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!

I wasn't planning on posting Christmas recipes, let alone creating them - maybe that's why it happened. These easy, yet oh so delightfully yummy, raw truffels will become my go-to recipe, I'm sure, for when I want something sweet fast. They do not call for a lot of ingredients and you will most likely have them in store (I always have dried fruits in my pantry in case of things like this..) Make a few batches for Christmas; and I'm sure your friends wouldn't mind little presents either!

RAW COCOA TRUFFELS

250g dried dates (soaked for a few hours)
250ml shredded coconut
50ml raw cacao powder
0,25tsp ground vanilla
0,25tsp salt
shredded coconut or raw cacao powder for coating


Soak the dates in water for a few hours until they are soft. Drain excess liquid and pure them with a hand blender. Add rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands to combine everything well. Form small balls and roll them in cacao powder or shredded coconut. Store in the fridge for up to a week or so.

Notes:
You can use regular dark cacao powder instead of raw cacao powder; I've stuck to raw since it's less processed and has got a lot more of its valuable nutrients left.

 

RAW FIG TRUFFELS

200g dried figs and/or apricots (soaked for a few hours)
150ml shredded coconut
50ml coarse almond flour
0,25tsp ground vanilla
0,25tsp salt
0,25-0,5tsp cinnamon
shredded coconut for coating


Cut off the hard stems from the figs. Soak the figs and/or apricots in water for a few hours until they are soft. Drain excess liquid and pure them with a hand blender. Add rest of the ingredients one by one and mix with your hands to combine everything well. Form small balls and roll them in shredded coconut. Store in the fridge for up to a week or so.


Notes:
I prefer organic on most products and apricot is definitely one of them. They’re not treated with any sulfur or artificial color and so are very different from the non-organic ones. You can go for either figs or apricots or a mix or really any dried fruits! For almond flour I pulsed almond flakes in the food processor because I had them at hand, but you can of course use ready almond flour, and preferably coarse. You can also use fine almond flour, your truffels will just become a little more dense. You can, all in all, play with this recipe a lot; substitute almond flour with more shredded coconut or oatmeal. Leave out cinnamon or use more! Taste after adding each ingredient to get just the truffels you'll love!

These days are slow and calm. It's good.

CARROT DATE BREAKFAST MUFFINS

(makes 12-16 muffins)

480ml almond flour
1 heap tsp cinnamon
1tsp salt
2tsp baking powder
240ml soft dried dates, pitted
3 ripe bananas
3 organic eggs
60ml coconut oil, melted
1stp apple cider vinegar
360ml carrots, grated
150ml almonds, chopped (plus some for garnish)


Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix dates, bananas, eggs, vinegar and oil in a food processor until fully combined and smooth.
Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula. Fold in carrots and almonds. Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins and sprinkle chopped almonds on top. Bake in 175 celsius for 25 minutes (baking time might vary a little depending on the size of your muffins).

These muffins are perfect for breakfast or a snack as they have no sugar or white flour in them. (They're adapted a little from a paleo recipe.) They also freeze well. I've made these both with very fine almond flour and much coarser almond meal; fine flour makes the muffins quite dense whereas coarser meal makes them very moist and light. I reckon a blend of the two would be perfect! I've also sometimes replaced carrot with apple, works really well!

Slow mornings are one my favorite things in life. This morning I enjoyed luscious coffee from Kenia (Tekangu Karogoto), bread fresh from the oven and the sun shining in. This fruit & nut bread just might beat the one it was inspired by (second photo on this post). I am so pleased with this recipe, oh my.

FRUIT & NUT BREAD

300ml water
25g fresh yeast
1tsp salt
1tbsp cane sugar
200ml coarse spelt flour
450ml wheat flour
50ml olive oil
120g dried figs
100g soft dried dates
70g hazelnuts


Warm the water in a large bowl up to 42 celsius. Mix in yeast and after that salt, sugar, flour in parts and olive oil. Lastly mix in figs, dates and hazelnuts (throw them in whole to have beautiful big clumps in the bread). Cover the bowl with cling film (the bowl should be more at least double the size of the dough for it will rise alot) and place in the fridge overnight. In the morning knead the dough on a floured surface for about 10 minutes; this is important as the dough warms up and the yeast awakens. Grease a bread tin and have the dough rise in it for 45 minutes in a warm place under a kitchen towel. Bake the bread in 175 celsius for about 45 minutes and to get crispier edges take the bread out of the tin and bake for another 5 minutes without it. Tap the bottom of the bread and if you hear a hollow sound the bread is ready. This bread is really best with just butter on but it goes awfully well with good ham and goat cheese gouda, or the like, as well.

The Green Kitchen Project, recipe no.7

COLD RED BERRY SOUP

(serves 2)

500g red berries (I used 300g strawberries and about 100g lingonberries and 100g redcurrants)
125ml water
13 medjool dates (I used 16 fresh dates, which were a bit smaller than medjools)
cream for serving


Bring the berries and water slowly to boil on low heat. Mash the dates with a fork until smooth and add to the pan. Simmer for about 10 minutes; the berries and dates should almost have dissolved. Take the pan off the heat and mix the soup with a hand blender. Pour the soup through a fine sieve so the seeds are strained using the back of a spoon to help the thick soup through. Let the soup cool in the fridge for a few hours. Serve with cream.

This is absolutely one of my favorites from The Green Kitchen! I suppose the traditional danish recipe they adapted this from is quite like the finnish cold berry soup (kiisseli). Dates work so well here; they create a wonderful balance with the tart berries, sweetening yet not tasting like there were dates at all (I really like dates but I don't like tasting them when they're used as a sweetener. In addition to sweetening they also give this soup a thickness that would traditionally come from using starch). This is genius! And delicious!


Soundtrack for the recipe: Lovin' Arms by The Wood Brothers

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 had my little sister over for lunch and I decided to try a raw brownie recipe I ran across the other day. I was a little in a hurry making them in the morning so they didn't end up as pretty as I wanted to. They tasted amazing though. In the evening I rolled the remains into pretty truffels! (Next time I'll propably substitute almonds with cashews. Cashews are just so good.)

ALMOND DATE TRUFFELS

(makes about 30)
(adapted from My New Roots)

250ml raw walnuts
300ml good quality, soft organic dates, pitted
125ml raw cacao powder
125ml raw almonds
1/4tsp sea salt


Put walnuts in a food processor and blend on high until they are finely ground. Add the cacao and salt. Pulse to combine. Add the dates one at a time through the feed tube of the food processor while it is running. (What you should end up with is a mix that appears rather like cake crumbs, but that when pressed, will easily stick together, My New Roots says. And that if the mixture does not hold together well, add more dates. Well, I added dates till it went from crumbly to a big soft ball but I didn't mind.) Remove the batter to a bowl and mix roughly chopped almonds by hand. Press into a lined cake pan or mold. Place in freezer or fridge until ready to serve.

PS. I recently got myself a food processor inspired by Jamie's 30 minute meals (gosh, I haven't been watching them in ages!). This was the first thing I made with it. A very happy start! Spreads and nut butters, see you in a bit!