe starfruit - optional

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Place the hazelnuts on a baking tray, roast for 7-10 minutes. Let cool, rub with a kitchen towel to remove the skins. Pulse in a food processor into medium sized pieces and set aside.
2. In a high speed blender, combine 2 peeled clementines, 1/3 cup of sugar, chia seeds and vanilla extract, blending until smooth. Set aside.
3. In a food processor, grind the chocolate chips into small pieces. Add the black beans, tahini, cocoa powder, coconut oil and the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar and blend to combine thoroughly. With the machine still running, start to pour the clementine mixture into the bean mixture, blend until smooth. Add the brown rice flour, baking powder and soda, mix to incorporate.
4. Transfer the dough into a mixing bowl, add the chopped hazelnuts and work them in. Line a baking pan with parchment paper, spoon the dough into the pan and smooth it with a wet spoon into an even layer. Slice the remaining clementines and arrange them on top, pressing them into the dough gently. Slice the starfruit (if using) and arrange on top in the same manner.
5. Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes. Let cool completely before slicing. Let cool before serving or refrigerate for better flavour.

Butternut Squash and Cranberry Cookies

Today, I don't want to say much, just that our hearts go out to the victims and families of the terrible tragedy in CT.

Butternut squash, cranberries, and winter spices are the ingredients I keep coming back to lately. I've made many batches of these simple cookies for the past couple of weeks, both baked and raw. The baked kind come out crumbly and moist, while the raw cookies are dense and filling, very good for a quick breakfast. We can't decide which one is better, it depends on whom you ask.


Butternut Squash and Cranberry Cookies
(makes about 22 small cookies)

1 cup and 2 tablespoons brown rice flour
1/4 cup each almond and coconut flour
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon quinoa flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
freshly ground seeds of 2-3 cardamom pods
dash of both clove and all spice
3 tablespoons coconut oil - melted 
1 cup full fat coconut milk
1/2 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups finely shredded butternut squash
about 1 cup fresh cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 F (180 C). In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, soda and spices. Add the coconut oil and work it in.
2. In a medium sized bowl, mix the coconut milk, sugar and vanilla extract. Add shredded butternut squash, mix to combine. Transfer the wet ingredients into the dry ones, add cranberries and mix to incorporate thoroughly.
3. Prepare a parchment paper lined baking tray. With a wet ice cream scooper, scoop cookies one at a time onto the tray, leaving some space in between them. Dip the ice cream scooper into a small bowl with water in between each cookie.
4. Bake for 25 minutes or longer, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Raw Cookies
2 cups oat flour
1/2 cup coconut sugar - powdered
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
freshly ground seeds of 2-3 cardamom pods
dash of both clove and all spice
1/4 cup melted cocoa butter
1/4 cup honey
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup finely shredded butternut squash
about 1 cup fresh cranberries

1. In a large bowl, combine the oat flour, sugar, salt and spices. Add in the cocoa butter and mix in thoroughly. In a small bowl, combine honey and vanilla extract, add to the dry mixture along with the butternut squash and cranberries. Stir to combine thoroughly, add water if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time.
2. Prepare a mesh-lined dehydrator tray. With a wet ice cream scooper, scoop the cookies onto the mesh screen one at a time, leaving some space in between them. Dip the ice cream scooper into a small bowl with water in between each cookie.
3. Dehydrate at 115 F for 24 hours or until dry on outside but still soft on the inside.

Blood Orange and Fennel Salad

Citrus season has taken off here in Florida. I've noted at least five different varieties of oranges, as well as tangerines and grapefruit while out and about. My favourite citrus fruit has got to be the blood orange - I am amazed every single time I cut one open and see its unbelievable colour.
Here is a salad to take advantage of all that abundance. Citrus, fennel, and quick marinated onions make for a refreshing, sunny dish. Lately, I've been very much into fennel, raw and cooked, making this fennel confit for weekday dinners.
In other news, Golubka was featured in the holiday issues of Vie and Fork magazines - what an honor!
And lastly, have you seen Sarah B.'s Ted Talk?!

 Blood Orange and Fennel Salad
(serves 4)

1/8 medium size red onion - peeled and sliced
1/2 lemon

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
juice of 1 orange

3-4 oranges - peeled and sliced
2 clementines - peeled and separated into segments
about 7-8 olives, I used green and black Cerignola
1 fennel bulb - shaved

Squeeze lemon juice over onion slices and let sit while you boil some water. Pour boiling water over the onions to cover them completely and let sit for a couple of minutes. Drain, rinse quickly and squeeze out the excess water with your fingers.
In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, honey and orange juice. Pour 1/2 of the mixture over the onions and let it marinate for 30 minutes or longer.
Peel the skins off the clementine segments. Arrange the orange slices, clementine segments, and olives on a serving plate, top with fennel shavings and marinated onions. Sprinkle the rest of the dressing over the salad. Garnish with ground pistachios.