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!

 

COCOA BUCKWHEAT GRANOLA

(adapted from My New Roots)

300g rolled oats
200g buckwheat
75g coconut flakes
100g hazelnuts (or any nuts really; hazelnuts are the crunchiest though)
30g chia seeds
0,5tsp salt
35g coconut sugar
100ml maple syrup
100ml coconut oil
1tsp vanilla powder
150ml raw cocoa powder


Chop the hazelnuts roughly. Mix oats, buckwheat, coconut flakes, hazelnuts, chia seeds, salt and coconut sugar in a bowl. Melt coconut oil in a saucepan and add maple syrup, vanilla powder and raw cocoa powder and mix well. Pour the cocoa mixture in with the dry indredients and mix thoroughly. Line an oven tray with baking paper and bake the granola in 150 celsius for 15 minutes. Keep baking, mixing every few minutes, for 10 minutes more (or more, depending how dark you want to roast it. Taste a hazelnut to test if it's done to your taste). Let cool down completely before storing. Serve with milk and e.g. fresh strawberries, nectarines or banana.


This granola is seriously addictive. Just saying.

The Green Kitchen Project, recipe no.8

Good things often come about slowly. You should know by now that I really like spending lots of time in the kitchen: have good music playing, put effort into what I'm going to serve, try new things and watch something (in my opinion) almost magical take place as simple ingredients turn out into tasty, nourishing and comforting pastries and dishes. This is one those 24-hour projects but it actually requires more time than work.

DARK DANISH RYE BREAD

(makes 1 loaf)

190g whole rye grains
60g sunflower seeds
500ml boiling water
250ml plain yoghurt, at room temperature
3tbsp clear honey
1tbsp sea salt
1tbsp fennel seeds
125g dried cranberries (optional)
5tbsp carob powder (or cacao powder)
4tsp dried yeast
400g whole rye flour
150g whole spelt flour
60g light spelt flour


Place the rye grains and sunflower seeds in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let sit for 15 minuten, then add the yoghurt, honey, salt, fennel seeds, cranberries and carob powder and stir with a wooden spoon. Use your finger to test the temperature of the mixture - it should be just warm. Stri in the yeast. Then add rye flour and stir until you have a smooth batter. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave for 1 hour at room temperature, until the dough is slightly bubbly.

Gradually add in enough of the spelt flour to form a dough. Turn out onto a floured work surface (I skipped this step, for I find that rye bread doughs are next to impossible to remove from your work surfaces, and kneaded in the bowl instead). Knead for about 5 minutes, adding the remaining spelt flour until it is firmer, but still slightly sticky and quite heavy. Form it into a ball and return to the bowl. Slap some water on the top with your hands. Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge for 8-10 hours or overnight.

Place the dough into an oiled loaf tin and press down with your fists to get rid of any air pockets. The dough should be quite sticky. Brush the top with water and dust it with rye flour. Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside to rise slightly for 2 hours.

Bake the loaf on the slowest shelf of the oven in 200 celsius for 1 hour. Turn off the heat and leave the loaf in the oven for further a 15 minutes. Remove from the tin and leave to cool on a wire rack for at least 4 hours. This is important to allow the bread to set, which makes it easier to cut. Keep for about a week.


My loaf ended up a little underdone; I felt the dough could have taken in more flour but I wanted to give it a chance since I hadn't made this bread earlier and I didn't really know how it should be like. (Also longer time in the oven could maybe have solved the problem though I already gave it some: after turning the heat off and the 15 minutes I had it in the oven without the tin for a further 8 minutes.) The bread didn't hold together very well when cut in slices, though I waited the 4 hours. Maybe I should've waited more? But it tasted really good and had a wonderful smell of christmas! (I used cacao powder instead of carob and skipped the cranberries. I didn't have light spelt flour so I substituted it and some of the whole spelt flour with wheat flour. Also next time I'd halve the amount of fennels seeds.)


Soundtrack for the recipe: Chopin's Nocturne No.11 by Elisabeth Leonskaja

HOT CHOCOLATE

50g dark cocoa powder
40g raw cocoa powder
90g organic cane sugar
30g lucuma
8g cinnamon


Weigh everything in a bowl (pouring cocoa powder through a sieve) and mix well. Store in an airtight container.

Warm up about 250ml whole milk in a casserole but don't let it boil (milk gets an awful taste when it boils)! Whisk in 3 heap tablespoons or so of the cocoa mixture. Wrap yourself in a blanket, listen to good, calming music and enjoy.

(If you want the measures in millilitres, holler, I could measure them the next time I make some. But really, a digital scale comes in very handy in the kitchen!)