Posts Tagged ‘dessert’
Recipies: Vegan and Raw
Posted on: October 30, 2012
- In: Healthy Body | Healthy Home | raw food | veggie foods
- 1 Comment
Just Desserts
Posted on: October 11, 2012
- In: Cooking | Entertaining | Healthy Body | Healthy Home
- 1 Comment
- In: Cooking | Entertaining | raw food | veggie foods
- 2 Comments
This Raw Chocolate Cheesecake really is something special! Very creamy and chocolatey and so easy to make, mmmmmm!
RECIPE
For the base:
3 medjool dates
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 cup cocoa (or raw cacao powder)
For the filling:
2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for at least an hour
1/2 cup cocoa butter (raw cacao butter), melted
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cocoa (or raw cacao powder)
2 tsp vanilla extract
For the topping:
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup cocoa butter (raw cacao butter), melted
3 tbsp agave nectar or maple syrup
5 tsp cocoa (or raw cacao powder)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Mix all the base ingredients together in a food processor until crumbly and just starting to stick together. Press the mixture into the bottom of an 8 inch round loose-bottomed tin. Place in the fridge while you make the filling.
2. Blend the drained cashews with the melted cocoa butter, water and maple syrup until smooth and creamy. Then add in the cocoa and vanilla and blend again. Spoon the mixture on to the base and smooth down evenly. Place in the freezer while you make the topping.
3. Stir the agave, cocoa and vanilla into the melted oils until well combined and glossy. Let cool slightly but not so much that it starts to harden. Pour the topping over the cheesecake and place in the fridge to set. Leave it at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.
See the original recipe here (this one is slightly adapted and uses cocoa butter in the filling instead of coconut oil) and see how lovely it looks made in individual pans!
- In: Cooking | raw food | veggie foods
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- Equipment Needed: Blender, Food Processor
- Makes: 6 sandwiches
Description
We aren’t going to lie, if you make this recipe you WILL be dreaming about it for weeks after! These sandwich cookies are a decadent, delicate treat for a special occasion or just because. You can’t go wrong with a rich cacao cream sandwiched between two chewy coconut cookies.
Recipe by
Ingredients
For the macaroons:
2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes
2 tsp ground spiced tea (I used 2 bags of bengal spice)
1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder
1/8 tsp sea salt
4 dates, chopped
1/4 cup raw agave nectar
2 tbsp coconut butter, softened
2 tbsp water
For the cacao cream filling:
1/3 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least one hour
1/4 cup coconut butter, softened
3 tbsp raw agave nectar
1/2 tbsp cacao powder
1/4 tsp vanilla bean powder
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
Methods/steps
For the cookies:
1) In a food processor, process the coconut flakes, ground tea, vanilla bean powder and salt until combined.
2) Add the remaining ingredients and process for a minute or two until well combined. The mixture should stick together when pressed between two fingers. If it seems too dry, add more water.
3) Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, scoop the dough onto a dehydrator tray and gently flatten with the bottom of a glass (you should get 12 small cookies). Dehydrate the macaroons at 105 degrees for about 6 hours or until desired texture is achieved. They should be crisp on the outside but still chewy on the inside.
4) Spread a small amount of the filling (recipe below) on half of the cookies and press another plain cookie on top to form a macaroon cookie sandwich.
For the cacao cream filling:
1) Blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.
Vanilla panna cotta with mixed berry compote
by Jenny @ Ichigo Shortcake on August 21, 2012
I have a confession to make. I love shopping at Costco. My heart starts to pound when I see 1.5kgs of butter and my palms get itchy walking by the 1kg peanut butter jars and 2kg cream cheese blocks. I could often be seen at the front of the line when a new batch of sample steaks are about ready and I would rarely say no when staff offer me free cheese to try. When my mum and I joined Costco, we literally spent $400-500 each time we shopped there. In fact, I think she still does.
My rational is that sometimes it’s just convenient to buy things in bulk when you know you need it for say a large party, or because well, they just look so cool (how awesome would it be if you built a house with butter bricks? It might melt in the sun but still…) and Costco is so far away from me so I have to get more of what I need in one go….ok…deep breathe.
Of course, one of the issues that come with buying in bulk is buying too much of something that you possibly won’t need or use for a very long time (talking from experience here) and it’s bad when the product is perishable (duh), tiny bit better if it can be frozen (if you have the freezer space).
Just the other day, I was digging through Yuye’s freezer and found a bag of mixed frozen berries that I haven’t seen for a long time. I panicked. It had 500g of berries left and was nearing its expiry date. A lot of recipes went through my head at that moment, in a frantic struggle to not let a perfectly good bag of berries go to waste.
The recipe that I settled on was this lovely vanilla panna cotta with mixed berry compote. The compote turned out a little more watery than I wanted but that’s because the berries were not as fresh. You can tell if the berries had huge clumps of ice stuck to them, signalling that you will get a lot of water in your compote. If you used fresh berries or a fresh bag of frozen berries, it should turn out a lot better.
I also made the mistake of putting the panna cotta in glasses that were too large, so they ended up only filling 3 glasses but should actually fill 4 regular ones. As a result, I also struggled to finish one glass by myself. Yuye didn’t seem to mind the size though and even ate my left over portion. Considering he doesn’t usually have a sweet tooth, it must mean that he thought they were quite delicious. 
I made a mental note that next time I buy a bag of these frozen berries, I need to have a few recipes lined up first.
Also feel free to substitute mixed berries with just one type such as blueberries as this will also turn out very well.
Vanilla panna cotta with mixed berry compote
Total time: 6 hours 20 mins
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking & setting time: 6 hours
Serves 4
Adapted from David Lebovitz
Ingredients
For the panna cotta
• 2 cups heavy cream (if you don’t like it as creamy, you can use half cream and half milk)
• 50g caster sugar
• 1/2 vanilla bean (cut lengthwise and seeds scraped out) or 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tbsp unflavoured powdered gelatin
• 2 tbsp cold water
For the berry compote
• 120g frozen mixed berries
• 30g caster sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (can be omitted)
Instructions
1. Combine cream and 50g sugar in a medium saucepan on medium heat. Add in vanilla bean seeds and pod (or vanilla extract) and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Discard vanilla bean pod.
2. Pour the 2 tbsp cold water in a small bowl, add in gelatine powder and let sit for roughy 10 minutes – do not stir.
3. Pour simmered cream mixture over gelatine and stir until all the gelatine is dissolved.
4. Pour cream mixture into 4 serving glasses or ramekins and leave in the fridge to set for a few hours or overnight.
5. Put frozen mixed berries, sugar and vanilla in a medium saucepan and heat on medium high until melted and soft. Stirring occasionally to melt the sugar.
6. Take off heat and cool.
7. When the panna cotta has set, in the fridge and ready to be served, spoon berry compote over the serving glasses and top with a mint leaf. Serve chilled.
Panna cottas are so easy to make and can be made ahead of time so they are perfect party finishers that can wow guests.
Fig, Ricotta and Honey Tart
Posted on: August 23, 2012
- In: Cooking | Entertaining | veggie foods
- 2 Comments
Ingredients…
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry, store bought
- 4 tablespoons ricotta cheese
- 1 tablespoon goat cheese
- 2 tablespoons your favorite Boursin cheese
- 1 1/4 teaspoons honey (I used wildflower honey)
- 2 1/4 figs, stemmed and quartered
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- small handful of argula
- 2 slices proscuitto (optional)
Making It…
- Thaw the puff pastry according to the package directions.
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Place the puff pastry on a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet. Fold the edges of the puff pastry over on itself to form a 1/2″ border along all four sides of the sheet. With a sharp knife, gently score the puff pastry along the inside edge of the folded over border, and prick the pastry inside the borders with a fork at 1″ intervals.
- Bake until puffed and golden brown in color, about 8 minutes at sea level; 11 minutes at 6500 feet above sea level.
- In a small bowl, combine the cheese and 1 teaspoon of the honey. Mix well with a fork to form a smooth spread. Spread the cheese inside the borders of the puff pastry, and arrange the fig quarters on top. Return to the oven for 5 – 6 minutes at sea level until the cheese is very soft and the rim of the pastry a golden-brown; 8 – 9 minutes at 6500 feet above sea level.
- Remove from the oven and sprinkle the thyme over the tart. Tear the proscuitto, if using, into small long pieces and arrange on the tart. Add the arugula.
- Drizzle the remaining honey over the tart from the tines of a fork.
- Slice with a pizza slicer so there is one fig quarter per piece, and serve.
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