Black Forest Shake

Recipe by Robin

“Shelter in Place” is better with chocolate, don’t you agree? Before the pandemic, when I was working, I’d perfected some smoothies for my 15 minute lunch break, notably Chocolate and Fruit Smoothies and Green and Pink Drinks. I really don't miss those hurried (lack of) Power Lunches. Given the gift of more time to create and to enjoy meals and snacks, my mind veered from the healthy to the decadent, from the basic to the beautiful. It wandered from an efficient chocolaty beverage to luscious chocolate cake with whipped cream and sweet cherries. While the the Black Forest Shake is high in protein, it sports an unabashedly rich whipped cream and shaved chocolate topping. Just because you can’t build a Black Forest Cake/Shake without ‘em.

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Costco is an excellent resource for frozen organic pitted sweet cherries. They cool down the shake without diluting it with ice. The sweetening power of these cherries eliminates the need for added sweeteners, as long as you use chocolate protein powder. If you don’t have the chocolate variety, use any protein powder and bump up the amount of cocoa powder to taste (3 – 4 tbsp.). If you do add cocoa, you might want to add a bit of agave or other sweetener for balance.

I used a milk frother to make the whipped cream. Simply pour in the cream and set it to “froth without heat” whilst you prepare the shake. You could also whip the cream by hand. In either case, it’s easiest to whip no less than ¼ cup—to top two generous shakes. If you're making just one shake, cut recipe in half and top with canned whipped cream.

Enjoy Sheltering in Place with Chocolate! Be well.

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Black Forest Shake

serves 2 – 3

¼ cup whipping cream

32 oz. almond milk

2 scoops (¼ cup) chocolate protein powder

2 tbsp. cocoa (cacao powder)

3 cups frozen pitted sweet cherries

2 tsp. vanilla

Grated semisweet chocolate for garnish

Whole cherries for garnish

Put whipping cream into milk frother. Start frother in the “cold whip” mode. Set aside. Alternatively, whip up the cream with a hand mixer till light and firm and set aside.

Add almond milk, chocolate protein powder, cocoa, frozen cherries, and vanilla to heavy-duty (smoothie) blender. Blend together till ingredients look uniform, but there are still small chunks of cherries in the mix.

Pour into 2 – 3 tall glasses, leaving room for whipped cream topping.

Remove the whipping coil from milk frother. Scrape out whipped cream with rubber spatula and gently dollop on top of shakes.

Sprinkle whipped cream with shaved chocolate and garnish with whole cherries.

Serve immediately.

Chocolate Pick-me-up for Two

Good to the Last Drop