Paleo Chocolate Mug Cake

I crave crave CRAAAAAAAAVE sweets since I started on the Paleo diet. Most Paleo recipes I’ve tried taste like cardboard or worse. One thing I miss since going on the Paleo diet is CAAAAAAKE. Well, after many recipes tried and tweaked, I have found something to satisfy my sweet tooth. It’s chocolate, and quick and easy to make. 

Paleo Chocolate Mug Cake

Ingredients:

3 tbsp of almond meal, extra fine

3 tbsp of cocoa powder, sifted (I used extra dark)

2 tbsp of honey

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp of vanilla extract

Making the Mug Cake:

Put all ingredients in a 12 oz. mug. Mix well with a fork. Cook in the microwave on high for 1 minute and 30 seconds or 2 minutes, depending upon your microwave. Pull it out of the microwave and the cake should be firm on the top. Top with dark chocolate drizzle, strawberry or raspberry jam, or whipped coconut cream.

DAY 5: IT’S A TWO ‘FER! ALMOND MEAL TART CRUST/APPLE TART

Ok I know I skipped day four, you caught me! But my day job as a counselor and grad student offers me barely any time to do the things I love the most… cook, eat, and write. So, creating meals has been a hard task to tackle lately, but it’s one that I am willing to take on because of how important I believe it is to learn to eat healthy, paleo, and just all around feel good. Just from 5 days of really sticking to the paleo diet, I’m already feeling energetic and not sluggish or tired at all during the long days I have. So, that’s a definite plus and more of a reason to keep this paleo train a-rollin’!

So I woke up this mo’nin and I was craving something sweet. Before paleo, I would go to my fridge and find a rogue cupcake in there to cure my sweet tooth. But, in my fridge raiding, I found nothing NOTHING NOTHING except fruit. Not going to lie, I was slightly tempted to whip up some cakes. But, my mind was saying “DON’T DO IT! PAL-E-O! PAL-E-O!”. So I couldn’t help but hop on the web to find any paleo dessert that contained any ingredients I had on hand…. almond meal, coconut flour, apples.  And then it dawned on me “TARRRRRRRRT”! APPLE TART to be exact! and BOOM! I decided to to do a culinary “mash-up” of a couple recipes to see if the crust would hold together and be delicious! Well it was!!!!

So it all starts with the crust…

Almond Meal Tart Crust 

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup almond meal

1/2 cup coconut flour

2 tbsp, plus 1 tsp of coconut oil, melted

2 eggs

1tbsp of honey, warmed and runny

1/2 tsp sea salt

 MAKING DA CRUST

1. Mix the almond meal, coconut flour, and sea salt together in a bowl. Beat the eggs and add to the mixture. Add the coconut oil and the honey as well. Dough will form a ball.

2. Press dough into the tart pan.

3. Smooth out your tart crust using a measuring cup. Make sure the dough goes half way up the sides of the tart pan.

4. If you tart looks like this, you are ON YOUR way to apple tart deliciousness! Preheat your oven for 350 degrees. Set aside and start assembling the filling for the tart.

Paleo Apple Tart

Ingredients

4-5 apples, sliced ( I used Granny Smith, but feel free to use whatever)

1/2 of a lemon, juice squeezed

1 tsp of cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

1 tbsp arrowroot powder

1 tbsp honey, warmed, and extra for drizzling on top

1 Almond Meal Tart Crust

MAKING DA FILLING:

1. Slice the apples, thin or thick. It’s up to you! Add the lemon juice, cinnamon, arrowroot powder and honey and toss the apples together in a bowl.

2. You can either dump the apples in the tart pan or fan them out in the pan… The more apples, the better! Bake the tart in the oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes covered in tin foil, and then take the foil off and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

3. Drizzle a lil honey on top of the warm tart. Set aside to cool for 10-15 minutes. Bon appetit!