Along with the beginning of colder days, we start to change our diet. Fresh ingredients from the garden are already very limited, and so we start the season of soups full of root vegetables, barley, various broths, apples and compotes. Naturally, we eat as seasonally as possible and are most often in the mood for food that warms us up.
But what I find sad is that we don't have a craving for kefir! Seriously, we drink kefir every day through the summer, usually in the form of a smoothie with fruit (of which there is plenty in the summer!) or just plain, with cocoa. It'll satisfy both thirst and hunger and give your body much needed probiotics. But in autumn, our kefir is already piling up and now, what to do with it! You can't stop the kefir grains!
It's a good thing that you can slow down the fermentation process in the fridge, or in another cool place, and so at least we don't end up with extra gallons of kefir, but only a few extras. And so I have a lot of recipes in which kefir can be used. You may destroy the healthy probiotics with heat, but the kefir will make the dough fluffy and moist!
This autumn, I found myself repeating two recipes, in particular that can use kefir in a larger quantity. The first recipe is this Kefir cake, or Buckwheat and cocoa cake with a delicious chocolate frosting..
What are the benefits of baking with buckwheat flour?
I try to incorporate buckwheat, as much as possible to our diet in winter. It is gluten-free and easily digestible, it warms the body, gives energy and improves appetite. We hear endlessly about how healthy buckwheat is, but we rarely think of it in our busy days, don't we? Yet, to cook buckwheat groats or to bake something with buckwheat flour is usually a quick thing to do.
A lot of people just don't like the taste of buckwheat. In my experience, it's mostly because they've had heat-peeled buckwheat, dark-colored buckwheat that is peeled by toasting. This buckwheat has a smoky taste and smell and is very strong.
However, buckwheat can also be mechanically peeled, where the buckwheat remains light green and has a mild nutty flavor. This buckwheat stays ALIVE, so it is also suitable for sprouting and keeps a lot of nutrients. And this is exactly the buckwheat you want to buy!
Can you taste the specific flavor of buckwheat in this cake?
The buckwheat flour is combined with cocoa powder, which has a stronger taste than buckwheat on its own. Therefore, the cake tastes more like a classic cocoa cake or also a bit like roasted chestnuts. But if you are afraid of the stronger taste of buckwheat, try replacing half of the quantity with plain spelt flour first.
How to sweeten buckwheat and cocoa cake?
- You can blend a few pitted dates or a few tablespoons of date paste into the kefir. This will also add extra fiber to the cake.
- You can add dried fruits - raisins, chopped dates, pears, apricots, apples, plums and more.
- You can also sweeten with smaller amounts of date, coconut, maple syrup or cane and coconut sugar.
My favorite combination is dark cane sugar, for its caramel flavor, and chopped dried fruit to spice up and "sweeten" the batter.
But you can certainly sweeten it with any other sweetener or white sugar!
Can you make this buckwheat and cocoa cake without an egg?
Yes, you do not need to add an egg to the batter. It can be omitted altogether or replaced with a chia or flax "egg", which makes the dough slightly firmer.
For one "egg", put 1 tbsp of chia or ground flax seeds in a small bowl, add 3 tbsp of water and stir well. After 5 minutes, the "egg" should gel and you can add it to the dough.
How to make buckwheat and cocoa cake with chocolate frosting?
In the meantime, prepare this delicious and simple chocolate frosting. Melt the chocolate in a water bath . Prepare a pot with a little water on the stove and put a bowl (ideally metal) in it, so that it does not touch the water and sits nicely on the pot. Bring the water in the pot to the boil. Pour the chocolate into the bowl and let it melt slowly. It's best not to disturb the chocolate too much and stir just when it's almost melted.
Stir the sour cream into the melted chocolate a teaspoon at a time. Always add the next spoonful only after the previous one has been completely stirred in, so that the chocolate doesn't cool too quickly - then it will most certainly form clumps.
If the chocolate does form clumps, just put it back in the bowl over the water bath and stir for a while. The curdled chocolate chunks will melt again very quickly, only the frosting won't be as fluffy and light.
Spread the chocolate frosting over the cooled cake and ideally serve immediately.
How to store buckwheat and cocoa cake with chocolate frosting?
This cake is best freshly baked and topped with the frosting. The frosting starts to seep into the dough over time and the cake is less fluffy. However, it can be stored in a cool place or in the fridge where it will keep good for about 2-3 days.
Videorecept:
TIPS:
- if you don't have or don't want to use buckwheat flour, the recipe will work great with any wheat, spelt, or rye flour.
- instead of chocolate frosting, you can just drizzle the cake with date syrup and sprinkle with nuts, coconut, seeds or grated chocolate
- you can also add diced fresh fruit, such as apple or pear, to the batter and top it with a variety of nuts and seeds
Recipe
Recipe for 15 pcs
Buckwheat and cocoa cake with chocolate frosting
Ingredients:
- 130 g buckwheat flour (white type)
- 50 - 100 g brown sugar
- 3 tbsp (35 g) cocoa powder
- 1 tsp (4 g) baking soda
- pinch of salt
- 250 ml kefir or buttermilk
- 70 ml oil (sunflower, rapeseed, coconut oil)
- 1 egg
- handful of dried fruit (raisins, pears, apricots, figs, plums,...)
for frosting:
- 50 g dark chocolate 60 %
- 200 g sour cream
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 175°C. In a large bowl, sift buckwheat flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and a pinch of salt.
- Add oil of your choice, kefir and brown sugar to taste and mix everything together.
- Finally, stir the finely chopped dried fruit into the batter and mix once more.
- Pour the batter into a greased and floured baking tin and bake in a preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Then let the cake cool down.
- In the meantime, melt the chocolate in a water bath. Stir the sour cream into the melted chocolate a teaspoon at a time. Always add the next spoonful only after the previous one has been completely stirred in.
- Spread the chocolate frosting over the cake and ideally serve immediately.
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Dobrý den.
Děkuji za inspiraci. Houbičku na kefír jsem si už sehnala. Teď už jen vyzkoušet. Můžu se zeptat, kde jste zakoupila tu úžasnou keramickou mísu s rybičkami?
Mějte se krásně
Pavlína
Dobrý den,
Skvělé! Už jste kefír zkoušela? Někdy to může trvat déle, než si zvyknou na nové mléko. Já měla houbičky zvyklé na mléko kozí a pamatuju si, že asi prvních 10 dnů se to nedalo moc pít. 😀 Bohužel, mísu jsem podědila a není tam nikde uvedena značka, ale je skvělá že?
Dobrý den. jakou mouku prosím používáte? Mám hladkou pohankovou od Probio a pak pohankovou z DM a ta je celozrnná. Děkuji
Dobrý den, používám hladkou pohankovou světlou mouku (není celozrnná) značky Šmajstrla.