Amy Hamilton, author of “Can I Eat At Rivers?” gifted me this cookbook in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Ever felt confused when it comes to the dietary guidelines vegan or veg-friendly toddlers and children should follow? So have I and so has Amy Hamilton, author of Can I Eat At River’s?

Amy and her family (chef-husband Chad and taste-tester-son River) are here to help. 

As a mother, Amy put consideration and care into making sure that her child had the best, most nutritionally balanced diet. With a lot of conflicting information out there, Amy researched and realized the benefits associated with a whole foods plant-based diet were hard to deny, so she and her family confidently made a change. 

Amy and her family combined their knowledge of vegan nutrition with experimentation in the kitchen to bring us a cookbook full of delicious breakfast, side dish, entree, and dessert recipes.

Many of the recipes are familiar (think french toast, breakfast burritos, and chili) to somebody who may be new to eating plant-based. These recipes are great options for somebody who is looking to take some of their favorite non-vegan items and put a vegan spin on them. 

What I loved most though was that so many recipes were ones I had never seen before, such as: 

  • Cha-Cha-Chai-Chia Seed Pudding (this quickly became Troian’s favorite breakfast and remains the only food I’ve ever seen her spit out other food to get more of into her mouth, haha)
  • Lemon Cumin Hummus & Citrus Guacamole
  • Bean & Avocado Cashewdillas with Peach Salsa
  • Oven Roasted Eggplant & Tomato Panini
  • Orange Chocolate Avocado Pudding 
  • Double Chocolate Cake with Avocado Chocolate Icing (recipe at bottom of this post!)
and seriously so much more

This cookbook has plenty of yummy planty recipes for me to consider it worth a high recommendation on that fact alone. However, Amy and her family go above and beyond by including tips and tricks for making healthy food choices, food sources for meeting dietary needs, cooking tips, and complete food breakdowns including macros, calories, sugars, calcium, folate, and so much more for every single recipe.

Can I Eat at Rivers? is an excellent source for those looking to dip their toes into plant based eating in a healthy and sustainable way, without difficult to find or obscure ingredients. 

Of all of the recipes I’ve tested so far from Can I Eat at River’s?, this double chocolate cake was my very fave. I’m super excited to be able to share it with you all and I hope that you will give this recipe and this incredible cookbook a try.  

Double Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Avocado Icing

This chocolate cake was my all-time favourite as a kid and still is to this day. We like to call it the “Grandmother of all Cakes” as we’ve adapted my grandmother’s family recipe into a vegan hybrid that uses spelt flour, half the sugar, and an epic avocado icing in place of the traditional buttercream icing. The cake stays super moist and the sweet avocado icing only adds to the rich beauty.
Course Dessert
Keyword avocado, cake, chocolate, sweet
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings 12 slices
Calories 350kcal
Author Amy Hamilton

Ingredients

Chocolate Cake

  • 2 cups spelt flour
  • 1 cup turbinado sugar
  • 1 cup non-dairy milk
  • 1 tbsp vinegar
  • 1/2 cup cocoa
  • 2/3 cup coconut oil
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 1 cup hot coffee
  • 1/4 cup shredded coconut optional for garnish
  • 1 pinch sea salt

Chocolate Avocado Icing

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a Bundt pan.
  • Prepare egg replacer. Mix 1 tbsp of flax meal in 3 tbsp of water. Let sit for 5 minutes until it has thickened.
  • Prepare buttermilk replacer by mixing 1 tbsp of vinegar in 1 cup of non-dairy milk.
  • In a medium bowl, cream together melted coconut oil and sugar. Add buttermilk replacer, egg replacer, and hot coffee. Mix together.
  • Sift spelt flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda (to remove clumps) into a large mixing bowl. Add sea salt and mix together all the dry ingredients.
  • Pour the wet ingredients in the large mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. Use an electric mixer or hand beater on medium speed and mix cake batter until smooth. Pour cake batter into the Bundt pan and place into the oven.
  • Bake for 40- 45 minutes. Once cake is baked remove from oven and place on a rack to cool.
  • While cake is baking, prepare the icing. In a medium bowl, use a stick blender to purée avocados and vanilla extract. Sift in icing sugar and cocoa powder purée.
  • Once cake has cooled, remove from Bundt pan and ice it. Adding coconut to garnish is optional. We try for 12 servings, but sometimes it turns into 8. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

Nutrition

Calories: 350kcal | Carbohydrates: 43.3g | Protein: 4.5g | Fat: 17.2g | Saturated Fat: 10.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.8g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3.2g | Sodium: 350mg | Potassium: 152mg | Fiber: 5.5g | Sugar: 22.9g | Vitamin A: 64.3IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 50.6mg | Iron: 3.3mg

As always, I love to see you guys take these recipes and make them your own. If you use this recipe as is or use it for inspiration, I’d love to see your creation. Tag me @holefoodbakery and/or use the hashtag #holefoodbakery so I don’t miss it. 


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