Nettle Chocolate Loaf Cake

Dina Ranade — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 17:28:52 +0000

We are deep into fall yet the nettles in my small herb garden bed continue to take over.

Every few days I put on double garden gloves and snip around taking off the top leave whirls. I know this may stimulate more growth, but the crime of not using an herb like this in its fresh form nags at me.

My method to avoid the sting, not totally herbal perfect practice, is as follows: Bring handfuls of nettle leaves, stem and all into the kitchen with my gloves on and put them gently into the sink. Take off gloves and get a big pot ready with about 2 inches of water. Turn on the sink faucet and with tongs, gently turn and rinse the nettle leaves, then with tongs, place into pot, stems and all. Bring to boil on medium high heat, covered. Steam for about 2-3 minutes until deep green, drain and cool. No more sting. Now, with my hands, I remove all the leaves from the stems. These will keep in the fridge for a few days and become a richly valuable mild green ingredient. Chop and mix into risotto, lightly saute with garlic, salt, and pepper, add to soups or stews, or bake with chocolate. Sometimes I think I can feel the minerals sinking into my bloodstream as I eat.

Because some ingredients may be hard to find, links are provided to make buying easier. I may earn a small commission for some of the product links in this recipe. Your purchase will lend support to this website at no further cost to you. Big love and thanks for that.

Stinging nettles really do cause pain, but steam or dry them and they become nutrient-packed green treasure that blends into chocolate magically.

Herbnettles
Apothecaryfresh herb
BakingCake
Traditional Usenutritive

Servings	Prep Time
1loaf	25minutes

Cook Time

1hour

Servings	Prep Time
1loaf	25minutes

Cook Time

1hour

Ingredients

For nettles

1large bunch stinging nettle leafleaves can remain on stems
1 cup water

For cake

1/2cup blanched nettle leaves
1 1/4cup (156.25g) organic all-purpose flour
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp baking soda
1/4tsp salt
1/3cup (39g) unsweetened cacao powderI used Valrhona dark
1/2stick (2oz) organic unsalted butter
3/4cup organic granulated sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
2 organic eggs
1/3cup sour cream
1/2cup nettle tea, cooledreserved water from nettle blanching
1/2cup chocolate chips

Instructions

For nettles

Handle fresh nettles carefully, with tongs or gloved hands.
Place nettles in large pot with lid and approximately 2 inches of water. Bring to boil and blanch for 2-3 minutes. Drain, reserving liquid.
Using a fine strainer and cheesecloth, strain liquid to remove any particles. Measure 1/2 cup and reserve for cake. Drink the rest as a tea and enjoy!
When nettles have cooled, remove leaves from stems, squeeze out excess water and measure 1/2 cup, packed.
Place nettles into food processor with metal blade. Pulse about 10 times, scrape down sides and pulse again until finely chopped.

For cake

Butter a 9x5 inch loaf pan, then line with parchment paper, butter the paper and lightly dust with fine dry bread crumbs, shaking out excess. Set aside
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Into small mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cocoa powder. Set aside.
Place butter in bowl of electric mixer. Beat until soft with beater attachment.
Add sugar and vanilla and beat to combine. Add eggs, one at a time, then sour cream and continue beating to combine.
With mixer set to lowest speed, gradually add sifted dry ingredients in three additions alternating with nettle tea (cooking liquid from nettle blanching).
Remove bowl from mixer and fold in nettles with spatula and then chocolate chips.
Pour batter into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour, until tester gently inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then using parchment paper, lift out of pan and cool completely on wire rack. Cool with parchment paper still on cake to avoid sticking to rack, then remove parchment paper when completely cool. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

Recipe Notes

*During cooking and drying, the sting of nettles is deactivated.

**Using organic ingredients whenever possible will make baked goods all the more nourishing. For these muffins use organic flour, organic sugar, organic eggs, organic cocoa powder, organic sour cream if available.

Sage and Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Dina Ranade — Tue, 07 Jul 2015 22:52:58 +0000

Sage and Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Sage and Lemon Shortbread Cookies Ingredients

Dried Sage

Sage

Right at the beginning of my herbal studies program, I received an assignment to choose an herb, single out one of its constituents and write a paper on them. I selected sage, first because I was clueless about the multitude of herbs from which to pick and second because I was going through a smudging stage. It is actually white sage not garden sage that is burned for clearing negativity, but as I said I had a lot to learn. Fast-forward four years and although I know more about herbs, I still am a novice at growing them. Sage again came to my rescue as a first success. So it is no surprise that one of my premier sweet experiments for the Herbal Bake Shoppe are these sage shortbread cookies.

Sage with its Latin name Salvia derived from salvere, to save, seems to be doing that for me. The word sage also signifies wisdom and calm judgment, like a scholar or sage advice. I need that. Energetically, sage is drying and helps drain dampness that shows up as excess secretions, like sweating or post-nasal drip. To achieve this benefit, it is better to drink it as a tea than eat it as a cookie. But shortbread is a classic afternoon tea accompaniment. On a rainy afternoon, these sweet and savory little treats combined with lemon, which can also be drying and a cup of sage tea may bring warming comfort. They freeze well and defrost quickly but are also quick to mix together anytime you need them.

Sage and Lemon Shortbread Cookies

Herbsage
Apothecaryfresh herb
BakingCookie

Servings	Prep Time
32cookies	15minutes

Cook Time

35-40minutes

Servings	Prep Time
32cookies	15minutes

Cook Time

35-40minutes

Ingredients

1cup organic unsalted buttersoftened to room temperature
½cup organic granulated sugar
¼tsp salt
1TBS fresh sage*finely chopped
2¼cups organic all-purpose flour
grated zest from 1 large, fragrant lemon

Instructions

Preheat oven to 325 °F. Have an 8x8 square cake pan ready.
In large mixing bowl, combine softened butter, sugar and salt beating well until light and fluffy. Beating can be done either by hand with whisk or with electric mixer at medium speed. Blend in lemon zest and sage. Gradually add flour and mix until smooth.
Once flour is totally added, use your hands to gently knead dough and form into a ball. Press dough into cake pan to fill all of pan and smooth out top.
Bake for 35-38 minutes until just turns golden on edges and top.
Cool about 15 minutes and while still warm, cut into 16 squares and then cut each square diagonally into a triangle. Cool completely on a wire rack and then remove from pan.

Recipe Notes

*A note on sage for this recipe: the more fragrant the sage, the more taste it will add to these cookies. I used sage that I grew in my garden that still had a strong aroma. After I picked the leaves, I dried and chopped them. You do not have to do this! You can buy fresh sage and let it dry for 24 hours by laying flat on a paper towel. The kitchen counter is fine. It is also totally ok to use dried sage, but decrease the amount to 2 teaspoons.

*Using organic ingredients makes your baked goods all the more nourishing. For this recipe, use organic sugar, butter, flour, and lemon zest if available.

fresh herb – The Herbal Bake Shoppe

Nettle Chocolate Loaf Cake

Sage and Lemon Shortbread Cookies