Happy World Oceans Day!
The oceans connect, support and sustain us all. This June 8th, recognize and celebrate our beautiful oceans with a delicious sea-themed dessert: a Chocolate, Raspberry & Seaweed Cake from Lisette Kreischer and Marcel Schuttelaar’s cookbook Ocean Greens. 
You might not expect it, but seaweed and dark chocolate go very well together. Hence this fierce recipe for an even fiercer chocolate cake, suitable for gourmet cooks and foodies alike. Allow for some time, however, as the various layers that make up this cake deserve your attention. Once you’ve decorated it, you’ll steal the show with this special and festive treat.
Not to mention that eating more seaweed is a sustainable way to help the environment. Now more than ever, it’s important to safeguard our oceans, their ecosystems and biodiversity. So let’s protect our oceans, by eating more chocolate cake!
Serves 12
GANACHE
• 7 ounces dark chocolate
• 1/2 cup almond or soy creamer
• 2 tablespoons plant-based margarine, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
CHOCOLATE CAKE
• 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon boiling water
• 3/4 cup soy yogurt
• 1/3 cup applesauce
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 1/4 cups spelt flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup hazelnut flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons vanilla powder (or vanilla seeds from 2 beans)
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 1 sheet nori, crumbled in small pieces
• 7 tablespoons plant-based margarine, at room temperature
• 1 cup unrefined cane sugar
• 2 tablespoons hot water
VANILLA CHLORELLA CRÈME
• 1 cup + 1 tablespoon plant-based margarine, at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons almond, oat, rice or soy milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla powder (or vanilla seeds from 2 beans)
• Zest of 1/4 lemon
• 1 heaping teaspoon chlorella powder
RASPBERRY SAUCE
• 3/4 cup fresh raspberries
EXTRAS
• 1 1/4 cups fresh raspberries
• 1/4 cup unsalted raw hazelnuts
• 1/2 sheet nori, crumbled into small pieces
• Coarse sea salt, for garnish
1. To make the ganache, break the chocolate into small pieces. Heat the creamer, margarine, and maple syrup in a double boiler. Once the margarine has melted, remove the bowl from the pot of boiling water to stop heating it. Add the chocolate pieces and stir until the chocolate has completely melted. Allow to cool completely and stir before serving to loosen.
2. To make the chocolate cake, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a cake pan with margarine and dust with flour.
3. Put the flaxseeds in a cup or small bowl and mix with the boiling water. Let soak for 5 minutes.
4. Mix the soy yogurt, applesauce, and maple syrup in a bowl. In another bowl, combine the spelt flour, cocoa powder, hazelnut flour, baking powder, vanilla powder, salt, lemon zest, and crumbled nori.
5. Whisk the margarine in a bowl with a fork. Cream the margarine and sugar by beating with a mixer for about 4 minutes until fluffy (you can also use a food processor).
6. Add the applesauce mixture to the flour mixture and then add in the creamed margarine. Add the flaxseeds and hot water and stir until any lumps have dissolved but not any longer. It should be a firm batter. Pour into the greased pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a knife slid into the middle comes out clean.
7. Remove the cake from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Loosen the cake around the edges with a knife and then carefully remove it from the pan. Let cool completely. Then carefully slice the cake into two layers.
8. Meanwhile, to make the chlorella crème, beat the margarine in a bowl with a mixer at medium speed. Beat in the powdered sugar little by little. Increase the mixing speed and beat the margarine for about 2 minutes. Add the almond milk, vanilla, and lemon zest. Beat at high speed for 4 minutes until the sugar is completely blended into the margarine and the crème is light and creamy (you can also do this in a food processor).
9. To make the raspberry sauce, puree the raspberries into a smooth red sauce.
10. For the extras, toast the hazelnuts in a skillet until golden brown. The skin may stay on. Chop coarsely.
11. You now have three beautiful sauces to decorate the cake with: the ganache, the chlorella crème, and the raspberry sauce. It’s up to you to make it beautiful. One method is to spread one half of the cake with raspberry sauce and scoop a thick layer of ganache on top. Swirl some of the chlorella crème on top. Place the other half of the cake on top. Spread the remaining ganache over the entire cake. Swirl some chlorella crème on top and garnish with roasted hazelnuts, the remaining raspberries, and crumbled nori. Sprinkle with a little bit of coarse sea salt.
TIP: You can make your own hazelnut flour by finely grinding unsalted, raw hazelnuts in a food processor.
