We have been listening to Little House in the Big Woods, and at one point they made snow candy with molasses and sugar. That reminded me about maple candy, and today we had oodles of freshly fallen snow to work with!

I haven’t done this before, so I googled and read several methods to get the idea, and then did this:

Poured no small amount of maple syrup into a small saucepan. I did maybe a cup? First lesson. If you plan on eating it all in one sitting, consider less than a cup. That’s a LOT of sugar to eat. Unless you have 6 foot tall mountains of snow to scale, enabling you to burn it all off…

Brought syrup to a boil over medium high heat. Boiled for 6-7 minutes stirring almost constantly. You can do the whole candy thermometer directions if you have one, but I tend to keep food made with snow simple. Ok, I admit it. I don’t have a candy thermometer.

When the syrup was boiling, it was all foamy, but that settled town once it wasn’t on the burner.

After 6-7 minutes, we took the pot off the heat, grabbed a roasting dish and filled it with snow. We did not, but in the future I would first grease the dish to help any candy that gets stuck to the sides come loose. I would also pack down the snow. We left it light ‘fluffy, just as it fell.

So i took the slightly cooled syrup and poured it over the snow.

It hardened immediately, tho was hot enough to melt through our light fluffy snow

I had some hungry shovelers/fort builders who were looking for some more energy just as the syrup hit the snow.

Taste testers heartily agree that maple candy is delish, if it a bit sticky. Helpful tips from them: take small bites and keep it movin’ so it doesn’t stick to your teeth.

Crunch on that!

I plan a day to make lots of goodies. We are quite a mixed bunch in this house. My husband eats whatever I make at home and thoroughly enjoys the variety and surprise of what might adorn the table. My 10 year old has unique tastes that always surprise me and I can never seem to know if he will love it or hate it. he loves spicy and things that frankly, are notso pleasing to me such as sardines! My six year old is in the pickier phase of food choices and says, "I don’t like it" before even trying it. He loves mashed potatoes and noodles with marinara sauce and don’t mess with changin’ it up! On the flip side, same said six year old loves raw mediterranean dolmas, kale salad, kale chips with lots of nutritional yeast on them and salad. Go figure! Then there is me. I have horrible self control when I bring junk food in the house or sweets. So, I have a plan!!

I have days of mass food prep for raw foods so when I feel not much like making raw foods for me and still cook for the family, I don’t have to. Here is what I do. Figure out what I am in the mood for and peruse my recipes and cupboards. Next, I lay out all those recipes and start the process. I start soaking anything that needs it and look over what order I need to make things in. If anything is for the dehydrator, I make sure I have enough going in that will fill it. Moore bang for your buck doing it this way. This is all done in the afternoon or early evening.

Fast forward to the next day. Everything is soaked and the recipes are out and I am in the kitchen ready to rumble. The recipes I am making today are Mediterranean dolmas out of Ani Phio’s book that are just fantastic. I make them all at once calling in Gatlin, the six year old to do the rolling. When I first started making these, he didn’t like them. After the I don’t know how many times later, and having participated in making them several times, he started to try them again and now loves them. Having them all rolled, I keep them in the fridge and it is quick to grab one for a snack, send with hubby to work or pack up and bring for us for lunch.

Next in the line up is the classic Cashew Mayo. Everyone in the house loves this dip and it is quick, easy and filling to serve for lunch with cut up veggies, smear on a romaine leaf topped with tomato and any other toppings around like shredded carrot, eggplant bacon or some seaweed. It is a perfect appetizer for hungry bellies while dinner cooks or a good pack and go when heading out for a playdate.

One of my favorites and more on the heartier side are some burgers. The base is walnuts and they have a little spice from a jalapeno thrown in. These will go in the dehydrator and then can be a substantial lunch or accompany an evening meal. The kids aren’t fans but Dan and I are.

A new recipe to me are rosemary flax crackers from a recipe put out by Carmella at the Sunny Raw Kitchen. Those will help to fill the dehydrator trays and be the crunchy item on the menu for the week. I may get ambitious and make some Walnut Hemp crackers but time will determine that.

Rounding it all out are Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. I got the recipe from Renegade Health but am going to make some changes and switch out the peanut butter for almond butter. The whole family loves these! They stay in the freezer and are perfect when we have a hankerin’ for chocolate.

So, there you have it. Lots of choices for me this week that are nice and varried and qwill keep me smiling!

So, go soak your nuts!!

Heidi and Justin over at Raw Food Right Now sent a most gracious email with an offering you will truly be Thankful for this Thanksgiving!

I love that Heidi and Justin are truly real people trying to survive eating raw in a not so raw food society. They always have great tips and have the most delish recipes. Definately check out their site.

Now on to the good stuff. Here is the email I recieved and morning free to share!! Thank you Heidi and Justin!!

Please make sure to mention Crunchybits when you email Heidi to get your FREE Thanksgiving book. I already recieved mine and can’t wait to make the Cranberry Relish recipe. Christmas holds no worries either with their Christmas Ebook. I am most excited about drinking the ‘egg’nog and making sugar cookies for Santa with the kids and OOooo, don’t forget the chocolate coins which was always the best to get when I woke on Christmas Morning!!

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Raw Food Right Now
Thanksgiving 2010 Issue

Inside This Issue:
How to Get Your Own F’ree Raw Thanksgiving ebook!

Get More Holiday Recipes with Our RFRN Christmas eBook!

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Hellooo from snowy Minnesota! Justin and I are all curled up near the modern “fireplace” …our computers.

We had over 12 inches of snow…and more is on the way! We are looking forward to having some nice hot tea and warming soups this winter in addition to all our raw favorites.

I just can’t believe how fast this year has been – it will already be Thanksgiving in one week! Amazing!

Justin and I are working hard on a few upcoming “secret raw food projects”. I have been sworn to secrecy so I can’t say anything specific…but all I can say right now is be on the lookout in your inbox – I’ll email you with the news because we are going to tell you first!!!

I hope that no matter where you are right now in the world that as the end of the year…the end of a decade rolls near…that you are able to find time to take care of yourself!
XOXO,
~ Heidi & JS

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How to Get Your Own F’REE Copy of Our Insanely Popular Raw Thanksgiving eBook!

As much as we love all of our international friends reading this right now (from 37 countries!!!), our American holiday of Thanksgiving is upon us.

We love you Canadians too – hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving this year!

You may be a long time raw foodie, or this may be your first Thanksgiving raw.

But did you know that Justin and I wrote our first book, “Raw Thanksgiving ebook” over 4 years ago?!

We originally offered the ebook for f’ree in November 2006…and the response was so huge I couldn’t leave my computer for a week!!

Nowadays the ebook “Raw Thanksgiving Recipes” sells year-round for 12 dollars. Hundreds of people have purchased our Thanksgiving ebook, and we are thankful for their support to help keep RawFoodRightNow.com alive.

Keep in mind the f’ree ebook promotion expired over four years ago…but we have decided to offer one final special for the Thanksgiving ebook…

…we are offering YOU your own very f’ree copy of the book!

HOW TO GET YOUR F’REE RAW THANKSGIVING EBOOK

All you have to do…. is email us a quick nice little note to me before 11/25/2010 to:

rawfoodrightnow@gmail.com

Make sure to introduce yourself and ask nicely for the Thanksgiving book!

It’s that simple!

Keep in mind that we haven’t set up some crazy delivery system for doing this… so when you email me I will be emailing you personally!

Please be patient if I don’t email you immediately…but I promise if you email me I’ll send you the book for f’ree within 24-48 hours.

I’m so excited for you to try my Goji Berry Cranberry Sauce! And the Raw Stuffing — mmm!!

FYI my most popular recipe EVER is inside the Raw Thanksgiving ebook – for Raw Devilled “Egg-less” Egg Spread!

Get Your Copy Today – Email Heidi now!!

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Get More Recipes with Our Raw Christmas Ebook – ON SALE! One Week Only!!

And if you want extra holiday recipes…our second book, Raw Christmas, is going on sale today for one week only!

Normally we sell copies of this gem for $15 each, but we’ve slashed the price all the way down to less than 10 dollars…you can get 14 more holiday recipes for only 9.97!!

Just look at all the Yummy Christmas recipes:

Spiced Apple Cider
Instant Egg Nog
Christmas Wreath Salad
Red Berry Vinaigrette
Flax seed Crackers
Mango Cranberry Chutney
Macadamia White Cheddar Cheese Ball
Meaty Nut Loaf.
Marinara Sauce
Dark Chocolate Coins
Rich Chocolate Fudge
Creamy Rice Pudding
Raspberry Jam
Sugar Cookies

Just think: Two books filled with holiday recipes for 9.97 is a great deal – especially because hundreds of raw foodies know these recipes actually work!

You can see pictures of all the recipes on the official Christmas ebook web page:

http://www.rawfoodrightnow.com/rawchristmas.html

Grab your copy today and get ready for all the upcoming holiday parties!!

Buy Raw Christmas Right Now!!

And if you already have the books or don’t need them this year and still want to support us, feel free to send over a “donation” by buying a copy. We appreciate it!

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Heidi’s Famous Caramel Apple Dip

You may already have my secret recipe for Raw Carmel Apple Dip…but I have been getting many requests for it from people claiming they can’t find their copy of the recipe.
Raw Carmel Apple Dip is one of the recipes included in the Raw Thanksgiving ebook that I am sending out for F’ree – this week only!!! so if you haven’t already gotten a copy of the Thanksgiving ebook…email Heidi now!!
Raw Carmel Apple Dip
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

2 cups Medjool dates, chopped and soaked for one hour in a mixture of water with the juice of one small lemon (drain the dates, and leave the soaking water aside)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
juice of one half small lemon
1 teaspoon salt

Blend in a high powered blender, and using the plunger tool, keep moving the mixture as the blender might struggle a bit. Blend until creamy. Serve the dip with apples or pears.

Tips:

1. The dates get a much better “bite” of flavor when soaked in the water/lemon juice mixture
2. Maple syrup gives a better caramel flavor than agave nectar. Or, if you are opposed to maple syrup, you can choose to use the clear agave nectar (the ONLY kind to use) instead.
3. the vanilla extract helps give the mixture the color and the flavor of caramel. Without the vanilla extract the dip has a much lighter brown color and the date flavor comes through.

Good news! If you store the dip in an airtight container, this caramel apple dip will last for approximately three days.

If you want more awesome recipes like this for the Holiday season, make sure to check out our Raw Christmas ebook!

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What is Raw Food Right Now?

Raw Food Right Now is a raw food company dedicated to helping you go raw in your world. We are here to help you learn about raw food and make the raw food diet work for you.

Raw Food Right Now is the creation of Heidi and JS Ohlander; a happy loving couple who went raw together back in 2004. Since that time they have studied every aspect of raw food, and are here to share their extensive knowledge with others.

Their popular blog, rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com is revered as one of the best raw food blogs on the Internet. It’s frequent content is full of raw food news, articles, tips, tricks, recipes and inspiration on how to make raw food quick and easy and fun.

Raw Food Right Now means eating food that feels right to you, feels right for your body, and makes you feel good. Raw Food Right Now means making raw food preparation as quick and easy as possible so you can eat raw food and get on with the other important things in your life. And Raw Food Right Now means the latest news and information to keep you up to date in the raw food world!

For more information, check out the blog:
http://rawfoodrightnow.blogspot.com

To make sure you stay up to date on all the news and information we bring you on RFRN, make sure you are signed up to our RSS Feed and get our posts in your inbox using Feedburner!

Get RFRN blog posts in your inbox today!

That’s it for this issue!
Talk to you soon!

~ Heidi and JS

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Want to Share the Fun that we call Raw Food Right Now?

Go for it!! Feel free to forward any parts of this newsletter to whoever you think would benefit from our information…even someone who isn’t raw! Here’s how you can spread the word:

Heidi & JS Ohlander are the creators of Raw Food, Right Now!, a website dedicated to making the raw food diet fun and easy for everyone. Heidi & JS help bring raw food to your world by offering tips, news, and information on integrating raw foods into your daily life.

Visit their site athttp://www.RawFoodRightNow.com

Into the fridge I went……. I came out with a new favorite sweet treat that truly makes me blush. Almond butter seems to have that warming effect on me.

I scooped a big dollop of raw almond butter into a bowl and topped it with strawberry sauce and a nice dollop of whipped cashew cream. Ooooo wheeeee! It is quick and easy!

I used the cashew cream recipe in Ani Phyo’s Raw Food Essentials since I have it on loan from the library right now. This book also has the wonderful crepes mentioned earlier.

Strawberry Sauce

• 2 cups fresh strawberries or 15 oz frozen strawberries
• 1-2 TBS ground chia seeds

1. Mash the strawberries in a bowl. I use a potato masher.
2. Grind chia seeds in a spice or coffee grinder
3. Mix ground chia seeds with strawberries until well combined
4. Leave to sit 5-10 minutes.

The chia seeds absorb moisture. Chia seeds also help to keep you hydrated since they absorb so much water. Adding more or less ground chia seeds allows you to reach a sauce consistency or a jam like consistency. This stays fresh in the fridge 3-5 days.

Go ahead and be creative! place sliced bananas on the bottom of your sundae or over banana ice cream. Add different toppings like chopped walnuts, whole chia seeds, cacao nibs, buckwheaties or dried coconut.

Have a sundae party and put everything in it’s own bowl and let everyone make their own. Especially fun for kids!

Enjoy!

As you can see, shortcake had unanimous support, and I made a sour cherry smoothie to wash it down — mostly cherries, with a little water, one banana and 2 dates. To  prepare for this colorful treat, we picked oodles of fat blueberries at Belltown Hills Orchard in Glastonbury.  Afterward, we followed Matson Hill Road to the end and went for a walk in the woods and dip in the water at Cotton Hollow. Then onto the Glastonbury library (to reluctantly relinquish their overdue copy of David Wolfe’s The Sunfood Diet Success System) and Whole Foods where we found organic strawberries on sale.

I hem and haw (gee, that seems silly in print) about buying organic berries from California, but everything I have read on the topic makes me feel very strongly that even washed berries contain high levels of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. You remember the invaluable resource we mentioned back in February — Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides. Like this article today from Rodale:  Coming Soon to Your Strawberries: Newly Approved Carcinogenic Pesticide. Aside from those grown in my yard, I have yet to find a good source of local organic berries, especially strawberries. Last year we drove out to the lovely and amazing Kristin Orr’s organic blueberry patch at Fort Hill Farms in Thompson, CT. A gem of a woman, a very special farm, it was worth the trip and we picked 10lbs of organic blueberries! If you know of another organic pick-your-own or farm stand in CT, please pass that info on!

I avoid buying food from across the country when local alternatives are present, but we wanted us some strawberry shortcake.  We had several bowlfuls of homegrown strawberries this year (well, those that actually made it into the bowl, that is, and weren’t gobbled up by my two garden gremlins), but we only made shortcake once.

This is a picture of our first attempt at almond flour drop biscuits which I actually made as drop biscuits. Ignoring the directions, I scooped out a bunch of dough, dropped it on the pan and baked it. Dante chopped  and slightly mashed up our berries with a little wood sorrel and Voila!  We sliced them in half and added the berries, but since they were so big, the texture of the biscuits left something to be desired and we didn’t have the abundance of berries so much biscuit required. Since they were tasty, we tried again.

I followed the directions and used my 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the dough, and flattened it once it came out on the baking sheet. Much better! Here’s the recipe, once again using almond flour so entirely gluten free and without that odd aftertaste that we find in many GF flour mixes that involve beans and loads of tapioca or corn starch!

Gluten Free Almond Flour Classic Drop Biscuits

• 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees; line baking sheet with parchment or grease the baking sheet.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine wet into dry until thoroughly mixed.
3. Drop the batter in scant 1/4 cups onto baking sheet (will make 8-10 biscuits). Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

She called for grapeseed oil and agave, and we replaced each egg with 1 Tbs ground flax mixed with 3 Tbs water, allowing it to stand until thickened. I mooshed the dough into my 1/4 cup measure, and it came out nicely onto my sheet. I then pressed it down a bit into the shape you see on the right and popped them in the oven.

I whizzed some blueberries and chia seeds in the Vita-Mix, and once smooth I added another couple handfuls and ran the blender gently to chop them a bit to give the sauce a chunky texture. Blueberries thicken on their own, as anyone who has left a blueberry smoothie to stand for a while can attest, but I added the chia to accelerate this and boost the nutrition of the dish.

I started 1 cup of cashews soaking before I mixing shortcake dough or chopping berries. I rinsed these well, drained and added them to the rinsed blender with some water, several dates, the juice of 1 lemon and a pinch of Himalayan sea salt and whizzed til smooth to make a cream sauce to top our shortcake. I didn’t measure, and did this to taste, adding a little water gradually until the blender was able to do it’s job and I achieved the consistency I was looking for.

Our red, white and blue shortcake was a big hit with the family, and some had seconds. The shortcakes were tasty, and I want to try them with little or no sweetener perhaps mix in some chives or other herbs and serve them with a savory dish for dinner. We used to make a veggie stew with cheesy cheddar biscuits, and I think these would be a lovely sub. We’ve even found a replacement for the cheese that melts, stretches and taste delicious! More to come soon on that!

The garden beckons, and the heat wave demands a pilgrimmage to a local body of water, so I’m off!

Happy high garden season!

Today is a day of red, white and blue and celebration of America’s independence. Happy Birthday America!

We were headed to a family gathering by the lake to have a cookout, swim and celebrate the fourth. While everyone else was planning on grilling I wanted to make sure we could join in while still keeping in line with our choices for food. So we broke out the sunshine burgers and tossed them on the grill to heat for a minute towards the end of the rest of the family cooking their various meats. We piled the burgers high with lettuce tomato and melted Diya cheese on millet bread. They were great and the kids loved them. It teamed up perfectly with the Waldorf Salad I brought and our Aunts potato salad.

They real highlight was dessert! I made a new favorite.

Berries N’ Cream

In a bowl, layer sliced strawberries, cream and then blueberries on top. Get it, red, white and blue!

Cream:

3/4 cup walnuts
3/4 cup cashews
2 TBS maple syrup
1 TBS honey
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 -3/4 cup water

Put all cream ingredients in vitamix and blend until smooth, scraping sides down as needed.

You can use any nuts you would like including all walnuts or cashew, pecans, macadamia or a combo. Also, feel free to use dates (about six) in place of the honey or maple syrup. You could also use all honey or maple syrup.

Add the water slowly so it stays nice and thick. Change it up a bit by adding some lemon zest or orange zest, or coconut water to make new flavors.

For the top, I fan cut a strawberry and placed it in the center. Garnishing it this way added a nice splah of color and the kids thought it was cool to cut the strawberry this way.

So simple and beautiful. I ate 2 helpings while I was there and a nice snack of it when we got home. Gatlin stated, “I am so full of this but would eat it all if you made it again sometime.” My husband ate a huge container of it. Ok, so I don’t recommend that, but the point is, it is that good!

No need to worry about missing out on that whipped cream experience anymore. This one is sure to please.

* gazpacho — a creamy, blended version, with chopped tomato, cuke and cilantro for garnish

* corn chowder

* Ani Phy’s walnut cranberry butternut squash rice

* Spanish rice with mockamole

* chunky chili

* almond pulp cheese with crackers

* fajitas

* green salad with sprouts, pecans and mesclun mix

* mango pie

* chocolate coconut macaroons

One of the guests, who has a severe allergy to avocados, found a delicious alternative — peas! She recommends fresh if you can get them, but says you can use frozen. Measure the frozen peas out and let them sit in cold water until they’ve begun to thaw but are still slightly frozen. Drain and “blend the heck out of them” until they have a smooth, even consistency. She used about 1 cup of peas to replace 1 avocado in the Spanish rice recipe, and said that her avocado-loving husband was devouring the avocado mixture, surprised that it wasn’t made with avocados.

Spanish Rice

• 1 head shredded cauliflower
• 1 red peppers, chopped
• 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped finely
• 5 green onions, sliced thinly
• 2 Roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 recipe of Spanish Avo Mix

Spanish Avo Mix

• 1 avocado, mashed
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tbs basil
• 1 Tbs paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 Tbs sweetener
• crushed red pepper, finely chopped, to taste
• sea salt, to taste
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin

Mix Avo mixture in a separate bowl, the add it to bowl with veggies and stir to coat.

This was tasty and light, and I will definitely give the avo mix recipe a try with the peas as a dip, or try replacing avocados in a recipe when I don’t have a ripe one on hand. Thanks for the recipe and the idea for an avocado replacement!

Yesterday was the last day of the raw class we taught at Greenspring. It was a fantastic 12 weeks and we received lots of positive feedback which we are ever so grateful for!!

For the last class, we had a raw potluck to share a couple of our favorite dishes and give the students a chance to spread their wings and bring in a raw recipe and dish to share with the class. What a beautiful display!! We were so happy to see how everyone really took on the challenge and made some remarkable dishes. We’ve left the pictures really big, so if you click on them, you can see the dishes better.

There was so much variety:

* a beautiful garden salad with homegrown sprouts with a citrus dill vinaigrette – nice and light and the dressing had a fabulous tang.

* an Italian salad of simply cut oranges with red pepper flakes, onions and oil and vinegar was a flavorful and colorful dish

* guacamole beautifully dressed up with red pepper left nice and chunky

* one student got so excited she just couldn’t stop the creative juices from flowing and brought three dishes in! One was a balsamic dressing served over tomato and avocado. The lemon bars were superb with strawberries and chocolate sauce. Her last dish, black bean brownies, demonstrated nutritious cooked options. They were rich, fudgy and all gone!

* dehydrated pear and peaches looked pretty and were a light, sweet chip.

*crudites were served with a pumpkin seed pate which was a lovely light green color that really felt like spring. This same student brought in a dessert –  chocolate coconut balls.

* another student who is obviously an artist in the kitchen brought in a version of the coconut white cake in the form of cupcakes with filling in the middle, cashew cream frosting and elegant decor of slivered almond atop. She made a chocolate version, and an alternative made with almond butter instead of tahini as well. They looked stunning.

* a big bowl bursting with nutrient packed homegrown sunflower sprouts with velvety white cream sauce was a hit among the little ones as they went back for seconds and thirds. I heard Lucia say, “I could eat these every night for dinner if I wanted to ya know!” I loved it!!

* fruit salad was also gobbled up by the littles with big smiles on their faces

* Pad Thai seemed to be a hit and I happily recited the ingredients to many who said, ” I must have that recipe.”

One of the best parts of getting together with others in this way is everyone brings such a unique quality to the experience. I love sharing my favorite dishes and trying others creations. It is a wonderful way to sample recipes you may have not come across yet or ones that include flavors you do not typically use in your kitchen. You go with one recipe and come away with so many more and you now know how they taste. Potlucks are a great way to quickly expand your repertoire.

It is also important to have community. Going to a raw potluck or hosting one does just that. It is a good way to connect with others and discuss successes and challenges, get feedback and share experiences.

So, here’s to you, our raw class participants and friends!! We so enjoyed the experience and hope you did as well!

In gratitude!!

For Lucia’s birthday this past week, she wanted a vanilla cake with pink frosting, so I turned once again to this book, which I was able to get from the library! I made the vanilla cupcake recipe (I followed the one that has a surprise inside, since it was a little different than the other), using a 6 inch and 8 1/2 inch springform pans. I baked it for about 22 minutes for the 6 inch and almost 30 minutes for the larger pan, covering it after about 18 minutes once the top had browned so that it wouldn’t burn while the center cooked. The texture, while more dense than a white flour wheat cake, was still moist and light and the flavor — absolutely delicious!

I frosted it with the same cashew-based frosting that I used for the raw lemon poppy seed cake, but added a half a bag of defrosted frozen strawberries to it for flavor and color (it was a nice medium pink, the flash bleached it out). This made the frosting a little too runny, but if I’d drained the berries or whizzed the strawberries in ahead of time and let it sit, it would have thickened (I had leftovers in the fridge that did so). After frosting the bottom layer, I put chopped strawberries on before adding the second tier.

I also took some frozen bananas and strawberries and made pink ice cream — a hit with all the kids. I served this cake to my family, who eat a primarily standard American diet, and didn’t have to compost any pieces left on plates, except for the scraps of my nephew’s second piece. An impressive feat for no wheat!

I liked the tanginess of the frosting offseting the sweetness a bit, but Lucia wants round two (cupcakes with friends this week) to not be so lemony. And we’re going to try the chocolate cake AND chocolate frosting recipe from that book for the cupcakes as well. I can’t wait!

We have also made the pancakes, and while it took me a few tries to get the heat right (keep it low low low!) the pancakes themselves were light, fluffy and scrumptious! You should see them puff when you flip them — the kids oohed and ahhed upon viewing this phenomenon.

Using low heat (and I mean 3 or 4 on my stove) means it takes longer to cook them, but I popped the oven on warm and kept the done pancakes in the oven. Or I would have. If my children hadn’t insisted on eating them all and lining up at the stove performing a constant chorus of “Is it done yet?” I also halfway through the process started putting a lid on the frying pan to keep the heat in and make sure the middle cooked, although using the low heat helped with this as well. (Before I figured this out, they were dark brown on the outside and gooey inside.)

And last night we made the chocolate chip cookies. Lucia’s review: “Hey! These taste just like the junky ones!” What more can you ask for? Well, Luke asked for me to add some shredded coconut and chopped almonds next time, or maybe a maple walnut version, or a cranberry pecan version, or… well, you get the idea. We are delighted to have found a delicious way to make baked goods without gluten flours.

Elena’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 2 1/2 cups blanched almond flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup grapeseed oil
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1 Tbs vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped dark chocolate

1. Preheat oven to 350, line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients, including chocolate.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together oil, agave and vanilla.
4. Stir wet into dry until thoroughly combined.
5. Regrigerate dough 2o minutes.
6. Spoon 1 heaping Tbs at a time onto sheets, pressing down with your palm to flatten.
7. Bake 8-10 minutes until lightly golden.

I used maple syrup and honey instead of agave, coconut oil instead of grapeseed and didn’t refrigerate the dough, due to the puss-in-boots eyes on my cookie monsters that demanded cookies asap! We actually baked and cooled them while we ate, and had them for dessert after cleaning the kitchen from dinner. YUM YUM YUM. We imagined dunking them in almond milk, so we’ve got some almond soaking for the next batch tomorrow.We’ve had a long break from baked goods and are making up for lost time!

So now you’re wondering “Where on earth do I get this almond flour?” Well, the Bob’s Red Mill almond flour that you can get at most grocery stores  is allegedly too coarse a grind for these recipes, and gives a grittier, less cake-like texture. I bought mine from Lucy’s Kitchen Shop. I called and placed the order — it took less than 2 minutes to do so and I had my flour in 3 days.  It’s well worth the price for the occasional baked treat, and keeps well in the fridge or freezer. Elana also recommends some other sources (as well as other inspirational recipes and ideas on her blog Elana’s Pantry.

Happy baking!

Many raw desserts are heavy due to to the reliance on nuts and seeds. The beauty of this recipe is that the jicama cuts that density, and if you use the almond pulp, that heaviness is cut even more. We were out all afternoon before the party, so this cake had to sit in the car in a cooler on a hot spring day, and was decorated last minute, not as pretty as I’d have liked. But boy did it deliver in flavor what it lacked in panache! Sweet lemony goodness. Delicious.  (see pics of this cake at sunny raw kitchen or raw freedom community for more aesthetically pleasing versions)

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake
Slightly modified version by Anna of TheRawTable.com, as featured in the Purely Delicious magazine of Fall 2007

Cake:

• 2 cups jicama, peeled and cubed
• 1 green apple, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 3 cups dehydrated almond pulp from making milk
• OR 2 cups almonds soaked, dehydrated and finely ground
• 1/4 cup golden flax seeds, finely ground



• 3/4 cup agave nectar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large lemon, juiced
• 2 generous tsp lemon zest
• 2 tbs psyllium husks
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds

1. Place all ingredients in food processor and blend until everything is finely chopped and moving freely.
2. Press one half of the mixture in the bottom of a springform pan, smoothing edges and evening the sides as much as possible.
3. Reserve the rest for later.

Lemon Coconut Frosting

• 2 cups cashews
• 1 1/2 whole lemons (seeds removed)
• 3 or 4 tbs coconut butter
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 3-4 tbs water
• Pinch of sea salt

1. Place all ingredients in high speed blender and process until smooth.
2. Frost bottom layer of cake and allow to freeze for 4-6 hours.
3. Top with remaining cake mixture and gently press, again smoothing edges and evening the sides.
4. Return to freezer for an additional 2 hours.
5. Remove from spring form pan and frost either top or sides or both with remaining frosting. Garnish with extra poppy seeds.

Aside from swapping agave for honey, I followed this recipe precisely. Oh, and I didn’t have a spring form cake pan that would work, so I used a tart pan and did it all in one layer.  My family loved this cake and I would definitely make it again. It was easy enough and can be made ahead of time, which again is a nice bonus. It firmed up nicely, despite the lack of proper refrigeration for hours before serving.

I also used this frosting for Lucia’s birthday cake this past week. She wanted pink frosting, so I added some frozen strawberries to it. It was lovely and if I hadn’t made the frosting at the last minute, it would have set nicely. If you decide to add berries to color or flavor this frosting, you might want to put the berries in a strainer over a bowl for a little while, because the texture was a bit too runny. However, the frosting I didn’t use had set into a nice consistency overnight. Drained or made ahead of time, this frosting is an excellent, nutritious substitution for dairy and white sugar versions. It’s really lemony, but you can definitely adjust that to your taste.

The next time we make this cake, I plan to serve it with a berry sauce — berries whizzed in a blender or food processor with or without a little honey as needed. It would also be delicious with fresh fruit chopped up and drizzled with honey until it releases it’s juices… as the fresh berry and fruit season approaches, I can’t WAIT to explore the possibilities. And this recipe will definitely figure in my plans.

Enjoy!