Archive for the ‘desserts’ Category

Coconut White Cake

April 23rd, 2010

I am a chocolate lover but my kids, not so much. Don’t get me wrong, they are not one to turn down a piece of dark chocolate or raw fudge but as for cake they like white cake better. I like variety and well, I just like cake!

This week, I made the Boutenko’s Wedding Cake out of Eating Without Heating. I call it a coconut white cake because it is very heavy with coconut and I find this prepares the taster for not cooked white cake but they know a little more what to expect. I made one full recipe for our Raw Food class and a half recipe to make a small cake for our family. River jumped right in to help with the middle layer and then off to play. Gatlin hung around and helped decorate. I really love having the kids in the kitchen. It is such a sweet bit of quality time sharing laughs and yummy tastes as well as being able to teach them practical applications of math with measuring, nutrition and how to make food itself.

Coconut White Cake

Crust:
2 cups raw tahini (easy to make homemade)
4 cups dry, shredded coconut
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix together well and use for the layers of the cake.

Frosting:
1 cup cashews
2 TBS raw honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract (the original recipe calls for mint extract)
1/4 cup fresh coconut butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup water

Blend all ingredients in vitamix. I soak th cashews 4 hours and they are even softer and of course healthier. Use as little water as possible to have a thick, creamy spreadable frosting.

Put half the crust on a plate and form into desired shape. Next, layer with fruit. I like banana in the middle. It gives a super creamy texture kind of like that pudding layer for cooked white cake.
On a second plate, form the second part of the crust and gently slide it onto the top crust. Frost the cake and decorate wildly!

It is a beautiful cake to be able to decorate so be extra creative. With the last cakes I made, I will say, Gatlin won the prize for best decorated. We were both using the same fruits to decorate and had very different ideas. Fantastic!

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apple crumble

April 22nd, 2010

So on with another dessert — a quick-to-make and easy-to-adapt recipe that is one of our favorites. I first made this recipe two summers ago inspired by something I found on goneraw.com (haven’t been able to find this one on there since, so no link, sorry). I used fresh, local peaches with the same crumble topping and oh my GOSH was it delicious! I have since made it with berries, cherries, pears, apples and plums. All have been scrumptious, but peach and cherry vie for first place for me personally. The cherry blossom petals are snowing my backyard, which means it’s not too long til cherry picking time! Yay spring!

Another beautiful quality of this dish, aside from versatility and quick prep, is that it can be made last minute with things I tend to have on hand. And honestly — why limit it to a dessert — it makes a very fine breakfast, lunch or snack as well. Not to mention that having a jar of both parts of the recipe (fruit as well as crumble topping) means you can add a new dimension to banana ice cream, chocolate mousse, banana pudding and more.

Oh, and did I mention that you can also make it ahead of time, keeping the crumble separate from the fruit until ready to serve. This makes it a great holiday dish when you have other things to do last minute besides worry about dessert. Seriously, what more could you want from a delicious dish!? I had stored some apple filling in a small metal tiffin, so I dumped this out into a plate and it held it’s shape. So I put crumb topping around it instead of on top for the picture. It’s much prettier with some sort of berry or cherry, but hey, looks aren’t everything, right?

Better than Betty’s Apple Crumble

Crumb mixture:

  • 2 cups walnuts
  • 2 cups pecans
  • 1 cup dates
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 Tbs honey
  • cinnamon to taste
  • pinch salt
  1. Pulse nuts in food processor until smallish — if you take it down to a flour at this stage your crumble will have a different, more cohesive, dough like texture, less crumbly. Not a bad thing, still delicious, just a different feel.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and process just until the dates are broken down. Pour out into a bowl or storage container if you aren’t serving immediately.  I don’t bother cleaning out the food processor bowl, as this comes out without leaving much residue, so on to the fruit without further ado.

Apple delight:

  • 4 lbs apples, cored
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  • 1 Tbs honey
  • cinnamon to taste
  • 1/2 banana
  1. I chopped my apples into 1 inch cubes or so. Well, actually, I quartered the apples (a mixture of green, braeburn and pink lady) and tossed all but 3 of them into the processor. And couldn’t get my Cuisinart to process them — the chunks were too big, and the blade just couldn’t get to most of them. So, I dumped out half and cut it all into smaller pieces and was able to get it to process.
  2. After the apples were almost pureed, I put in the rest of the ingredients. I added the half banana because it seemed like it needed something to give it a bit of creaminess as well as sweetness to balance the tartness of the green apples I used. I would consider adding a whole banana next time, but this one was really ripe, thus intensely flavored, and I didn’t want to taste banana when I ate it.
  3. Once the puree was all set, I scraped that out into a bowl and added small pieces of the 3 remaining apples to the processor. I pulsed until these were what looked like a good size (small enough to chew politely but big enough to give my teeth something to do) and then mixed them into the puree.
  4. The nuts will get soggy if you mix this ahead of time, so I like to serve it in two bowl and let people take the amount of crumble they want right at the table.

I think you can easily make this recipe without the honey, using whole food sweeteners like the dates, raisins and bananas. The original recipe called for a tablespoon of coconut oil in the fruit mixture, but I tend to leave that out. I bet coconut butter would also  be delicious — especially if you use mango, papaya, pineapple, strawberry or a combination of those for the fruit.

I also occasionally add a couple tablespoons of hemp, chia or ground flax to the crumble once it’s been processed to boost the nutrition. I’ve been adding hemp seeds to guacamole — Dante and Lucia haven’t noticed and I feel good knowing I’m getting lots of healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, and protein into something they love to eat. Make sure you have enough dates or dried fruit going on in the crumble to absorb these extra dry ingredients if you choose to do so.

We use organic apples, so I just wash them and leave the skins on — if you haven’t had a chance to see the Shopper’s Guide to Pesticide to know which fruits and vegetables contain high levels of pesticide residue even after washing, head on over to our post about limiting chemicals in your home.

Happy crumbling!

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banana cream pie

April 17th, 2010

It’s dessert week for our workshop, and I’m kicking it off with Alissa Cohen’s recipe for Ann Wigmore’s Banana Cream Pie. I forgot to take pics before we served the pie, so you’ll just have to fill in the rest with your imagination.

Ann Wigmore’s Banana Cream Pie (from Alissa Cohen)

Crust:

  • 1/2 cup pecans
  • 2 cups dates, pitted and soaked
  • 1 1/2 cup dried coconut
  • 1 tsp vanilla

Filling:

  • 4-5 bananas
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 1/2 cup apple juice
  • 2 tsp tahini
  • 2 tsp honey
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  1. Grind pecans in food processor til fine.
  2. Add dates and blend til creamy. I think the dough came out too wet, and would probably not soak the dates next time around.
  3. Add remaining crust ingredients, and blend well. Sabrina had made this for raw potluck once, and recommended cutting the coconut to a scant cup. Since I’m not a coconut lover, I took this advice. Also, I’m reading David Wolfe’s Superfoods, and in the chapter about Maca he recommends using it to help bind crusts made from dried fruit and nuts, so I put 2 Tbs of maca into the crust as well.
  4. Pour into pie place or springform tart pan and chill while you make the filling.
  5. Add 4 bananas and remaining filling ingredients to food processor and process. I used an apple instead of the 1/2 cup apple juice. I also added a 1 Tbs of flax meal, and 1 Tbs of psyllium husk because I didn’t have a lot of time to chill the pie and wanted to make sure it was firm.
  6. Pour filling into a bowl, and cut remaining banana and stir. Pour filling into crust and chill in fridge.
  7. Just before serving, decorate the top with extra banana slices, cacao nibs, various seeds, berries, dried fruit, etc.

I took this pie to a family birthday party so I could have a sweet treat, but surprisingly many of the other guests tried it. None was left on the plates, except a particularly thick portion of crust. My kids liked it, but preferred the filling, so I will probably just make banana pudding for them in the future and save the pie for something special. Easy peasy wholesome dessert treat! One half went at the party, and my family gobbled the rest of it for breakfast the following day. Mmmmm pie for breakfast!

Maca is a root vegetable found high in the Andes of Peru. Consumption of the maca root powder is shown to strengthen the immune system, increase energy, and  improve memory, endurance and libido. It is also an adaptogen, helping to relieve stress and depression. It has a malty flavor, and we like it in nut milk shakes with cacao. YUM!

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chia pudding

April 13th, 2010

Another warm-weather treat the kids adore is chia seed pudding. We’ve touched on the health benefits of chia seeds, which include being a great source of EFA’s (essential fatty acids like omega-3), fiber and protein, on top of loads of nutrients and antioxidants. We make the almond milk ahead of time, usually for another purpose, and keep it in the fridge, so we can have this delicious cold treat. One that they have made in the past for themselves.

Chia Seed Pudding

  • 2 cups almond milk
  • 2 Tablespoons chia seeds
  • berries to taste

Pour nut or seed milk into a bowl, add chia and stir. Let this mixture sit for 20 minutes, stirring periodically. Sweeten if the milk wasn’t, and top with berries, crunchies, etc.

The kids love this and made it twice last week. We add perhaps an extra tablespoon or two, so that the pudding is very thick. We add chopped frozen fruit to the pudding,  but you could blend berries, fruit, cacao, maca, vanilla, or other flavorings with the milk before adding the chia seeds. If you add goji berries, they will plump up nicely if you leave them in the pudding for a day or so, softening up nicely.

Have you tried chia pudding? How do you like to flavor it? Do you like it thick or runny?

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Vanilla Fudge Crunchies

April 13th, 2010

I was browsing through my recipe books the other day in search of to make for a treat for the kids who come to the raw potluck and something kind of different as I tend to make lots of chocolaty types of desserts. I came across one I haven’t made in awhile and that my kiddos love! It is from Healthy Lunchbox and is so easy to make and gives vanilla lovers a chance to shine!

Ingredients:
2 c. cashew butter*
1 c. coconut butter
1/2 c. raw honey
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. buckwheat crunchies

To make:

process everything but the crunchies in the food processor until smooth and well combined. Add in the crunchies and pulse to incorporate. Use a spoon to scoop into ice cube trays or a small ice cream scoop to form balls on a tray. Put in the freezer for a few hours until solid and frozen, about 4-6 hours.

* I didn’t have any cashew butter on hand so I made some. So easy to do! I took raw cashews, unsoaked and put them in the food processor. Start it up and let it go. It needs to go and go and go for about 10-12 mins. It will first crumble and look like meal. Next it will start to release some of it’s oils and it will get more gloppy and form a big doughball. Let it keep going and more oil will release and it will become creamy and all be whizzing around nice and smooth. That is it!

They pop out of the ice cube trays easily but are pretty as a formed ball. You can add in gojis, raisins or other dried fruit during the pulsing stage as well.

Warning!!! These are super rich and sweet and it is recommended to eat only one at a time to avoid a belly ache. Eat more only at your own risk!

I served these to the kids, teens and adults at he raw potluck we had the other night. I am not sure which age group liked them the most. Let’s just call it a tie! I like it when everybody wins!

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Milkshakes!

April 11th, 2010

I used to love family night at our house as a kid. We would get out our milkshake maker and load it up with cow’s milk, ice cream, ice cubes and some fruit or we would also make root beer floats.

I went in the fridge the other day and realized the almost still full pitcher of homemade almond milk needed to get used right now or it will have to visit the world below the drain. So, I decided to start the day with a yummy treat for the kids. Strawberry milk shake time!

This was so easy and packed with good stuff and very filling! I poured about 6 cups of milk in the Vita-Mix with close to 2 cups of frozen strawberries, 6 pitted dates and 1 TBS maca (optional), whizzed it up and served!

It was so delicious, we all came back for seconds. For me, I should probably have this mid day as it was very filling and I do better with light in the morning which is true for most of us as that is when we are breaking our fast and digestion is just waking up as well. The kids do well with a heavier morning meal so it worked well for them and they stayed full for awhile which is always a challenge when we just have fruit in the morning.

The milkshake is so versatile and begs for you to be creative. For vanilla, use milk, add frozen banana and 2 tsp vanilla. For chocolate, add about 2 TBS cacao powder and a frozen banana. Throw in some mint with the chocolate one for mint chocolate chip. Top with cacao nibs for an extra treat. All can be topped with buckwheat crunchies as well.

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The Infamous Fruit Salad

April 5th, 2010

When getting together with family or friends, I always try to bring a dish to share that is family friendly really meaning the adults will like it and the kids will like it, too. I am the one in particular in the family that is also known for being super health conscious and particular about food choices. I love when I bring dishes that are loved by all.

To me, the fruit salad is one of the best choices in the world. It is easy to throw together, can be made with so much variety, what is on sale or wild and exotic and everyone around the table loves it.

Be creative and think in season and see what you can find that is fresh and local. In the summer, you can make a lovely red white and blue salad with organic strawberries, organic blueberries and chunks of apple. Or go for a more tropical bowl of mango, banana, papaya and kiwi. It is also fun to hollow out a watermelon and fill it with fruit when it is in season. In the fall, go for the plums, pears and grapes with apple. In the winter, I slow down on the fruit salad since there is not much in season but you could do a melon, banana, apple type dish.

Today we are going to visit family and I am bringing the fruit bowl. I cut up cantaloupe and tossed it with small oranges and grapes. I added mint cut chiffanode and a drizzle of honey. Of course, I taste tested along the way and can’t wait until later when I can have a whole bowl full.

Adding the mint is another area you can be quite creative. Mint is a favorite of mine for fruit salad but again you can vary this depending on what is growing in the garden and what fruits you have in your salad. Seeds like hemp, poppy and sesame also add a new twist.

Any leftover fruit and herbs can be put in the blender and whizzed up for a smoothie or freeze the fruit whole and take out for frozen little snacks. There is really no way you can go wrong with the fruit salad and I just know it will be enjoyed by everyone.

Dig in!

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ice cream bonanza

March 31st, 2010

With the warmer weather of the past couple of weeks, we’ve been wanting ice cream!  Dante led the way, putting a number of bananas in the freezer. We learned how to split a banana into 3 thin sections using only your fingers (cool trick, we’ll make a video soon) so that they freeze faster. If you plan ahead and keep frozen bananas on hand, you can have delicious ice cream in minutes!

Our basic process involves putting about 3-4 frozen bananas in the food processor and whizzing them up. If they have been frozen for more than an hour or so, you may need to either wait a few minutes for them to soften or add one room temp banana to the processor and whiz again to achieve a soft-serve ice cream consistency.

This creates a great banana ice cream as it is, but we have started adding things both to the processor and as toppings to enhance this tasty treat! We have added cacao powder to the processor to make a chocolate ice cream, and vanilla by adding vanilla extract. We make a chocolate chip nut butter swirl by drizzling nut butter  onto the banana ice cream and topping that with cacao nibs. Other add-ins we like are coconut flakes, nuts, seeds, berries, and other fruit.

We make a sorbet by putting a bag of frozen berries into the food processor and whirring it up into sweet, frozen goodness. Some people add dates or honey as well, but we like it without this and consume enough sweet stuff elsewhere that we leave it out. I made a version of this with raspberries and blueberries for Dante last weekend when he was feeling poorly, but he didn’t finish it all. Later in the day, he requested banana ice cream, so I pulled the melted sorbet from the fridge and poured it into the food processor bowl with the already-whizzed bananas and Voila! A beautiful, ruby-red berry ice cream! I topped it with some frozen berries and chia seeds and served (it’s the pic at the top).

When we lived in Boston, we frequented J.P. Licks ice cream shops and one of Luke’s favorites there was Maple Butter Walnut. So we took the basic banana ice cream, and drizzled maple syrup over it and tossed in some chopped walnuts. Lucia wanted chocolate chip ice cream, so we took the plain banana soft serve and put it in a bowl with cacao nibs for her. Take a gander at this shot of goodness — this was breakfast a couple of weeks ago!

Dante didn’t want either of those variations, so he left his portion of the banana ice cream in the food processor and added some frozen raspberries. He used a slice of banana and more frozen raspberries to make a flower on top of his raspbanana ice dream! The boy loves to garnish…

If you haven’t tried this before, pop some bananas onto a cookie sheet or plate in the freezer with enough space between them that they don’t overlap much. Once frozen, you can store them in a zip lock freezer bag to keep them from getting freezer burn. We also make banana pops — cut the bananas in half, insert a popsicle stick up and wrap them in foil or put them on a cookie sheet until frozen and again, store in a freezer bag or other airtight container. These are one of our favorite treats for a hot day!

What’s your favorite cool snack for the dog days of summer?

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parfaits and hot socks

March 30th, 2010

Parfait!We’ve had some sick kiddies around here lately, so I’ve been doing my best to make tasty, visually appealing treats to tempt compromised appetites. One day, I made a raspberry banana smoothie with only a small handful of spinach leaves — not enough to change the color at all — and I put in a tablespoon or so of hemp seeds and ground flax to boost the nutrition. I layered it in a glass with coconut milk vanilla yogurt and topped it with buckwheat crunchies.

To ease the earache, I sliced an onion and tipped some of the juice into the offended ear. You can also add this juice to oil as well, but you want to make sure when you’re doing so that the eardrum has not burst!

Next I made up a hot sock to keep the heat on it. I found an old, unmatched sock (not a challenge around here!) and put a pan on the stove with a little less than 2 cups of rice in it, and turned it on medium heat.

Once I could feel the heat by putting my hand an inch or so above the surface of the rice, I removed the pan from the heat. It’s tough to spoon the rice into the sock, so I use the canning funnel to make pouring it a breeze.

I knotted the top of the sock  tightly enough to keep it sealed, but loosely enough so I could reheat the rice as needed.

hot sock

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Grawnola

March 9th, 2010

I love the Go Raw brand of snacks but it tends to put a big dent in my purse. After trying their granola, I decided to give it a whirl myself. I changed it up a bit and came up with a great recipe.

Grawnola is quick to make so make lots as it will keep for awhile. It is a satisfying breakfast when you are wanting something more substantial to stat the day. We like it as a snack and it is a perfect travel food.

River and Gatlin are both fans of this grawnola and my hubby finishes off whatever is left so I feel it safe to say this is a family winner.

My Homemade Grawnola

  • 2 cups sprouted buckwheat or buckwheat crunchies*
  • 1 large apple, finely chopped
  • 1/8 cup chia seeds
  • 2 TBS sesame seeds
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 TBS yacon syrup
  1. Mix all the dry ingredients together. Add the yacon syrup and mix, mix, mix. It takes a little time to get it incorporated into the mixture, but keep mixing and it will all become covered with the yacon.
  2. Dehydrate at 105 for 5-6 hours on teflex sheet or parchment.
  3. Once it is dehydrated, you can add goji berries and/ or raisins.
  4. Serve with fresh almond mylk and some fresh berries if you got ‘em.

Feel free to play around with adding other seeds to the mix or other dried fruits. You may also enjoy adding some other spices for variety.

*To make buckwheat crunchies:

  1. Soak raw buckwheat groats for 1-2 hours. They will be very slimy so be sure to keep rinsing until the water is clear and no longer slimy. This can be done in a colander but I find it handy to do in a nut mylk bag or my inexpensive version which is a nylon paint strainer from the hardware store. They are about $5 for a pack of 2! Do get the large or extra large size.
  2. After drained well, leave in sprout bag or bowl to sprout overnight, rinsing twice a day.
  3. For this recipe, you may use the buckwheat now or dry them in the dehydrator on 105 a few hours until completely dry and there you have it… buckwheat crunchies!

As you have seen in other posts, buckwheat crunchies are great to have on hand to add on top of smoothies. I recommend making these in a big batch since they keep for a very, very long time in a glass airtight container.You can also sprinkle them on top of fresh fruit or banana with a fruit puree for a yummy dessert!

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