iEat Green - Catherine Gill – 05.05.16

Catherine manages investor relations, communications and marketing at Root Capital, an agricultural lender that provides loans and advisory services to small and growing agricultural businesses in Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Indonesia. Since its founding in 1999, Root Capital has disbursed nearly $1BN in capital to more than 500 enterprises that represent over 2M farmers.

In her role at Root Capital, Catherine oversees all debt and philanthropy fundraising, including management of $125M in assets from over 200 individual, corporate, foundation and government impact investors. In 2012, Catherine played a leadership role in launching Root Capital’s Women in Agriculture Initiative, which aims to strengthen and grow gender-inclusive businesses that provide reliable economic opportunities for women in agricultural value chains.

Prior to joining Root Capital, Catherine spent ten years in the Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) industry, at both the Nonprofit Finance Fund and the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation (SEEDCO), working as a loan officer and financial management consultant for community development projects across New England.

She has served as an adjunct professor at Boston University’s School of Management and lectures widely on impact investing and social enterprise development. Catherine holds a bilingual M.B.A from the Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa (IESE) in Barcelona and a B.A. in ancient Greek from Wellesley College. She lives in Lexington, Massachusetts with her husband, son, daughter, and two lop-eared rabbits.

Chocolate Flourless Cake

Ingredients

1 pound organic semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch slices
1/4 cup Café Patron

8 large eggs
1/4 cup organic sugar
1-1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Confectioners' sugar for garnish
Fresh raspberries, for garnish

Butter to grease pan

Directions-   Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Grease a 9-inch spring form pan with butter and line the bottom with parchment paper, cut into a round to fit. Wrap the bottom and sides with tin foil.

Combine the chocolate, butter, and Café Patron in a double boiler. Melt, stirring constantly, until smooth and creamy, about 5 minutes; set aside

Meanwhile combine eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt in an electric mixer bowl, and beat until double in bulk, about 7-10 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, fold 1/3 of egg mixture into chocolate mixture. When combined, fold in another 1/3 of egg mixture, and fold until incorporated. Repeat with remaining egg mixture, and fold in again, until all of the egg mixture is evenly combined with the chocolate mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared spring form pan and place in a roasting pan. Pour boiling water all around the pan, until it comes halfway up the sides. Bake for 40-45 minutes. You will know it is ready when the edges of the cake start to set and pull away from the sides. Remove the cake from roasting pan and let cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove foil, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.

To remove spring form pan, run a knife around the edges, and release pan. Invert the cake onto a large plate, and remove the parchment paper from bottom. Re-invert cake onto a platter (so the top is up) and garnish with confectioners' sugar and raspberries. Serve with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Serves 16-20