Papa's No-tella chocolate cake

For my dad's birthday I wanted to make something with hazelnut and chocolate his favorite combination, but it had to be something the whole family could eat so here we go with my version of a nutella cake. Caution even tough the ingredients are wholesome it is a very decadent cake and not light on calories... but it was worth every single one. Also this was a four tier cake so if you want a smaller cake cut all the ingredients in half.

cake:

3 cups spelt flour

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1.5 cups light agave

1 Tbs vanilla extract

2 cups warm water

2/3 cup apple sauce

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

filling and glaze:

2 cups of hazelnut butter (I made my own you can substitute with the nut butter of your choice)

2 12oz. bags of vegan chocolate chips

1/4 cups of coconut (or soy) milk

1 cup of whole hazelnuts unsalted and roasted

preheat oven to 375 and lightly oil and flour 2 cake pans.

shift all the dry ingredients together and in a separate bowl mix all the wet ingredients until smooth. slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until smooth and creamy. It should be just a bit runnier than usual cake batter. Pour it into you prepared pans and bake for about 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. in the mean time melt the chocolate in a double boiler add half of it to the nut butter you should have a thick creamy filling. Add the coconut milk to the rest of the melted chocolate to thin it out a bit, keep it warm (but not hot) until you need to use it. when the cakes completely cool cut them in half horizontally spread some filling than cake, more filling than cake repeat until you have all your layers. Glaze the top and outside with your chocolate glaze and decorate with some whole nuts. 

sour cherry almond bars

I came across some fresh sour cherries in the market a rare find here in california and wanted to re-create my favorite summer recipe from my Mom. light and moist perfect dessert for hot summer days

3 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups of light agave
1 1/3 cups of water
2/3 cups of canola oil or apple sauce
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T vanilla
2 tsp almond extract
3 cups of fresh (or canned) sour cherries pitted and drained
3/4 cups unsalted almond slices

Preheat oven to 375 and lightly spray with oil and flour a flat 10x15 inch pan
Shift dry ingredients together in a bowl. In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients together and add to the flour mixture slowly mixing it until smooth and creamy. Bake for 25-30 minutes (depends on your oven). stick a toothpick in the middle when it comes out clean you know your cake is ready:)