Light the Bonfire of Love with Chocolate Logs!

Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Lag b’Omer, Beautiful People! Our sages said, “Who is wise? One who learns from every person” (Ethics of Our Fathers, 4:1). The first person in our lives we have a chance to learn from is MOTHER. From her we learn kindness, caring, and most importantly, unconditional love. Sometimes, it’s not a biological mother who does the mothering in one’s life, as proven by a phone call I just received from my adopted son. Here is a musical tribute to all mothers by the great Itzhak Perlman and the renown cantor Yitzchak Meir Helfgot.

This year, Mother’s Day coincided with a Jewish holiday Lag b’Omer. It is one of the less known holidays, yet a very important one. We celebrate it by lighting bonfires in memory of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai who was called “Botzina Kadisha” (“The Sacred Lamp”) and whose teachings “illuminate the darkness and confusion of this world and serve as a beacon of light by which to navigate the vicissitudes of life” (www.aish.com). Rabbi Shimon taught the importance of brotherhood and love among all people.

As I can’t very much light a bonfire in the blogosphere, I am contributing Chocolate Logs both to the memory of Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai and the fire of motherly love.

The first thing you do is make it sweet. Cream room temperature Smart Balance, or any butter substitute of your choice, with brown sugar.

Don’t let this array of ingredients scare you! Put your coconut flakes aside for now and mix everything else together with your creamed Smart Balance and brown sugar. Start by introducing spelt flour, little by little, then add coconut flour. For our purposes, spelt is considered gluten free, but if you are allergic to gluten or have a celiac disorder, make sure to consult your physician. Add some olive oil, coconut milk, a splash of vanilla extract, and a shot of rum – we are celebrating, after all! Finally, it wouldn’t be my recipe without double chocolate, so throw in a goodly measure of cocoa powder and some dark chocolate chips. Mix it all up, roll into logs, and roll your logs in coconut flakes.

Bake them for about 18 – 20 minutes, or until they pop up from the baking sheet, and enjoy the fire of love!

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup Smart Balance
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons rum
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup shredded coconut (coconut flakes) for rolling

PROCEDURE

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Mist baking sheet with oil.
• Cream room temperature Smart Balance with brown sugar. Gradually introduce both kinds of flour. Add the rest of ingredients, except shredded coconut. Mix thoroughly.
• Form logs, roll in shredded coconut.
• Bake for 18 – 2- minutes until easily removed from baking sheet. Logs will be soft and chewy, rather than crunchy. Cool on rack.

Enjoy!