Minty Chocolate Cream Cheese Cake

Also known as, This is What Happens When Mo Changes Things and then Ends Up Needing to Change More Things to Accommodate the First Changes

The goal: make Reeni's Chocolate Sour Cream Tea Bread.
The original changes: nonfat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream; canola instead of butter and slightly less of; slightly less sugar; less chocolate chips; flax egg instead of eggs; more baking soda because flax eggs don't make things rise.
The problem: Greek yogurt was older than originally thought. Moldy yogurt is not good.
The solution: Blend cream cheese with milk.
Delicious idea: "Say, I've got some chocolate mint growing... why not use some?"
The random idea: "Hey, since this week is all about rice, why not substitute some brown rice flour?"
The problem: Very very very very very thick. Very. Forgot that rice absorbs a lot more liquid than wheat.
The solution: Lots of water. Lots and lots and lots. Okay, not really, but I added it in small portions so it felt like a lot. And substitute some of the sugar for honey.
The result: Not bad. Not bad at all.

Minty Chocolate Cream Cheese Cake
(Recipe adapted by Mo from Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice, who in turn adapted it from Winnie-the-Pooh's Teatime Cookbook)

70 g (7 tbsp) brown rice flour
187 g (1.25 cups + 1 tbsp) white whole wheat flour

180 g (3/4 cup) room-temperature Neufchâtel cream cheese (also called 1/3 less fat cream cheese)
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup loosely packed chocolate mint or peppermint leaves


96 g (1 cup) good-quality unsweetened cocoa powder
45 - 60 g (3-4 tbsp) canola oil
1/3 cup skim milk
1/2 cup water
100 g (1/2 cup) flax egg
58 g (1/3 cup) white sugar
72 g (3 tbsp + 1.25 tsp) honey
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda


45 g good-quality dark or semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (I can't possibly give an accurate volumetric measurement for this)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 8x4 - 9x5" loaf pan.


Combine the flours in a large bowl.


Purée the cream cheese, milk and mint until well-combined and the mint leaves are well-chopped.
Add the purée to a smaller bowl along with the rest of the ingredients and mix well.


Add the wet ingredients to the dry slightly, add in the chocolate, and fold in until everything is just combined. It will be really thick, but that's okay. Add to the loaf pan, try to smooth out the top, and bake for 50-60 minutes. Honestly if you stick a cake tester or toothpick in it'll most likely not come out dry because it's studded with chocolate chips, so just be wary of the cooking time and make sure it's not in there too long. It's okay if it's a little undercooked because there's nothing "raw" in here. As long as you let it cool down it should come out of the pan in one piece.

This was the best picture I could get, which should say something about how shitty my camera and the weather are acting.

The verdict: I think it tastes like those Girl Scout cookies. It's not too sweet like mint chocolate ice cream is, and it has a hint of bitterness to it because there's more cocoa than sugar, so I'm not just saying that because it's mint and chocolate together. It really does taste like them, at least to me. :P I used 3 tbsp of oil and it's a tad dry, so add more if you'd like! And feel free to just use Greek yogurt. Or just follow Reeni's recipe and ignore me and my crazy antics.


Just to remind you: you've got a few more days to submit your favorite unique and creative rice recipes! And please don't forget about suggesting ideas for prizes. 


Toodle-oo for now...


PS: Check out this awesome giveaway at Weave a Thousand Flavors! I nearly peed myself with excitement.