chocolate – Beary Strong

Eggplant Brownies

Dark chocolate meets veggies.

If you are a long-time reader of the Beary Strong blog you know that I love baking and always try to find a way to make some desserts a bit less heavy on the calorie account. I would not define them as “healthy” as I do not like do divide food in good or bad. Nor do I think they will substitute a proper meal: sweets should always be an enjoyable treat but not the major component of your diet. I am also always searching for new interesting flavor pairings and since our experiment with the root veggie cake I was intrigued to build even more unconventional vegetable-based sweets. This is how the eggplant brownies were born.

Hazelnut Kisses

Hazelnut scent and childhood memories.

Actually, hazelnut kisses (“Haselnussbusserl” or “Haselnussmakronen”) are a classical Christmas cookie recipe in Austria. But do we need Christmas to eat cookies? We personally do not think so. This recipe has a great advantage: you can use up egg whites that are left over from other recipes, like for sabayon (zabaione) or Mailänderli or Carbonara. It is also very flexible and you can experiment with other nuts. On top this in one of my personal favorites: an easy recipe, passed down to me by my mum, a treasure, almost a heirloom. Enjoy!

Bear-pleasing Quick Choc Pot

Your easy chocolate fix.

Originally the choc-pot was the filling of a Jamie Oliver no-bake chocolate tart: a very rich but quite calorie-friendly dessert which we’ll share with you soon. What if you do not want to/need to/can make a whole tart but you want to indulge in a chocolatey dessert? This recipe is the answer!