Over the course of the following days, thanks to Mom, we feasted on strawberry pancakes and fruit salad before heading to the beach where we collected seashells and buried each other in the sand. After dinner, dessert was either strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream topped with sliced strawberries.

I still love strawberries and so do my two little boys. Sadly, they don’t get to enjoy nearly as many strawberries as I did as a child. I am careful about pesticides, so I try to only buy organic strawberries. They are so expensive, so I don’t buy nearly as many as I’d like.

But back to that strawberry stand I passed the other day …the ruby red strawberries were so fragrant, beautiful, ripe and plump that although I knew they weren’t organic, I brought home 2 kilos, made a chocolate cake, slathered it with fresh whipped cream and layered it with them. Throwing caution to the wind, we ate the cake and both kilos of strawberries.

For the last few weeks we‘ve been planting seeds in raised beds out back near the orchard for an organic family vegetable garden – carrots, broccoli, kale, lettuce, tomatoes, cilantro, chiles, pumpkins. I’m adding strawberries to my list of plants. This way I can afford to create childhood strawberry memories for my boys. I can’t wait to give them each a container and watch them pick their own. Besides making my boys some strawberry ice cream with our homegrown, organic strawberries, I plan to impress you with a knockout chocolate and strawberry creation I’m dreaming up right now. In the meantime, try this delicious dark chocolate and strawberry cake.

Supposedly strawberries are an easy plant to grow. They prefer full sun and somewhat sandy soil. Strawberries can also be grown as a potted plant. Try growing your own and then you can use them to make chocolate and strawberry smoothies, strawberry pies, add them to yogurt or just dip them in chocolate. Here’s a link for strawberry planting tips if, like me, you want to grow your own. http://www.pickyourown.org/strawberries.htm

If you want to visit a strawberry farm that lets you “pick your own” try this website that lists U.S. farms by state: http://www.pickyourown.org. And if you know of a pick your own place not on the list, share it with us.

Enjoy your summer!

Summer Strawberry Chocolate Layer Cake Recipe:
Chocolate layer cake adapted from David Lebovitz’s Devil’s Food Cake
Ingredients:
9 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
2 large organic eggs, at room temperature
½ cup water
½ cup whole milk
Whipped Cream Frosting:
8 oz. whipped cream
2 T powdered sugar
Ripe, juicy strawberries, washed and sliced.
Directions:
1. Adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Butter two 9″ x 2″ cake pans and line the bottoms with circles of parchment paper.
3. In a large bowl, sift together the cocoa powder, cake flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder.
4. In a separate bowl, using an electric beater, beat together the butter and sugar about 5 minutes until smooth and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time until blended.
5. Mix together the water and milk. Stir half of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture, then add the water/milk. Finally stir in the other half of the dry ingredients.
6. Divide the batter into the two prepared cake pans and bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the cake to cool completely before carefully removing it from the cake pans. Remove the parchment paper and place on a cake plate. Frost the top of one of the layers with the fresh whipped cream and cover with sliced strawberries. Carefully, place the second cake layer on top. Frost the top with the remaining frosting and decorate with the remaining strawberries. Keep the cake in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Jose Ramon Castillo, considered by international experts to be one of Mexico’s top 10 chefs, is warm, personable and passionate about his country and its ingredients. Chef Castillo’s vanguard approach to chocolate making begins with using a single source of cacao (in his case 100% produced in Mexico, unlike the European approach which uses a blend of cacao beans from various cacao producing countries). He also doesn’t add any dairy products, refined sugars or preservatives. He then wraps, fills, infuses this distinctly Mexican chocolate with popular local fruits and flavors.

My American friend, Lee accompanied me to the tasting held at the swanky Damiana Condesa restaurant. We arrived fashionably late and joined the other guests seated at an outside table. Chef Castillo finished up a press interview while his assistants assembled an assortment of chocolate samples on plates. Along with a growing crowd of pedestrians, who obviously recognized the famous chef from his successful chocolate television show, we watched as he posed charmingly for the camera.

Once the event began Chef Castillo guided us on a chocolate tasting adventure that included 21 different handcrafted chocolates from his factory and store Que Bo! located in Polanco, a chic neighborhood in Mexico City. First we sampled 6 different types of chocolate including white chocolate, milk and dark chocolate all the way up to a 95% dark chocolate (oooh bitter). Between each sample Chef Castillo asked us to clear our palette with a sip of cava (Spanish sparkling wine) and to close our eyes as he described typical scenes one sees everyday in Mexico, like the street vendor who sells whole mangoes on a stick, dipped in a chili-salt mixture. We opened our eyes just long enough to pop that chocolate morsel into our mouths to taste the flavor he had just described. Sample after sample he led us on a sensual, cultural and culinary journey through Mexico. It was fun to watch the different facial expressions of the guests as they sampled Roquefort cheese enveloped in chocolate or the look of utter bliss on most faces when they sampled the white chocolate truffle. My friend Lee and an elegantly dressed older Mexican woman definitely winced at the Roquefort and chocolate combination. My personal favorites from Chef Castillo’s collection are the Maracuyá (Passion fruit), Tamarindo, Jamaica (Hibiscus flower), Manzanilla con miel (chamomile with honey), café de Olla, and cappuccino chocolates. Some of the other “bombones”, we tasted that evening included piña colada, mandarin, strawberry, lime pie, apple with cinnamon, grapefruit, guayaba, and tazcalate (a mixture of ground corn, pine nuts, achiote and vanilla – a prehispanic recipe for consuming chocolate as a beverage). I was disappointed there wasn’t one of Chef Castillo’s famed mole poblano chocolates to try, but that just gives me an excuse to visit Que Bo!

After the tasting and signing of my personal copy of his book Kakaw, which recently won the Gourmand World Cookbook award as the Best in Category and Content in Paris, France, Chef Castillo and I discussed the cacao crisis in Mexico where 80% of the national production is being lost to a fungus infestation destroying the plants, as well as his efforts in harvesting and protecting cacao trees in the Soconusco area in Chiapas. We made preliminary plans for a trip to Chiapas in August to film a video. I can’t wait!

Directions:

Brew a cup of strong coffee, allow to cool.
Bring eggs and sour cream to room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin pans with paper liners and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift the dry ingredients – flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Sift again. In a separate bowl add the eggs, oil, and coffee and beat at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Mix in the sour cream and vanilla. Then stir in the dry ingredients by hand, careful not to over mix the batter.
Using a ¼ measuring cup or an ice cream scoop spoon the batter evenly into prepared muffin cups about halfway full. Sprinkle some cacao nibs and then add more batter to 2/3 full.

Bake until a tester inserted in center comes out clean, for 16 to 18 minutes. Test at 15 minutes. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pans on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove from the pans and cool completely on wire racks. Do not overbake.

When the cupcakes are completely cool you can frost them with the delicious, dark chocolate buttercream frosting recipe that follows.

Bake for 16-18 minutes. Yields 24-30 cupcakes

Dark Chocolate Frosting

This frosting is perfect for piping. It uses unsweetened chocolate, which is also known as baking, or bitter chocolate. This is chocolate in its rawest form. I use Mayordomo 100% pure cacao from Oaxaca, Mexico. You can use Dagoba, Scharffen Berger or any unsweetened chocolate.
Ingredients:
4 ounces (120 grams) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
2/3 cup (150 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/3 cups (160 grams) confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions:
Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until it is light and fluffy (about 2 minutes). Add vanilla extract. Add the cooled chocolate and beat on low speed until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium-high and beat until frosting is smooth and glossy (about 2 -3 minutes).

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Chocolate has many positive health benefits, both when it is eaten and also for the skin. It has become popular as a body treatment at exclusive spas around the world. Containing over 300 different compounds it is loaded with antioxidants enabling it to draw toxins out of the body. It also hydrates, softens, firms and leaves the skin looking incandescent. When combined with massage chocolate induces relaxation, increased blood flow, stimulation of the lymphatic system and digestive system. It is also a luxurious and mood-enhancing experience. According to a study done by Neil Martin at the Human Olfaction Laboratory at Middlesex University “…the smell of chocolate really does make people less stressed and anxious, and more relaxed.”

The ingredients in the chocolate mixture, typically used in fashionable spas, include cacao (contains flavanols), almond and macadamia oils (used to tone, soften and reduce inflammation), honey, aloe vera, Vitamin C and E and jojoba oil (nourishing and hydrating).

Mision del Sol Resort and Spa in sunny, Central Mexico offers chocolate body wraps and I had the great pleasure of indulging in one for my “Ultimate Chocolate Spa Day” video. I know… I have a tough job. My massage therapist, Kenia, first exfoliated my skin with mineral salts and cocoa butter to prepare it to absorb the health properties of the chocolate mixture. Then she soothed my muscles with therapeutic strokes as she applied the thick, and surprisingly cool chocolate mixture into my skin. Finally, she wrapped me in a thermal blanket to allow the chocolate to heat up so it could draw out impurities, as well as moisturize and soften my skin. The scent of the chocolate, the warmth of it heating up on my body, combined with the serene ambiance of the luxurious spa had me in pure bliss. After rinsing off with warm water, I was left with the most luminous and delicious smelling skin.

Healthy Chocolate and Nut Chunk Cookies

Makes about 2 dozen large cookies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup rolled oats
¼ cup rolled oats, ground in a food processor or blender until fine.
2 cups whole-wheat flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. sea salt
2 sticks or 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1-1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
2 eggs
¾ cups chopped pecans
¾ cups chopped walnuts
¼ cup chopped dates
¼ cup unsweetened coconut flakes
20 oz. premium dark or semi-sweet chocolate, chopped into about 3/4 inch chunks

Directions:

Grind oats in a food processor or blender until fine. Combine the ground oats with the flour, rolled oats, baking soda, sea salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.

Cream together the butter, sugars, vanilla, and lemon juice in another medium bowl with an electric mixer. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Stir the dry mixture into the wet mixture and blend well. Add the chocolate, nuts, dates and coconut to the dough and mix by hand until ingredients are well blended.

For the best results, chill the dough overnight in the refrigerator before baking the cookies.

Spoon rounded 1/4 cup portions onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Place the scoops about 2 inches apart. Bake in a 350°F oven for 16-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown and soft in the middle. Store in a sealed container when cool to keep soft.

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So, what have I been doing with these kilos of chocolate you wonder? This time I decided to use some of it to make a bittersweet flourless chocolate cake and serve it with a chai whipped cream to my dear friends, Sarah and Rafa, along with my family. Sarah and Rafa are both astute chocophiles and I promised them they wouldn’t be disappointed. When they arrived, I wasn’t quite finished taking the photographs of the cake, so they had to sit by and patiently wait. To my surprise, this ended up being fun for them. Sarah later expressed how much she enjoyed watching the hustle and bustle as I tried to keep my two year old from reaching for a handful of the cake, and get a nice photograph of it at the same time. The cake isn’t the prettiest looking cake. It is an 8-inch round, only about 1 1/2 inches tall, but dense and chocolatey. Sarah’s reaction as she took her first bite – “This is ridiculously yummy,” she exclaimed. We enjoyed our cake sitting in the garden next to the blooming white azalea bush I captured in the featured photo. I received no less than 3 thank you emails from her that evening. That made my day.

Flourless Chocolate Cake With Chai Whipped Cream
Yields 8 servings

Cake Ingredients:

8 oz. semisweet chocolate OR 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate OR 8 oz. unsweetened chocolate plus 8 T sugar
8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter
4 cold organic eggs, separated, careful not to get any of the yolk in the whites
1 t instant coffee, dissolved in 2 t water
1 t pure vanilla extract
¼ t cream of tartar or 1 T lemon juice
¼ cup granulated sugar

1 T butter
1 T flour

Chai Whipped Cream Ingredients:

1-½ cups whipping cream
2 T powdered sugar, sifted
1-1/2 T Original Oregon Chai mix

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Place an 8-inch springform pan on a sheet of parchment paper and draw a circle around the circumference of the pan. Cut the circle out. Place the parchment circle in the springform pan and butter the pan. Add 1 T flour and tap out any excess.

2. Melt the chocolate and butter in a heatproof glass bowl, as well as the 8 T of sugar, if using unsweetened sugar as I did in a double boiler. Reserve the 1/3 cup of sugar until later. Set aside chocolate and butter mixture to cool slightly, about 5 minutes.

3. In a separate small bowl, combine the 4 egg yolks, dissolved coffee and vanilla extract and whisk until just blended. Combine this yolk mixture with the chocolate mixture whisk until well blended.

4. In a very clean, large glass bowl beat the 4 egg whites on medium-high and add the cream of tartar or lemon juice and beat until soft peaks form. This should take about 3 minutes. Beat another minute while slowly adding the 1/3 cup of granulated sugar. Then beat 1 more minute. The whites should be stiff. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture in 3 different batches until no white streaks remain.

5. Pour the cake batter into the prepared springform pan and smooth the top. Bake in the oven on a center rack for about 20 minutes. The cake is done when a knife inserted comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for at least 1 hour. Run a knife along the edge of the pan to loosen the cake and then release the sides of the springform pan and lift off. Use a spatula to separate the cake from the bottom and lift off the parchment paper.

6. In a clean glass bowl, whip the whipping cream until it starts to form peaks and add the chai and powdered sugar. Continue to whip until soft peaks form. Do not over whip or it will turn into butter.

7. Serve with a dollop of chai-spiced whipped cream.

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Now, what about the fact that chocolate is relatively high in fat? The 3.5 oz bar (100 grams) I’m holding has 32.5 grams of saturated fat. We have been hearing for years that saturated fat is not healthy for us. So then, how can a bar of chocolate, high in fat and relatively high in sugar really be considered healthy?

There are three kinds of fat in chocolate and only one of them are bad for us. These fats break down to be 1/3 oleic acid, 1/3 stearic acid and 1/3 palmitic acid. Oleic acid is a healthy monounsaturated fat that is also found in olive oil. Stearic acid is a saturated fat, but a fat that research shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol. Then there is palmitic acid, the bad fat. It is also a saturated fat and it raises cholesterol and increases heart disease risk. That means that 1/3 of the fat in chocolate is bad for you. Therefore, chocolate should be eaten in moderation. I had difficulty, however, finding a clear definition of “moderation”. One study recommends a daily allowance the size of a Hershey kiss. Yet, another study recommended 2 oz. per day to reap the health benefits. I lean more on the 2 oz. daily ration, if not more!

A surprising, and personally disappointing, finding I learned in my investigation is that milk may interfere with the absorption of antioxidants in chocolate and may therefore negate the potential health benefits that can be derived from eating moderate amounts of dark chocolate. You could drink hot chocolate made with water. Ah… no thanks.

I also came across some alarming research about pesticides found in conventional chocolate. Were you aware that you have been ingesting trace amounts of chemicals all these years while enjoying chocolate? One study found tiny amounts of lindane in various chocolate products sampled. Lindane has shown to cause a variety of toxic effects in animal subjects. The World Watch Institute reports that lindane is the most commonly used pesticide in West African countries. With seventy percent of the world’s cacoa coming from West Africa, according to the Progressive Policy Institute, that can mean a lot of pesticide ending up in the world chocolate supply. The obvious conclusion is to eat only organic chocolate in the future.

We have learned that if we want to reap the health benefits of eating chocolate, we should stick with the dark stuff, consume only the organic variety, try to avoid consuming it with milk and eat it in “moderation”. Afterall, it is packed with fat and sugar and eating too much fat and sugar, besides ending up on our derrieres, well… is just not healthy. If you are like me, and need your daily ration, it also seems wise to exercise regularly and eat an overall balanced diet to counter the high calories in that delicious, dark mood elevating treat.

Look for future articles expanding further on chocolate’s health benefits. In the meantime, I’d love to hear if the news that chocolate is healthy has changed your consuming habits.

Sources:
Chocolate Manufacturers Association
Journal of the American Medical Association
The World Watch Institute

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