I could write a song about this cake, it's so good. (I know the list of ingredients is long and they are costly, but I guarantee that once you have them in your pantry and you can make this cake again and again, you won't be sorry at all.)

BLISSFUL RAW CHOCOLATE CAKE

(adapted slightly from a recipe by Matleena Lahti)


base:
250ml nuts (I've been using almonds and walnuts)
about 20 fresh dates
100ml dried mulberries
1-2tbsp coconut oil
75ml raw cacao powder
0,25tl salt
100ml almonds and/or pecans, roughly chopped
a handful cocoa nibs

filling:
350ml cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours or overnight
200ml coconut cream
150ml coconut sugar
150ml cocoa butter
100ml cocoa mass
50ml raw cacao powder
a good pinch salt

cocoa nibs, almond flakes, bee pollen, fresh berries etc. for garnish


For the base ground the 250ml of nuts in a food processor. Add dates, mulberries, coconut oil, cacao powder, salt and blend well. Taste and add more salt if needed. Roughly cut the almonds/pecans and add them and cocoa nibs to the base mixture and blend by hand or with a spatula. Line a spring form tin (about 23cm) with baking paper and press the mixture evenly in the tin and place in the fridge to cool while you make the filling.

Melt the cocoa butter and cocoa mass in a bowl over boiling water. Drain the soaked cashews. Mix everything for the filling (cashews, coconut cream, coconut sugar, cocoa butter, cocoa mass, cacao powder and salt) in a food processor until completely smooth (the cashews can take a while, depending on your machine, but give it time). Taste and add a little salt or coconut sugar if needed. Pour the filling over the base, and refridgerate till the cake is firm (this will propably take some hours, or you could also go for about an hour in the freezer; I refridgerate mine overnight - that also balances the flavours.) Garnish the cake with cocoa nibs, almond flakes, bee pollen, fresh berries, you name it!

There was no other way to celebrate this new home than with a lavishing brunch (inspired a little by that of Sandro's) and the house full of people I love. The menu had salads (tomato mozzarella salad, sweet potato lentil salad, feta couscous salad, crunchy egg salad and green chickpea cucumber salad), broccoli tuna red onion quiche, salmon, potato & beet wedges, dips (hummus, tzatziki, pesto and beetroot avocado dip), malt bread & no-knead bread and fruits, raw blackcurrant cake, brownies and banana bread for dessert. Happy days.

My new home absolutely bathes in light. I'm in love. It already feels like the most special home I've had. A place of peace. A place of dreams coming true.

Yesterday I made possibly the best tasting cake I have ever made. Today I got the first flowers here. Happy days.

(The pictures lie: boy, there's still so much to unpack and organize..)

 

RAW BLACKCURRANT CAKE

200ml mulberries
200ml almond flour
good pinch of salt
1-3tbsp water, depending on how dry the mulberries are

175ml cashews, soaked overnight and rinsed
1 ripe banana
300ml blackcurrants
1-2tsp organic honey
vanilla powder
90 ml coconut oil, melted

blueberries for garnish


Grind mulberries in a food processor, add almond flour and salt and pulse a few times to mix. Add water while the food processor is running (you want a thick paste). Line the bottom of a springform tin (18-20cm) with baking paper and press the crust mixture firmly in the tin. Place the tin in the freezer to wait. Rinse food processor well. Blend cashews in the food processor until smooth and creamy. Add banana and mix. Add blackcurrants (it can be easier to add them in parts if they're frozen) and honey and vanilla and mix well. Last add melted coconut oil with the food processor running and mix until well combined and smooth. Taste and add more honey and/or vanilla if desired. Spread the topping evenly on the crust and freeze for an hour or two or until served. Remove from freezer 30 minutes prior to eating and top with blueberries.

People who bake you banana bread in an instant when you ask if they would make life wonderful. There's so much goodness and love around. (Also people who knit you socks are quite amazing!)


"A good story simply gets better with every new chapter."

Grandma spent her life in the kitchen and now that she only has others cooking for her I love using some of her old kitchen utensils and carrying on the traditions; last weekend I made banana bread in a cake mold inherited from her with Green Kitchen Stories' recipe (the only sweeteners in this recipe are bananas and applesauce). And I discovered Rachel Khoo and her inspiring kitchen.

This weekend I started off with 13 hours of sleep and I continue slowly. I find it very intriguing to suddenly be absorbed in a new place and a new group of people. People and their stories and ways of doing things are so interesting! A new job takes so much of your energy though as everything is new. Learning it all (the routines, the new pace, the people) takes time and drains you but is also very rewarding. I came across a wonderful statement:

"Taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it's more like a cha-cha."

The Green Kitchen Project, recipe no.5

I'd been waiting for strawberry season to get to try this recipe from the book! It was a sunny morning and we had the cake for dessert after breakfast on the backyard. It's good to have family around (some are leaving home soon but then others are coming). Tomorrow we're going to Ahola!

FROZEN STRAWBERRY CHEESECAKE ON A SUNFLOWER CRUST

300g sunflower seeds
(2tbsp hemp seeds, optional)
12 fresh medjool dates, pitted (about 225g)
2tbsp coconut oil
1/2tsp sea salt

300g fresh strawberries
juice of 1/2 a lemon
120ml clear honey (or agave syrup, I put 100ml)
500g quark (or greek yoghurt or mascarpone)

250g fresh strawberries for garnish


Toast the sunflower seeds on a baking tray in 180 celsius for 6-8 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes and put them (together with the hemp seeds) in a food processor and pulse for about 20 seconds. The seeds should be chopped but not powdered. Add the dates, coconut oil and salt and process until the mixture comes together to a sticky crust. (I don't have a food processor at hand here so I chopped the seeds with a hand blender and mashed the dates with a fork until smooth. Then I first added coconut oil and salt to the dates and mixed them in by hand and last blended the seeds in by hand.) Cover the bottom of a 20cm spring-form cake tin with baking paper, closing in the paper with the sides. Press the mixture firmly over the base with your thumbs. Chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

Purée the strawberries, lemon juice and honey in a food processor or blender (hand blender worked perfect), pour into a large bowl, add the quark and mix well. Pour the mixture over the crust and put it in the freezer for about 90 minutes. You can keep the cake in the freezer for a few days but then let it thaw for about a half an hour before serving. Garnish the cake with strawberries (and a couple of edible flowers, as the Green Kitchen does). Serve the cake immediately; you cannot freeze it again and it doesn't really last in the fridge either.

We had the cake in the freezer for 2 days but next time I'd freeze it just before serving, I think the consistency will be better then. (I'm actually intrigued to play around with the recipe in order to just chill the cake instead of freezing it; it would be easier to keep.) Also next time I think I'm substituting honey for some cane sugar in the filling; honey's got such a strong flavour. And fresh blueberries or blackcurrants would make a killer cake I bet! I used 2,3% quark but I'm sure greek yoghurt would work well too. I really like the lightly toasted sunflower seeds in the crust, yum.


Soundtrack for the recipe: Onnellinen by Mikki Kauste

I am leaving to Berlin in the morning. How very lovely. I cannot wait to be with my friends and family. Eat good food, walk the endless streets of Berlin, reminish, sit in cozy, inspiring cafes and forget everything about work and schedules.

I got rhubarb from a workmate the other day so in the midst of packing I made the first rhubarb pie of the summer.

 

RHUBARB CRUMBLE PIE

100ml spelt flour
100ml almond flour
200ml corn flour (you can use 400ml of the flour you prefer)
150ml sugar
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1tsp vanilla sugar
125g coconut oil (originally butter)

100ml sour milk
1 egg

2-4 rhubarb stalks

250g quark
50ml organic cane sugar
1tsp vanilla sugar
1 egg


Mix all the dry ingredients together and add melted coconut oil. Take two thirds of the dough and add sour milk and egg. Grease a tin (diameter about 24cm) with coconut oil and spread the dough in the tin. Cut rhubarb in 7mm slices and cover the dough with them. Mix quark, sugar, vanilla sugar and egg together and spread it over the rhubarbs. Take the remaining one third of the dough and sprinkle it on top. Bake in 175 celsius for about 35-40 minutes (for example spelt flour burns easily so the baking time will vary a little depending on the flours you use and how moist you want to leave the pie). I like this pie best chilled but can never wait that long.

I tried out carrot cupcakes yesterday for a night at Helena's and they were so good I made them today as well for girls at work.

CARROT CUPCAKES

(makes 12)

250ml flour (I've been using different combos of almond, rice and spelt flour, you could also just use plain wheat flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1,5tsp cinnamon
a good pinch of ground cardamom
a pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground ginger
0,5tsp salt
200ml raw cane sugar
180ml oil
3-4 carrots
2 organic eggs (room temperature)

120g cream cheese
100ml powdered sugar
25g melted butter
organic almonds/hazelnuts for garnish


Mix the dry ingredients. Grate the carrots and mix them and the oil and the eggs with a spatula and add the mixture to the dry ingredients. Place paper muffin tins in a muffin tray and divide the batter into them. Bake in 175 celsius for about 10-15 minutes. Let cool complelety on wire racks. Make the frosting by mixing together cream cheese, sugar and butter until creamy. Cover completely cooled cupcakes with the frosting and sprinkle chopped almonds on top. Keep the cupcakes covered in the fridge overnight before serving; they'll taste a lot more and better the day after.

(You can also make a cake with the same recipe; just pour the dough into a lined or greased tin (diameter about 24cm) and bake for about 15-20 minutes, just until a toothpick comes out clean.)


(photo by Helena Mackey)