This cake is what happens when you spend time drinking with a chef and say crazy things like “how would one go about making a gluten free cake with port, bacon and chocolate?” And said cooking expert is just wacky enough to take the question as a challenge, not only making it happen in a very tasty way but never once cocking an eye brow at the weird idea. So together Jacob, the chef with multiple “most unique” cooking titles and I threw together this chocolate bacon cake for the birthday party of our celiac friend Q. It was a big hit and a lot of fun to make. Two packages of bacon were cooked in the making of this delicious dessert.

The only problem with this cake is that it will conquer even the greatest sweet tooth. I highly recommend making it next time you need the most creative baked good possible, just remember to eat truffle sized amounts of it and have large amounts of chocolate and bacon loving friends around to help you conquer the cake. Its that rich and evilly tasty. Somehow the sweet flourless cake combines perfectly with the bittersweet salty bacon frosting. The powdered sugar makes it nearly perfect.

Oh did I mention this cake is out of this world but absolutely not something that follows the French diet at all? Yeah whoops. It was just so good I had to write about it anyway. It was a big hit.

FOR CAKE:

1/4 cup red wine reduction
1 pound semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

7 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Line bottom of pan with parchment paper. Or invest in a 9-inch silicon pan which requires no greasing or lining.

To make a wine reduction pour most of a bottle of a decent red wine (something bold like tempranillo or syrah) into a saucepan over medium low heat. Keep on a gentle simmer until the liquid has reduced to a thick syrupy consistency.

Stir chocolate (I used half bittersweet and half semisweet), butter, wine reduction, and vanilla in heavy large saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth. Cool to lukewarm.

Using electric mixer, beat eggs and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until thick and pale, and slowly dissolving ribbon forms when beaters are lifted, about 6 minutes. Fold 1/3 of egg mixture into lukewarm chocolate mixture. Fold remaining egg mixture into chocolate mixture.

Place prepared pan on baking sheet. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until tester inserted into center comes out with moist crumbs attached, about 55 minutes. Cool completely in pan. Run knife around pan sides to loosen cake. Remove sides of pan; transfer cake to platter. Remove parchment paper.

Original recipe from Epicurious.com with creative embellishments from Jacob.

FOR FROSTING:

4 ounces bacon fat (rendered from 1 package good quality bacon)
4 ounces 100% cacao dark chocolate
2 tablespoons heavy cream
powdered sugar for decoration

Use your preferred method for cooking bacon, setting aside rendered fat. While fat is warm run it through a sieve to strain out the ugly left over bacon pieces. Reserve cooked bacon for decorating the cake later.

In a small double boiler gently melt together 4 ounces of the bacon fat and 4 ounces of dark chocolate. When melted add heavy cream and stir to combine until homogeneous.. Allow mixture to return to almost room temperature at which point it will thicken enough to smooth over the cooled cake. Place in refrigerator until frosting is firm, about 20 minutes.

To make your own powdered sugar place about a 1/2 cup regular granulated sugar into the blender. It seems crazy but it works, dont try try to substitute the food processor for this it wont accomplish anything. You might need to agitate the sugar occasionally to get a uniform powder consistency.

I then used a damask stencil, placed it over the firmed frosting and sprinkled powder sugar over it. Using the left over bacon, chopped into small pieces I a framed the stencil decoration.

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From looking at the final product you would think this was just any other bowl of delicious and totally innocent ice cream. Dont believe what you see. It is delicious and refreshing. However it wasnt so benign when it had splattered everywhere in the kitchen. Top and bottom cupboards, puddles on the counter, dripping down the front of my pants, staining the kitchen rug, the dog trying to lick at the heap of blueberry syrup on the floor. There was a lot of very creative swearing.

See I pictured this whole thing happening in my head as I was dumping the blueberry mixture into the blender and cringing, waiting for the worst possible thing to happen. Then it did. While I was tightening the blender pieces and making sure everything was put together properly to avoid disaster, it never occurred to me that the rubber disk that creates a seal in the bottom of the bowl could slip to the side and create a gap for evil purple liquid to escape from.

As soon as I poured the blueberries in the blender the chaos started. In the crevice where the glass bit of the blender meets the plastic base the liquid started spurting out. Not just drizzling or trickling. It was shooting out on the underside of the cupboard and on my arms. About a third of my precious blueberry mixture ended up on the counter. I tried to tighten the pieces hoping for the best. Crossing my fingers the whole time I blended and made a beautiful purple liquid with no other major issues.

I wrapped the blender in dish towels and added the heavy and sour cream prayed for no more spurting. And all was well until I went to pour the mixture into a bowl at which point the precarious rule of physics that was keeping the liquid from seeping everywhere left me. Half of the ice cream mixture ended up in the bowl, the other half on the floor. That any of it made it in the bowl was more than I had expected. Things were already a mess so I continued with this highly mistaken course of action, emptying the blender, putting what made it into the bowl into the refrigerator, out of my sight to cool off and began the laborious task of de-purpling the kitchen.

It didnt put up nearly as big a fight going into the ice cream maker but the whole time it was churning I was thinking “boy this better be good.” This was going to have to be awfully good ice cream to make up for the disaster.

In the end all I can say for it however is that its interesting. Blueberries work really well with the tartness of the sour cream and it creates a nice rich velvety texture. Amidst all the drama I did manage to put in too much lemon juice (which I had to substitute since I had no lime) and most of my precious berries were in a puddle on the counter so it wasnt as delicious and sweet as it probably should have been. Its quite sour which isnt a bad thing it just isnt very dessert like.

Id only recommend making this if you have much better luck than I do with blenderfuls of malevolent purple liquid. Ive learned my lesson and will be keeping my blueberry obsession to very simple recipes from now on. Which mostly means if you need me Ill be standing in front of the refrigerator gorging myself on berries straight from the container. Its safer that way.

Sour Blueberry Ice Cream

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen, if frozen, thaw and drain)
1/3 cup agave nectar
Pinch of salt
Grated zest of one lime
Juice of 1/2 a lime, or more juice to taste
3/4 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup sour cream

In a medium saucepan cook blueberries, sugar, salt, lime zest and juice over medium heat, stirring, until mixture boils and the berries pop and soften, about 4 minutes.

Pour the berry mixture into a blender and whirl until pureed, the mixture will not be completely smooth. Add the heavy cream and sour cream and pulse to blend. Taste and add a bit more lime juice or agave nectar if you choose.

Pour the blend into a bowl and refrigerate until it is chilled before churning into ice cream.

Original recipe from Noble Pig Blog.

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I wish I could have gotten a picture that captured how very tasty this was. Youll just have to look at the pictures at the Raw Food Blog that actually do it justice instead of making it look like a bowl of scrambled eggs.

Until recently I didnt give the Raw Food movement much thought, it seemed a little too crazy even for me. However in my search for truly unsweetened desserts I kept running into Raw recipes that looked really tempting. Aside from honey and dates I can eat everything they cook with, which are a lot easier and cost effective to substitute than Splenda or other nasty fake sweeteners in diabetic recipes that are so heavy in sugar substitutes it makes me cringe.

The second I saw this recipe I knew I would be making it. After the success with the gelato I plan on making the accompanying cheesecake very soon. The only problem is Im wary to buy an ice cream maker, I feel like the second I had one the urge to make ice cream would disappear. So I had to get creative to get something resembling gelato consistency out of this recipe. As it freezes it turns into a triple layer terrine as the nuts sink to the bottom, the coconut oil sits in the middle and the juice floats to the top. I found running a fork through it and treating it like a granita worked out alright. It mixed the layers together but didnt quite get it creamy. After a month with no dessert other than carob chips and homemade sorbet this was heavenly regardless of the texture.

Now we have a box of left over Clementines to snack on and the ingredients to experiment with other Raw desserts on hand. These are both exciting things. I also discovered that Breyers has a whole line of low carb ice cream bars. The fruit bars are sweetened with fructose and something I loved even before this diet so it was a nice surprise to find out I could still eat them. And they have chocolate bars that have small amounts of Splenda in them which could come in handy next time I have an emergency chocolate urge.

Raw Clementine Gelato

2c cashews
1/ 2 cup coconut butter/oil
1/ 4 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cup almond milk (we used unsweetened hazelnut milk)
1 cup Clementine juice
2 teaspoon Clementine zest

Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Taste for sweetness, you may need to add extra agave if your Clementines weren’t that sweet.

Pour mixture into a rectangular container and place in the freezer to set. Once set but not frozen through, run a fork through it breaking up the layers of the gelato that will have separated while setting. Blend the gelato together in a bowl using fork or mixer to combine. This wont make a smooth gelato consistency but it tastes lovely without buying another kitchen appliance. Alternatively, you can pour the mixture (unfrozen) into an ice-cream maker if you have one.

You can make your own almond milk(it is difficult to find unsweetened nut milks in the store) by blending 1 cup of almonds with 3 cups of water, and straining through a nut milk bag or sieve.

Original recipe from the Raw Chef Blog.

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