The season of chocolate is upon us. Perhaps better said, the season of ‘more chocolate than usual’ is upon us as we approach Valentine’s Day. The bakery has shifted from pumpkin and gingerbread doughnut muffins back to heavy production of chocolate doughnut muffins, and while we’re happy about this, we’re clenching our jaws just a wee bit. The reason why is because these amazing tasting chocolate bites are very fragile, and making them requires a certain gentleness that could drive a quick-moving person slightly insane. I decided to look into tweaking the recipe to see if I could find a way to make them more sturdy.

After a half an hour of googling, I ended up on a blog that highlighted amazing-looking baked chocolate doughnuts. Perfect, I thought. I sat with a co-worker in my office and we groaned in delight looking at the enticing pictures of deep chocolate doughnuts glazed with pink icing and sprinkles. We couldn’t wait to see the recipe, and as I scrolled to the bottom of the post to find the recipe, my co-worker asked ‘does it have any weird ingredients?’ The timing of the question could not have been more perfect, because when I saw the recipe, the first ingredient was completely new to me.

Hmmmmmm.  Define weird. Does ‘aquafaba’ count?

The next google search had nothing to do with chocolate at all. Instead, I found myself looking up aquafaba.

It turns out aquafaba is a pretty cool ‘ingredient’. It’s the viscous goopy liquid left over from soaking beans and legumes. Mmmmmmmmm – just what I want in my desserts! All kidding aside, for anyone who is vegan and has not yet investigated all of the benefits and uses for aquafaba, time for you to take over the google search. Aquafaba is a ‘perfect vegan egg substitute’ and works well in baked goods as well as in making things like meringues, pancakes or mayonnaise.  Click here for more information.

Later aquafaba – back to the land of chocolate for me.

xo