Tropical mango strawberry cheesecake

Here's the recipe for the tropical cheesecake I mentioned in my previous post! Sorry about the photo, it really doesn't do this recipe justice. The mango layer actually has a gorgeous, deep yellow color. I just whipped this cake up 2 hours before the guests arrived and once it was all set and glazed, the guests were already there and I didn't feel right abandoning them just to get a perfect pic :)

The crust:
2 C almonds
1C sun-dried bananas
pinch of salt

Grind the nuts and dates in a food processor fitted with an S-blade. You may add water if the mixture doesn't stick together. Press onto a large tart pan or smaller individual tart molds.

Filling:

1 cups dried mango, soaked

0,5C fresh or canned organic mango (I could only find organic mango canned..)

1,5C macadamia nuts

2 tablespoons coconut oil

1-2 tbs fresh lemon juice

1/3 cup cacao butter
raw, unfiltered honey to taste (exact amount depends on the sweetness of your fruit)

Puree everything smooth except the cocoa butter, grate it in and blend to combine. Spread on top of the crust. I made two batches to get a higher cake (as opposed to a filled pie).

Strawberry glaze:

1C frozen strawberries, thawed

5 tbsp chia

Blend until the chia is gelatinized. I did not measure these out at all, I just took a container of frozen strawberries, thawed them and blended in as much chia as it took to get it to form a gel. There was plenty of left over glaze. Once the chia has set, spread evenly on top of the mango layer. If you have fresh strawberries at hand don't bother with this, just garnish the cake with the chopped berries!

I think most of my guests were used to a white flour+ sugar cake with tons of whipped cream. They all said this certainly was new to them, but then asked for seconds and raved about how delicious it was. I was a bit worried about the perhaps unusual flavor combination (at least to most Finns), but since I am such a mango fan I decided to go ahead with it.. after all, this was my graduation cake! :)

Creamed sesame tahini dessert

Contrary to my recent posting pattern, here I am already back with recipes. My life, as I probably have mentioned more than once, is a hectic one. Just recently, I was working two positions. Last week I made the decision to give the corporate one up, so that I can concentrate on the interesting research I am doing at the University. This will be my Master's thesis. On top of this I have a load of interesting courses, but also a wonderful family. As much as I enjoy blogging, it comes after my family and work on my list of priorities. It looks like at the moment I finally have some spare time to create and post, so your patience will hopefully be rewarded =)

Raw tahini:
Sprouted sesame seeds
Raw and unfiltered honey, to taste
Cold-pressed coconut oil and sesame oil
Himalayan salt
(water)

Soak sesame seeds for 8 hours. Drain water, rinse thoroughly and sprout for another 8 hours. The seeds won't actually grow, the idea is to get rid of the enzyme inhibitors, so that the calcium and other nutrients are better absorbed. Once this is done, place the seeds in a food processor or blender, add honey. Then blend in 50:50 coconut and sesame oil. Add salt. Taste and adjust. I like my tahini with a nice balance of savory and sweet. If you find that cold-pressed sesame oil is too strong in flavor, substitute for more coconut oil.

Tahini cream:
3 tbsp raw tahini
4 oz/120g raw brazil nuts, soaked for 4-6 hours
Raw honey, to taste
water

Blend tahini, nuts and honey. Add water until desired consistency. With little water this makes for a flavorful raw cream, while more water will yield a more yoghurt like texture and slightly milder flavor.

Serving suggestion:
Banana, blueberries, chopped pecans, fresh lemon balm leaves

You could also blend some lemon balm in with the tahini cream.This is a versatile, quick and easy raw treat. Enjoy as breakfast, snack, dessert or dress it up for a fancier occasion.

Creamy pomegranate-lingonberry hearts

Wondering how to surprise your valentine this year? Perhaps not quite yet, but I just got carried away with my gorgeous red pomegranate and cute heart-shaped cupcake molds. I had a hard time figuring out what to call them - the "cream" resembles white chocolate, but also distantly a cheesecake. It has layers of flavors, and it depends on the taster, which is most prominent. To me this was white chocolate, to my husband it was cheesecake, and most likely someone not quite as accustomed to the taste of coconut would find it to be the dominant flavor. Well, try it our for yourself and let me know what you think!

Honey-almond crust
Almond flour (or dehydrated almond pulp leftover from making raw almond milk)
Coconut oil
Raw, organic honey
pinch Himalayan salt, touch of pure vanilla

Mix together and pat down thinly on the bottom of cupcake molds. Chill to firm up.

Cream layer (for 6 cupcakes + leftovers)
125g cashews
400ml coconut cream (about 1,75C)
2 tsp mesquite + 2tsp lucuma (optional, but very good)
0,5-1,5 tsp dehydrated orange peel
70g raw cocoa butter
vanilla agave, to taste
pinch salt


Blend everything until smooth. Spread on crust, chill until they are hard enough to remove from the mold.


Pomegranate-lingonberry glaze
1 pomegranate
0,5 C lingonberries
vanilla agave, to taste

Blend. Layer on top of the cupcakes prior to serving.

We made 6 and I had leftover cream+glaze, so I froze the cream to make raw ice cream and served it with the pomegranate-lingonberry sauce. All three layers of the cupcakes go really well together, and make a really scrumptious treat. Without the glaze, they keep well frozen. If you like, you could also serve them just lightly thawed as ice cream cakes. We opted to allow them to thaw a bit further, which brings out more flavor. Altogether this is a versatile recipe, you could just use the cream in any other raw dessert that calls for it.

Royal berry tartlets and cranberry-orange cookies

Once again my good friend was coming over for tea. I've mentioned before that she has several allergies. As such, they wouldn't be too problematic, but combined with my gluten-intolerance and milk allergies it becomes challenging. Again, it wouldn't be if I would go for conventional baking.. but you know me, my desserts are always raw even if I sometimes enjoy cooked meals.

I came up with a crust that would work for both of us, given that it had to be nut-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and raw. Then I thought I'd make a strawberry shortcake out of it, but I wasn't sure if she was allergic to strawberries.. then I remembered that it is fairly common, and thought I wouldn't risk it. Well, I thought I'd use blueberries instead, but I've made quite a few raw blueberry pies in the past... long story short: I made a pie filling out of blueberries, raspberries, figs and dehydrated orange peel. Only to realize soon after, that she is allergic to nearly all fruit, except bananas. Luckily it turned out she could handle the small touch of organic orange peel, and got no reaction from the figs either.

As if there weren't enough problems to begin with, I was short of time. I went to work early and didn't have time to prepare anything in the morning. I told my husband to soak some flax seeds for me, but neglected to tell him how much water I wanted in them... well, there was too much and hence I had to make a much bigger batch of "dough" than I had in mind. This is how I ended up making a batch of 12 tartlets and about 20 cookies.

The "dough":

1 C soaked flax seeds

2 C water

1,5 C coconut flakes

1,5 C sprouted buckwheat

10 dried dates

vanilla agave + honey, to taste

pinch salt and cinnamon (salt is essential!)

Soak flax seeds in water for at least an hour, preferably overnight.  Blend with dates, buckwheat and seasoning. Remember to taste the dough!

Royal berry filling:

1,5 C raspberries

1 C blueberries

12 dried figs

vanilla agave

0,5-1tsp dehydrated, ground organic orange peel (peel your oranges, dry in room temp/dehydrator, grind in a food processor)

2 tsp lucuma, optional

Blend all ingredients together, taste and adjust sweetness.

Fill as many pie shells with the dough as you like (spread with wet hands), set in fridge for an hour or too. Make filling after you have put the shells in the fridge, and chill it. Once the pie shells have set, assemble and chill until served. They are best, when you let them warm up just a bit in room temp before serving.

We had extra filling, but it is amazing on it's own. You could enjoy it just with some raw chocolate, on raw pancakes, etc etc... Feel free to substitute the crust for your favorite raw crust, especially when making for skeptics it might be a better idea to make a sweeter, nuttier crust. Because it didn't have any oil, this dough didn't really "set" like a nut crust with cocoa butter/coconut oil would. This means it softens in room temperature. It also tastes more "healthy" than delectable, but if you like a less sweet, nut-free crust this is pretty good. More than likely though, the next time I make these I will make an almond-pecan crust with coconut oil and vanilla agave.

Cranberry-orange cookies

The dough, left-over from making the tartlets

Chopped almonds (soaked and dehydrated if possible)

Organic, sugar-free dried cranberries (eg. apple-sweetened)

Orange peel

Cinnamon

Fold chopped almonds and chopped cranberries into the dough with a large spoon/spatula. Add flavorings and sweetener, if desired. Dollop onto dehydrator sheets, spread into thick round cookies. Dehydrate! Mine were in for about 12 hours, after which they were warm and crunchy on the outside but nice and chewy on the inside. The quality of the cranberries really makes a difference, I used Eden Foods cranberries, which are big, juicy and dark in color.

Raw strawberry-vanilla granola

Hey guys! It has been a while since I last posted an actual raw recipe. This is mostly because I've been experimenting with different things in the kitchen. Lately I have also enjoyed sharing my thoughts and new innovations so much, that there hasn't been much room for recipes. However, when I tasted this yummy granola for an evening snack yesterday, I realized I just have to share. So easy, nutritious and delicious, which is what healthy eating should always be about. One of those "I can't believe it is raw"-type treats.

Strawberry-vanilla buckwheat granola:
1 C sprouted buckwheat
1 C almond pulp left over from making almond milk or just soaked almonds
1 C strawberries, thawed frozen or fresh
1 C dates
2 vanilla beans (or other form of natural vanilla)
lucuma, to taste (optional)
raw honey/agave, to taste (optional)
pinch salt

Sprout buckwheat (soak 10min, drain and rinse, sprout for 24h), soak almonds 6-8h. If dates are hard, soak them for about 30min as well.
Once you see little tails on the buckwheat groats, they are ready. They will go bitter if you allow them to grow further. Rinse the buckwheat and grind relatively smooth in a food processor/blender. Add almond pulp and strawberries, pulse until encorporated, and flavorings. Mix until a nice, thick paste. Add water/coconut oil if necessary. Spread onto dehydrator sheets (lightly brush with coconut oil if stuff tends to stick to them) as thin layers, this amount took 2 of my round 13" trays.

Dehydrate until crispy, roughly 24h in 104 F. Depending on your dehydrator, you may want to start around 145F for 30min, but watch that your mixture does not get warmer than 46C/104F. Once it is dehydrated, brake into bits with your hands. The granola will keep well sealed for a couple weeks.

Serving suggestion:
1/2 C granola
handful of cashews
handful or two of fresh or thawed blueberries
almond milk

Mix granola with cashews and add blueberries. Pour almond milk over on top and enjoy. So good! Works for breakfast, dessert or snack.

Blueberry tartlets

Blueberry pie in my mind is associated with numerous happy memories of my childhood. After discovering what gluten does to me and gradually finding out more and more about nutrition, I've been looking for a raw substitute for this comforting pie. There are some out there I've tried and tested, but none of them matched my idea of blueberry pie. Somehow the filling has always been either too tart, too liquid, too banana-flavored or a combination of these. I finally just sat down to think how I would make raw blueberry pie without the influence of any other recipes. This is what went into by food processor:

Blueberry crumble tartlets:

6 large tartlets

Crust:

1/2 C sprouted buckwheat groats

1/2 C dry almonds (ideally sprouted and dehydrated)

10 dried dates

4 tbsp coconut oil

0,5-1 tsp cinnamon

vanilla

Grind almonds and buckwheat, add other ingredients. Process until a uniform, thick mixture. Press into the edges of 6 non-stick cupcake molds/tartlet shells. You could make more smaller ones, the six are kind of big. Allow to chill in the fridge for about an hour, to firm up the crust.

Blueberry filling:

1 C blueberries (mine were frozen & thawed)

6-10 dried figs

small handful of pecans

vanilla agave, to taste (or vanilla + sweetener of choice)

2 tsp lucuma

Process in a food processor until a thick paste. I left mine a bit chunky, because I liked the little bits of fig in the filling. Once the pie crusts have set, take them out of the molds and scoop in the filling.

Crumble topping:

Almonds

Shredded, unsulfured coconut flakes

Touch honey

Cinnamon

(pinch himalayan salt)

Grind coconut and almonds until crumbly, mix with spices and sprinkle on the tartlets. Place back in the fridge until it's time to eat. Enjoy with someone special.

Sadly our old faithful Bosch food processor has seen better days. Some blades are broken and especially the broken grater blade is a pain. I love grated sweet potato and carrot salads, and now having to do all the work by hand kind of kills the buzz.. Luckily an elf tipped me off and hinted that Santa may be bringing a 950W food processor our way. Thumbs crossed!

Speaking of new amazing kitchen appliances, I have yet to receive our new Stöckli dehydrator. Man am I looking forward to it's arrival. There are so many ideas I have been playing with that I could finally execute with these gadgets... well, we'll just have to wait and see. As you can see from the pic, the new camera (Canon EOS 500d) is here, so once those missing appliances arrive nothing can limit my creativity :)

Meanwhile, stay tuned for my daughter's 1st b-day post. There will be a raw cake and some tips for planning a party with guests who eat (un-)normal food. This will be the first I am hosting, so I'm sure I'll learn a lot from the feedback. Have a great weekend!

Lingonberry lucuma brownies

A friend of mine came for a visit today. She has quite a few allergies, so I couldn't use any nuts. I thought of making chocolate brownies without nuts. As if that wasn't a challenge already, right when I was about to add the raw cacao powder into the food processor I realized she is allergic to chocolate. I asked her, if she knew whether she is allergic to pure raw cacao or just the industrial, processed chocolate. She doesn't know, and since I didn't want to risk poisoning her, I opted for carob. Raw cacao, although (falsely) touted a superfood, should always be consumed in moderation due to high caffeine content and other health risks.

Brownies:

1 C pumpkin seeds

1 C raisins

12 dates

1/2C carob or raw cacao powder

5-6 tbsp coconut oil

0,5-1,5tsp cinnamon, 2 tsp lucuma

dash Himalayan salt

1/3 C lingonberries

Process seeds, fruit, carob and spices into a firm ball. Fold in whole lingonberries by hand.

Shape into a square and allow to firm up further in the fridge.

Frosting

Carob (or cacao) powder, coconut oil, vanilla or hazelnut agave

Stir with a spoon to combine. Coat the brownie squares with the forsting and serve.

These were a huge hit. The tartness of the lingonberries really works great with the richness of the brownies. The pumpkin seeds actually worked great, none of us missed the traditional walnuts. If you have a cup of them on hand though, feel free to substitute the walnuts for the seeds. If you want, you could also substitute part of the carob for cacao.

Isn't that red rose beautiful? I was so happy to come home from university today, my husband and daughter had had the best time together, the house was clean spot-free and there was a huge bouquet of red roses on the table. It's fathers' day this Sunday, I better make sure I show him just how lucky I am to have him as my husband and as a father to our daughter.

Chocolate hazelnut swiss roll with raspberry mint mousse

Swiss roll "dough"

2 C almond pulp (from soaking and making almond milk out of 1,25 C almonds)

(1-2 tbsp finely ground hemp seeds)

3-4 tbsp coconut oil

1/2 C raw cacao powder

organic hazelnut-flavored agave (or agave+natural hazelnut extract)

4-6 dried dates, soaked for 30min

dash Himalayan salt

Blend in a food processor, taste and adjust flavor to your liking. Add enough coconut oil to make a uniform dough, it shouldn't be too wet but rather have the consistency of thick chocolate mousse. The almond pulp should be rather dry. Spread into a rectangular shape on a non-stick surface, dehydrate for a couple hours on one side and about an hour on the other. Keep an eye on it, don't let it dry and crack.

Raspberry-mint mousse:

1 C raspberries (frozen and thawed)

3/4 C cashews, soaked, rinsed and drained

juice of 1/2 lemon (I even added some lemon pulp)

coconut oil

3-6 dried dates, soaked

good fresh mint leaves, to taste

(agave if you want it sweeter)

Blend first nuts, add thawed raspberries.Then add rest of the ingredients and blend until creamy. Add only enough coconut oil to get the right texture, make sure it doesn't get too runny. If it does, add psyllium husks.

Hazelnut chocolate frosting (best frosting recipe EVER!)

1/2 C raw cacao powder

few tbsp coconut oil

hazelnut agave

couple soaked dates

Blend dates and cacao powder, then alternate adding coconut oil and agave little bit at a time until taste and texture are perfect. Right consistency is that of a chocolate syrup/sauce.

After you've dehydrated the swiss roll, spread the mousse on top and roll up. If it doens't look too pretty, covering it with delicious frosting will fix it. Decorate with crushed almonds/hazelnuts. Refrigerate before serving (couple hours for a firmer and easily sliceable texture).

I've been practically living in labs lately, so excuse me for not posting for a while. I hope this recipe helps me gain some forgiveness :)

Apple-almond pancake bliss

My raw apple-almond pancakes:

almond pulp (leftover from making 1 quart almond milk)

2 medium apples

1/2 C shredded, unsulfured coconut

1 tbsp flax meal

4-6 dried dates

1-3 tsp cinnamon

dash nutmeg, allspice, ginger

vanilla

Blend until smooth and creamy. Shape into pancakes, dehydrate until desired consistency. Mine were in a 110 F oven for 1,5 hours.

The texture of these pancakes is pretty close to the fried kind. Combined with your favorite fresh berries and pure organic maple syrup.. it's just the perfect family breakfast.

Here's our Sunday breakfast - green smoothies (with fresh ginger!), these tasty pancakes, berries and fresh almond milk.