This is one of those classic Italian cakes, which is a must try when your on your first Italian traveling adventure, like I was this past summer. I loved it so much, I thought I needed to try a “G” version. You know, gluten-free and animal product free, without loosing any of the moist goodness found in the original. Now, I love the challenge of transforming classic recipes, but I gotta be honest, I was a little skeptical about how this one would turn out. That is why I am surprisingly delighted to report this one not only workout, it was really really good, so moist and delicious.
This is a decadently delicious wheat free cake. The chestnut flour adds a divine depth and a touch of nuttiness and has quickly become on of my favorite gluten free flours to bake with. Serve this cake alone, with cashew cream or some homemade Ice Cream and you and your guest will never think this is vegan. Oh and your chocolate fix will be…ummmm…fixed.
My professor once told me that everyone’s personality has a distinct shape, much like a zodiac sign. She said that she is a circle, which somehow made perfect sense, and we proceeded to guess the shapes of everyone in the classroom. Circle? Triangle? Square? Everyone had some good laughs while guessing. I knew right then and there that I am a triangle.
I love triangles as a visual element. They always appear in my doodles, which are said to be a great tool for looking into one’s subconscious. Of course, I equally enjoy the triangle’s 3d sister, the pyramid.
Recently, when I saw a mini pyramid cake form for sale, I knew right away that I found a way to do justice to one of my favourite cakes, ginger and lemon. I’ve been making it for a couple of years now, but every bite from every batch makes me smile, close my eyes, and listen to the flavours, just like the first time around.
A simple almond and date crust (at the base of the pyramids) frames the creamy and zesty filling. Here, I sprinkled the cakes with some ground freeze-dried bananas for a pyramids of Giza effect.
Let it be known, I am that lady who will one day make origami animals out of my children’s sandwiches.
After spending eons of time obsessing over cake pops, I finally had the opportunity to make them for a holiday party that my mom and I hosted wednesday night. What I thought would be an easy feat, ended up consuming three whole days of free time. I kid you knot, it made gourmet raw food, seem easy! It’s one thing to dehydrate for 24 hours, but it’s a whole other thing, to actually be doing something for 24 hours! Let’s just say, I questioned my sanity far too many times than I’m comfortable with in those three days.
Work aside though, the final result was nothing short of complete gratification. And although I told mom I’d never make these again, I’ve already started to plan cake pops for Valentines Day – What can I say, It’s hard to deny my genetic makeup…
So with that, here is the vegan friendly, oh-so-not-healthy, cake pop recipe:
True story: I got a call last week from the Food Network of all places. There is/was a contest going on called the Ultimate Recipe Contest- basically looking for the best recipe in six different categories (chicken, pasta, comfort foods, burgers, cookies and cakes). The casting director had come across my personal website www.somelikeitraw.net and thought that I would be able to come up with some pretty unique recipes for the contest and wanted me to enter some.
I have to admit I was a little flattered and a wee bit surprised. Yet another sign that raw food has hit the mainstream!! Anyways, I’ve entered my manicotti recipe for the ‘Pasta’ category and came up with a new chocolate cake recipe for the ‘Cake’ category which I am sharing with you today.
A lot of people ask where I get my ideas from. It does vary, but many times it’s just looking at a cooked recipe and trying to convert it to raw. This time I happened to have an old Gourmet magazine lying around with a fabulous photo of a chocolate-glazed hazelnut mousse cake on the cover. The light bulbs went off and I set to work on creating it ‘raw-style’. Hope you like it and wish me luck with the contest!
I’ve got a bit of a treat for you this week: Chocolate and Raspberry Cake with Ginger Chocolate Mousse. I’m sitting here snacking on the left-overs from that, feeling quite happy with myself as I plot and plan some big changes in my life over the next 12 months.
I’m sure I’m going to get some email about my choice of featured ingredient: Maple syrup; but I feel it’s important to look at ingredients that aren’t necessarily 100% raw sometimes, as they do offer a health benefit, and certainly have a lot to offer in terms of taste.
Chocolate Raspberry Cake with Ginger Chocolate Mousse (raw)
Makes 4 cakes
For the Base:
1/4 Cup Oat Flour*
1/2 Cup Cashew Flour**
2 TB Cacao Powder
2 TB Maple Syrup
1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract
3 TB Water
1 Tsp Lemon Juice
Pinch Salt
1 Small pack of Raspberries for the centre of the cake.
If your dreaming of a rich, dense, smooth and creamy chocolate raw vegan cake, this is the one to try. This is the type of cake you can only eat a few bites of at a time, because it is that rich, but yet it is still surprisingly healthy. It has a silky velvety chocolate filling that has the denseness of a cheesecake, but without the tang. Just pure chocolate heaven. If you like that sort of thing, this will be heaven on a plate for you.
As much of a chocolate lover as I am, I have to say it was actually a little too rich for me. Next time I will probably try to make it a little lighter and with slightly less chocolate in it. Well worth trying again though. The entire G Living staff love this one and have requested I make this one again as soon as possible.
Photographer V Blak
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