Here is my obligatory raw chocolate post, because Easter. Cacao butter works better than just using coconut oil for these recipes because it has a higher melting point and the texture is more like regular chocolate. I usually melt mine by chopping or shaving it into a bowl I place over saucepan of water on very, very low heat and stirring until it’s liquid.
There were plans in my head to make a raw version of Top Deck for this post, but then I found some old IKEA ice cube trays in the shape of bottles that seemed kind of perfect for little white chocolate milk bottles. Cute, yes? So the chocolates remained separate and more of each kind of chocolate was made than originally intended, which is just fine by me.
RAW, VEGAN WHITE CHOCOLATE
1 CUP MELTED CACAO BUTTER 1/2 CUP MACADAMIA NUTS (or CASHEW NUTS) 1 DESSERTSPOON COCONUT OIL 2 TEASPOONS VANILLA EXTRACT 1/2 CUP LIGHT AGAVE NECTAR
PINCH OF SEA SALT FLAKES
Blend everything in a high speed blender or food processor until very smooth. Pour into chocolate molds and store in the freezer to keep their setting.
RAW, VEGAN DARK CHOCOLATE
1/2 CUP MELTED CACAO BUTTER 1/2 CUP COCONUT OIL 2/3 CUP RAW CACAO POWDER (or DUTCH PROCESS COCOA) 4 TABLESPOONS MAPLE SYRUP
PINCH OF SEA SALT FLAKES
Blend everything in a high speed blender or food processor until very smooth. Pour into chocolate molds and store in the freezer to keep their setting.
Mint Choc-Chip is my favourite ice cream flavour, ever, and I’ve been experimenting lately to make a worthy raw version that meets my high expectations (in case you’re wondering: the mint should sing as a clear flavour but not be toothpaste-like; the chocolate should be dark and bitter). The addition of kale or spinach juice to this ice cream makes me feel oh-so-vindicated of my ice cream obsession and as the ice cream is sandwiched between two delicious, raw, vegan brownie slices, this dessert is a super pretty one to serve to skeptics of healthy food.
The trick to getting these to look neat is to freeze everything in rectangular slabs and to make a template to cut them out with before assembling. It’s worth this extra fiddling about; freezing them together in layers won’t come out as good, (trust me).
RAW CHOCOLATE BROWNIE
1 CUP DRIED DATES, SEEDS REMOVED + CHOPPED 1/2 CUP ALMONDS 1/2 CUP PECANS 3/4 CUP RAW CACAO (or DUTCH PROCESSED COCOA, not raw)
1/4 CUP WATER (IF NEEDED)
Whizz all the ingredients in your food processor until combined. You may need to add a little water to make the mixture turn around but make sure it’s not too wet. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to firm up a little. Then divide the mixture into two and roll each out separately with a rolling pin between two pieces of greaseproof paper to about 1cm (1/3 inch) thick. Leave them in between the papers and place on a flat tray in the freezer for a few hours to set.
RAW MINT CHOC-CHIP ICE CREAM
5 RIPE BANANAS, PEELED AND CHOPPED 2 DROPS EDIBLE SPEARMINT (OR MINT) ESSENTIAL OIL 1/3 CUP LIGHT AGAVE NECTAR 1/3 CUP FRESH SPINACH AND/OR KALE JUICE
1/3 CUP RAW CACAO NIBS
Whizz all the ingredients except the cacao nibs in your blender or food processor until really smooth. Place in a container into the freezer for an hour until the ice cream begins to thicken and set. Remove it before it hardens completely and stir through the cacao nibs (this way they won’t sink to the bottom as the ice cream is partially set). Now pour the ice cream mixture into a plastic-wrap lined rectangular tray or dish and freeze for at least 4 hours.
ASSEMBLY
Decide what shape you’d like to make your ice cream sandwiches (I did think about a hexagon, but then I couldn’t be bothered. There was ice cream: I wanted to eat it). Use a piece of paper as a template to cut your brownie slices out with a sharp knife and group into twos. Use the same process for cutting the ice cream, cutting one ice cream slab for every two brownie slices. Sandwich the ice cream between two brownies and you’re done! Store any extras in the freezer wrapped in greaseproof paper inside an airtight container.
You need a dehydrator for this recipe, which is not my usual modus operandi, but I promise it’s worth it. These cookies taste incredible – they remind me of a more chocolate-y Kingston biscuit. Because these are raw, they’re loaded with healthy nuts, coconut oil, dates, flax and cacao instead of not-so-healthy sugar, cream, butter and flour. Good, right?
CHOCOLATE COOKIES
1 CUP ALMONDS, SOAKED FOR A FEW HOURS 1/2 CUP CASHEWS, SOAKED FOR A FEW HOURS 1/4 CUP FLAX SEEDS, GROUND TO A POWDER IN A COFFEE GRINDER 3/4 CUP DATES 1 TABLESPOON AGAVE NECTAR PINCH OF SEA SALT
1/2 CUP CACAO POWDER
Drain the almonds and cashews and whizz them in a food processor with the ground flax seeds until they break down and combine. Add the dates, agave nectar, salt and cacao powder and process until a dough forms – you might need to add a tiny bit of water to make this happen. Roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper until an even 1cm thick. Cut out cookie shapes and place on dehydrator trays. Dehydrate overnight or 8 – 9 hours until dry. They won’t be rock hard, but that’s a good thing.
CHOCOLATE CREME FILLING
1/3 CUP COCONUT OIL 1/2 CUP CACAO POWDER 1/3 CUP AGAVE NECTAR
PINCH OF SEA SALT
Whizz all ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Place in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to firm up before sandwiching in between two cookies. You can keep the sandwiched cookies in the fridge for about three days.
This super yummy smoothie recipe is a guest post from my beautiful friend Gráinne who runs Karratha Yoga. If you’re up in the West Australian Pilbara region, be sure to check out her classes. Thanks for sharing your recipe, Gráinne! If you want to keep this smoothie raw, replace the soy milk with coconut water or almond milk.
When I was in my 20s I spent eighteen months living in one of the most famous green tea growing areas of Japan, Shizuoka. A rural area, home to Mount Fuji and only an hour or two from Tokyo, the region is proud of its traditional tea heritage and I came to appreciate the mellow lift and health benefits of a good cup of Japanese green tea.
So, unsurprisingly one of my favourite treats is the classic green tea ice cream. This smoothie re-creates that yummy, creamy flavour without the refined sugar or dairy. Add more agave if you have a sweet tooth, or perhaps omit it altogether if you’re having this as a breakfast smoothie.
xx Gráinne – www.karrathayoga.com
Matcha Green Tea Smoothie
1 FROZEN BANANA (nice and sweet and ripe before peeling, cutting in half and popping in the freezer) 1 HUGE HANDFUL OF BABY SPINACH 1 CUP SOY MILK 1/2 CUP WATER 2 TEASPOONS GREEN TEA POWDER (make sure it is powdered “matcha” style green tea – not fine tea leaves)
1 TABLESPOON AGAVE SYRUP
Blitz and enjoy!
Gráinne recommends this brand of matcha (pronounced ma-cha): Absolute Green Organic Tea Powder
Hello from Hong Kong!
I’ve been neglecting my blog because I’ve been on holiday, but I’m sneaking in a few minutes to write a post. I’ve had lots of amazing food here so far, two of my favourites being a super fresh, green coconut at a thai restaurant and coconut and chocolate raw cheesecakes from Mana! Fast Slow Food. I’m yet to try their raw ice cream and I’m looking forward to checking out Grassroots Pantry this week for dinner, too. I’ll report back. The raw cheesecakes made me think of one of my favourite desserts I haven’t shared yet: Pomegranate Raspberry Cheesecake.
This recipe is almost the same as the Blueberry Cheesecake, but uses raspberries inside and pomegranate on top instead of blueberries. It’s also a blatent rip-off of Russell James’s pomegranate cheesecake concept, except that I use a lot less coconut oil and have a chocolate-almond base rather than a cashew base.
1 CUP ALMONDS 1/2 CUP DUTCH PROCESS COCOA OR CACAO POWDER
1/2 CUP DRIED DATES, CHOPPED
FILLING
1.5 CUPS RAW CASHEWS 1 TABLESPOON LEMON JUICE 1/3 CUP AGAVE NECTAR 1/4 CUP COCONUT OIL
3/4 CUP RASPBERRIES
TOPPING
POMEGRANATE SEEDS TAPPED OUT FROM 1 POMEGRANATE (I do it like this)
EXTRA AGAVE NECTAR
Line the bottom of a springform cake tin with cling film – I used quite a small one with a removable base for this recipe.
For the base, place all base ingredients in the food processor and process until it all comes together. Your food processor won’t like this at first and will make a loud noise as it grinds through the almonds. Persist. You may need to scrape down the sides every so often and add in a splash of water to help it along. Once it’s all come together pat this into the base of the tin and up the sides evenly. You may need to wet your hands with water slightly to smooth it out. Place it in the freezer until the filling is ready.
For the filling, place all ingredients in the food processor except the coconut oil and blend until smooth as possible (mine took around two-three minutes), then add in the coconut oil in a stream until incorporated. Spoon on top of base and smooth the top with the back of the spoon. Refrigerate overnight or place in the freezer for a few hours. When you’re ready to eat it, press the pomegranate seeds onto the top and drizzle with a teaspoon of agave nectar to make it shiny.