{"id":18382,"date":"2026-03-13T22:17:46","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/?p=18382"},"modified":"2026-03-13T22:21:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T21:21:34","slug":"chocolate-cake-with-leafy-greens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/2026\/03\/13\/chocolate-cake-with-leafy-greens\/","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate cake with leafy greens"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Yoga Kitchen &#8211; Simple, healthy, and plant-based<\/em><\/p>\n<h1>This could become the plant-based rival to Black Forest cake<\/h1>\n<blockquote><p>Choosing a plant-based diet also offers opportunities to break free from the unhealthy traditions of our conventional, animal-product-based eating habits.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In our family, the Black Forest cake that my mother traditionally made for the Christmas dessert buffet was always a huge hit. I\u2019m working on a plant-based alternative that can rival the classic Black Forest cake in terms of taste and texture. And with the recipe below, I\u2019ve already got a good recipe to get the cake base just right.<br \/>\nSo here\u2019s a rich, two-tiered chocolate cake, filled with and covered in a smooth layer of chocolate glaze \u2013 you can easily make this entirely with plant-based ingredients too. And in this case, <strong>a rather unexpected and surprising green ingredient<\/strong> makes an appearance.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260222_Paksoi_1200_548.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260222_Paksoi_1200_548.jpg\" alt=\"Pak choi, avocado and fresh dates\" width=\"1200\" height=\"548\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18383\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260222_Paksoi_1200_548.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260222_Paksoi_1200_548-300x137.jpg 300w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260222_Paksoi_1200_548-1024x468.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260222_Paksoi_1200_548-768x351.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>What ingredients do you need?<\/h2>\n<h3>Wet ingredients for the cake base<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>10 to 12 juicy dates (e.g. Medjool or Mazafati)<\/li>\n<li>150 g pak choi, stalks and leaves, approx. 5 stalks (yes, you won\u2019t believe it)<\/li>\n<li>150 ml soya milk (or another plant-based milk)<\/li>\n<li>approx. 50 ml strong herbal or spiced tea (I used a yoga tea)<\/li>\n<li>2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar<\/li>\n<li>50 ml plant-based, neutral-tasting oil<\/li>\n<li>5 tablespoons almond butter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Dry ingredients for the cake base<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>250 g wholemeal flour<\/li>\n<li>50 g unsweetened cocoa powder<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon baking powder<\/li>\n<li>1 teaspoon baking soda<\/li>\n<li>a pinch of salt or herb salt<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Ingredients for the chocolate glaze<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>150 g dark fair trade chocolate<\/li>\n<li>The flesh of a ripe avocado<\/li>\n<li>1\/4 teaspoon of salt or herb salt<\/li>\n<li>150 ml soya milk (or another plant-based milk)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>To decorate<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>approx. 30 g chopped walnuts or pecans<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You will also need one or two round cake tins, approx. 20\u201323 cm in diameter.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260313IngPaksoiTaart_1200_380.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260313IngPaksoiTaart_1200_380.jpg\" alt=\"Ingredients for the chocolate fudge cake\" width=\"1200\" height=\"380\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18385\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260313IngPaksoiTaart_1200_380.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260313IngPaksoiTaart_1200_380-300x95.jpg 300w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260313IngPaksoiTaart_1200_380-1024x324.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/20260313IngPaksoiTaart_1200_380-768x243.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Method<\/h2>\n<h3>The cake layers<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Cut the washed pak choi into pieces and place it in the bowl of a blender together with the dates and the other wet ingredients.<\/li>\n<li>Blend until smooth.<\/li>\n<li>Place all the dry ingredients in a sufficiently large bowl and mix them well.<\/li>\n<li>Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix them into a smooth, creamy batter.<\/li>\n<li>Line the baking tin with baking paper and spread the first half of the batter over it.<\/li>\n<li>Bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 180\u00b0C (preheating is not necessary for a fan oven).<\/li>\n<li>Remove the first half from the oven and the tin, and leave to cool on a wire rack.<\/li>\n<li>Repeat steps 5 to 7 for the second half of the dough.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>The chocolate glaze<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Pour the plant-based milk for the glaze into a small saucepan, break the chocolate into pieces and melt over a low heat, stirring continuously.<\/li>\n<li>Remove the pan from the heat and pour the contents into a measuring jug.<\/li>\n<li>Add the chopped avocado and the salt.<\/li>\n<li>Blend everything with a hand blender until you have a smooth, spreadable mixture.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h3>Assembling and finishing the cake<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Spread a generous layer of chocolate glaze over each of the two cake bases.<\/li>\n<li>Place the two halves on top of each other and coat the sides of the cake completely with the remaining chocolate glaze.<\/li>\n<li>Finally, decorate the top with chopped nuts.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>And there you have it!<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/IMGP9894Paksoic_1200_530.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/IMGP9894Paksoic_1200_530.jpg\" alt=\"A slice of vegan chocolate cake on a dish\" width=\"1200\" height=\"530\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-18387\" srcset=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/IMGP9894Paksoic_1200_530.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/IMGP9894Paksoic_1200_530-300x133.jpg 300w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/IMGP9894Paksoic_1200_530-1024x452.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/03\/IMGP9894Paksoic_1200_530-768x339.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"yk-hoebetalen\">\n<h2>Wholefood plant-based<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the healthy ingredients, this isn\u2019t a cake you\u2019d want to tuck into every day, given the generous amount of chocolate. It\u2019s a cake for special occasions, for those few times a year when you really want to conjure up something special.<br \/>\nCredit where credit is due:<br \/>\nThe original idea for this cake comes from the book \u201cGebak met groenten\u201d (Pastries with Vegetables) by the Flemish entrepreneur and caterer Eveline Versluys, alias Vegamuze.<br \/>\nI have adapted it considerably, however, in line with the principles of a wholesome plant-based diet.<br \/>\nAnd with good reason.<br \/>\nTraditional patisserie makes extensive use of eggs and dairy products such as butter.<br \/>\nIt is to Eveline\u2019s credit that she offers an original and successful plant-based alternative in which vegetables play a key role.<\/p>\n<h2>Wholefoods rather than refined ingredients<\/h2>\n<p>Furthermore, many of the other ingredients are often ultra-refined: the flour and sugar, for example. Vegetable oil, too, has been stripped of the fibre and other wholesome components of the seeds or nuts.<br \/>\nThat is why I replaced the refined flour with finely ground wholemeal flour, the sugar with dates, and the neutral oil partly with an unrefined fat (almond paste). After all, the dates provide extra fibre (and also some moisture), and the almond paste, which is admittedly more expensive than refined oils, provides extra protein and fibre. Wholemeal flour still contains all the vitamins and minerals from the grain, unlike white, refined flour.<br \/>\nThe result of these substitutions has undoubtedly been very good.\n<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Substitutions<\/h3>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr bgcolor=\"#O5C2DE\">\n<th scope=\"col\"><strong>Original<\/strong><\/th>\n<th scope=\"col\"><strong>Substitution<\/strong><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td> 250 g white flour<\/td>\n<td>250 g wholewheat flour<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>120 g sugar<\/td>\n<td>10 to 12 dates<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>120 ml vegetable oil<\/td>\n<td>50 ml oil + 5 tbsp almond paste<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<h2>Participate in our cooking classes:<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"yk-green_btn\" title=\"Our cooking classes\" href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/healthy-vegan\/\">Cooking Workshops<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Read more about plant-based nutrition and health:<\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"yk-green_btn\" title=\"More about plant-based food\" href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/blog\/\">Read more about plant-based food<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Find out about yoga and yoga classes in Schaerbeek:<\/h2>\n<p>Check out our yoga classes here:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a class=\"yk-blue_btn\" title=\"Yoga classes\" href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/yoga-classes\/\">View our full range of yoga classes<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yoga Kitchen &#8211; Simple, healthy, and plant-based This could become the plant-based rival to Black Forest cake Choosing a plant-based diet also offers opportunities to break free from the unhealthy traditions of our conventional, animal-product-based eating habits. In our family, the Black Forest cake that my mother traditionally made for the Christmas dessert buffet was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/2026\/03\/13\/chocolate-cake-with-leafy-greens\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Chocolate cake with leafy greens<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18386,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[27,159,111,26],"class_list":["post-18382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nutrition","tag-chocolate","tag-dessert","tag-plant-based","tag-vegan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18382"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18390,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18382\/revisions\/18390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yogakitchen.be\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}