Cherry Chocolate Cheesecake (raw, vegan)

Luscious, creamy, rich and delicious, this cake was my birthday present to myself. I have somewhat taken on the raw dessert queen role in my community and I take great pleasure in creating cakes and raw treats for friends birthdays. The time and money it can take to create one of these desserts is a true labor of love. And because I have taken on that role, I rarely get treated by someone else making me one of these desserts. So for my birthday, I made my own cake, because I prefer raw vegan desserts, and because I love myself 🙂

I do not make these desserts too often anymore but when I do I put all my heart into them and this one reflected that in it’s beautiful flavor combinations.

Don’t let the extensive list of ingredients scare you off, this cheesecake is worth every single bite!!

Sorry for the poor photograph. This cheesecake came out of the fridge right before serving to a bunch of friends and I didn’t take that time to take a better picture of the whole cake. 

 

 

Ingredients: Makes one 10 inch cake

Crust:

• 1 cup raw pecans
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes
• 1/2 cup oats
• 6-8 TBS raw cacao powder
• 1 cup pitted soft dates (medjool are my favorites for this)
• pinch of salt
•  2 TBS water

Steps:

• put all ingredients but water in food processor and blend until well combined but still loose, not formed into a sticky ball
• while the food processor is running, scant some water until it starts to get a tiny bit sticky. You might not need both TBS. If you used very sticky dates you might not need to do this.
• press this mixture at the bottom of springform pan that you have lined with wax paper. This will make taking out the cake at the end much easier.

 

Filling:

• 2 cups raw cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours or 30 minutes on hot water
• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used cashew milk because I had made some, but any other non dairy milk will work)
• 2 cups frozen cherries
• 2 TBS beet powder (optional, I used this to deepen the color)
• 3/4 cup raw agave or any other liquid sweetener
• 1 TBS lucuma (optional, I just really like the flavor)
• 1 cup coconut cream (the thick stuff from the can or if you can, get fresh young coconut meat!)
• 1/2 cup melted coconut oil
• 2 TBS soy lecithin

 

Steps:

• put all ingredients except coconut cream, coconut oil and lecithin in a blender and blend on high until very creamy
• add the rest and keep blending until well incorporated but do not over blend at this point
• pour in the pan over the crust
• put in the freezer for one hour to set then transfer to fridge until ready to eat, about 4 hours. Because I had made it the night before, I put it back in the freezer for 45 minutes before serving. OR make a sauce for the swirls before putting int he freezer.

 

 

If you want to add beautiful swirls like I did her is my chocolate sauce recipe. You need to pour this on the cheesecake before putting it in the freezer:

• 1/2 cup shaved raw cacao butter
• 1 TBS raw coconut butter
• 2 TBS coconut oil
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder
• dash of salt
• 1 TBS agave

Steps:

• put everything in a double boiler and melt
• pour in a easy pouring cup
• drizzle it over the cake and then take a toothpick or knife to create the designs
• now put it in the freezer  for one hour to set then transfer to the fridge.

Decorate as you wish and share the love!!!

 

 

 

 

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Chai Chocolate Rounds with Candied Ginger

I just really love chai flavors. It’s probably one of the reasons why Indian cuisine is one of my favorites. And you know what I love more than chai? Chocolate!!!! Combining the two was really a no brainer. So here you are friends, my latest chocolate creation, just in time for Valentines Day. Because if you love yourself or someone else, you surely want whats best, and what is better than home made refined sugar free chocolate? I rarely turn down chocolate, even the higher quality store bought one with sugar in it, but if given the choice, I will always go for a home made nutritionally beneficial option.

These little chocolates are so easy to make. I used silicone cupcake molds, but you could use actual chocolate molds, or even an ice cube tray. Just don’t fill that one up to the top unless you want a really thick chocolate!

If chai isn’t your thing, you can always play around with the flavors! Creativity is welcome here 🙂

 

Ingredients:

• 100 g. of cacao butter
• 1/8 cup coconut butter
• 1/2 cup cacao powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
• 1/4 tsp clove powder
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 1/4 tsp coriander powder
• 1 tsp orange zest
• dash of himalayan sea salt
• 2 TBS agave
• 2-3 TSBP thinly chopped candied ginger (optional, for a pure refined sugar free option) I have made these chocolates with freshly grated ginger and that was tasty also!

Steps:

• put all ingredients except ginger in a double boiler, or a bowl over a hot pot of water
• whisk together until all melted and well combined
• pour in molds, add a few pieces of ginger per mold, and freeze until hard
• depending on size of molds they can be done in a little as 30 minutes!!!
• keep in fridge or freezer until ready to eat

 

For some of my other Valentines Inspired recipes click here:

Fudge Balls:

https://anaboreal.wordpress.com/2015/02/20/cherry-cacao-fudge-balls/

Raspberry Ice Cream:

https://anaboreal.wordpress.com/2015/02/14/vegan-raspberry-ice-cream-with-peanut-butter-chocolate/

Pistachio Delight and Nutella Divine:

https://anaboreal.wordpress.com/2015/02/07/pistachio-delight-and-nutella-divine/

Gianduja Chocolates:

https://anaboreal.wordpress.com/2014/12/24/gianduja-chocolate/

 

Just Persimmons Pudding

Another persimmon pudding? Yes. I am shamelessly posting another persimmon pudding recipe. Mostly because I just made this today, faster than it took my boys to destroy the living room. That’s how quick this recipe is! And also because I love persimmons and my husbands client just gave us a huge bag of the Hachiya kind, which are the ones that need to be super ripe before eating, which means the best way to eat them in my opinion is prepared, not just as is, as they are so messy when they are ripe enough.

This isn’t even a recipe. It’s really just an inspiration for you guys 🙂

 

 

Ingredients:

• 4 really ripe persimmons
• 1/4 cup liquid (I used coconut milk)
• 1 chunk of fresh ginger (optional, but with people getting sick everywhere I throw ginger in everywhere I can to boost our immune systems!)

Steps:

• wash and stem the persimmons
• add everything to a blender
• blend on high, serve and enjoy!

 

I enjoyed mine over some warm buckwheat porridge with a bunch of spices added to it (cardamom, cinnamon and fresh grated ginger). Had a cup of chai tea with it, the perfect warming rainy day fall breakfast 🙂

Persimmon Pudding

Thick, creamy, silky, rich and unctuous, this little pudding got our tastebuds dancing!! I made this for our in house date night treat. When we feel like it’s been too long since we’ve gone on a date, we satisfy our need for connection with a little in house intentional time. It always includes a home made treat 🙂

It’s persimmon central at my house. I just can’t seem to ever buy enough at the farmers market, and just like bananas, when they start becoming too ripe to eat as is, there are so many fun recipes to create with them!!

This pudding was so easy and quick to make. A few ingredients, a blast of the blender and some spoonfuls later you are on your way to gastronomy heaven. And then, to really bring this dessert over the top, I added a square of some divinely tasty and healing chocolate. A Purified Life makes beautiful artisanal chocolates infused with healing and medicinal mushrooms. If you need an extra reason to eat chocolate other than the fact that it’s amazing, has numerous health benefits and lots of nutrients (antioxidants, calcium, magnesium, to name a few), eat A Purified Life’s chocolates, because she brings it over the top with her masterfully blended ingredients in order to provide us with the most satisfying cacao experience while healing our bodies at the same time.

http://www.apurifiedlife.com/superfood-chocolate/

While you wait for your chocolate order to ship, you should still whip up this pudding, add your own chocolate or eat it without.

Ingredients:

• 2 very ripe persimmons (hachiya or fuyu)
• 1/2 cup coconut water (or nut milk)
• 2 medjool dates (optional but oh so delicious!)
• 2 frozen bananas (not frozen is fine but I really love the texture that frozen bananas give)
• 1/2 cup coconut cream (the thick stuff in the can; or if you are up for it and have it on hand, replace that with fresh young coconut meat)

 

Steps:

• put first 4 ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth
• add coconut cream and keep blending until smooth
• pour in a glass or bowl, top it with fresh persimmon and chocolate if you like
• give a kiss to who ever you sharing this with and enjoy!!

 

Homemade Vegan Coconut Yogurt made into Parfaits

Thick, rich and creamy, not only is this yogurt delicious but it is good for the body with it’s probiotics and healthy fats. I have been seeing homemade yogurts for a while now. First at Nouveau Raw, if you have never checked this woman’s blog yet and you are in to raw foods, you MUST go now!!! She is incredible. Her creativity paired with her skill, knowledge and presentation leave me speechless. She is like the Martha Stewart of raw food.

Then I’ve seen this yogurt done several more times. But the one that finally got me doing it is Larice over at Feeding Your Beauty. Larice and I don’t know each other but reading her feels like we have been friends for a while because we seem to feel the same way about raising nutritionally conscientious children and have the same taste in food 🙂  She just made it all look and sounds so simple that I decided it was time for me to give it a go. And I am SO glad I did!!! And so are my kids!

Other than breaking open the coconuts, the yogurt in itself was so quick and simple and came out great the first time!

Will be making this often 🙂

Here I am showing you the yogurt turned into a delicious morning treat, by layering fresh fruit, a drizzle of honey and some homemade raw grawnola. 

Ingredients for the yogurt:

• 5 young thai coconuts
• 2/3 cup of coconut water
• 2 capsules of probiotics

Steps:

• open all the coconuts and sac the water aside. Larice shows her step by step system, in her post. Which is slightly different than mine but since hers is photographed you might as well check hers 😉
• put the young coconut meat in the blender with the water. Blend on high until a rich and creamy consistency is achieved. Add water if you want a slightly thinner yogurt.
• pour in a bowl, open the probiotic capsules and dump them in. Mix with a wooden spoon.
• put a towel over it and let it sit somewhere dark and warm for 12-24 hours. I left mine in my unopened, turned off stove.
• Taste it and if it’s to your liking, eat right away or store int he fridge where it will become a little more tangy.
• I have no idea how long this will last as we ate the whole batch in one sitting, my little family of 5.

Salted Caramel Infused with Chai Tea

Delicious caramel free of refined sugars, butter and health concerning ingredients? Ummm yes please! Creamy and sweet, with a hint of saltiness paired with the subtle chai tea flavors make this caramel sauce a winner in my sweet indulgences lately. Not only that, but it is (almost) raw, vegan and super quick to make!

I’ve had this caramel in some almond milk for a sweet drink, on top of homemade ice cream, with strawberries dipped in it, but mostly just out of the jar with a spoon.

This sauce was an accident. I had set out to make some chocolate creation. After putting the dates, mesquite and coconut oil in the blender, I realized that I was out of cacao powder (gasp!!!) How did I let that happen?? AND I was out of almond milk. I was sipping on some chai while I was making this, so I figured I would use that to get the blender going. After tasting it I quickly recovered form my chocolateless upset. It was delicious. Salt came to mind very quickly and in a matter of seconds the blender was going again to create this beautiful concoction that I have made a few times already.

While I am proud of my creation, I must admit, it’s hard to screw up when using such wholesome and delicious ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Coconut oil
• 10 soft Medjool Dates (approx 1 cup)
• 1 tsp mesquite
• 1/4 tsp salt (more or less to taste)
• 1/4 cup chai tea (more or less depending on the consistency you like)

Steps:

• boil some water and pour over chai tea, let steep for 5 minutes and strain
• add all ingredients to blender and blend on high until a nice and smooth texture is acheived
• store in an airtight container int he fridge for at leaf a week (maybe more?)

Note: Depending on the ingredients and how things got mixed, the caramel may or may not harden while in the fridge. The first time I made it it got hard in the fridge but quickly soften when put in some warm water. The second time it kept it’s creamy texture but I needed to put it in some walt water to be able to pour it over ice cream. No matter the texture though, it will become liquid again when warm and it will always taste delicious 🙂

Creamy Tahini Dressing on summer salad

Creamy and slightly sweet, this sauce dresses any salad beautifully. I whipped this dressing up in less than 5 minutes and drizzled it all over one of favorite summer time salads. My good friend Christina had brought a similar salad to a camping trip last summer, and ever since, I mindfully choose the sweetest perfectly ripened organic peaches form the market so I can make a version of that salad.

For this lunch in particular I combined about 3-4 cups of greens (arugula and spinach), with a large handful of sliced red cabbage, a large peach, 1 very large avocado, 2 TBS pecans, 3 TBS minced dill. Everything organic, everything local.

The nice crunch from the cabbage, combined with the juicy peaches pair wonderfully with the mild bitterness of the arugula and rich creaminess of the avocado. Add to that the sweet tahini dressing and pungent dill, and you got yourself a party of the senses in your mouth!!

Ingredients for Tahini dressing:

• 1 TBS tahini
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 3 TBS olive oil
• 1 tsp raw honey
• dash of salt

Steps:

• put everything in a bowl and whisk well until combined
• I used up this whole batch for my one salad.
• Make more to store for future use if necessary! I know I will!

Lemon Chia Pudding

This pudding is light, sweet and simple. Just a few ingredients away from a nice treat. I just scored a huge box a deliciously fresh figs so I topped this pudding off with them and it was a perfect edition, but I think any fruit will do 🙂

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups milk (I used almond milk)
• 2 soft medjool dates
• 4 TBS chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp lemon zest
• 4 figs for topping
• drizzle of chocolate sauce for extra decadence

Steps:

• put the milk and dates in a blender and blend on high until well incorporated
• add chia seeds and lemon zest and blend on low just enough to mix the chia seeds but not too much as to break them down, you can also do this by hand
• IMPORTANT: let sit for a few minutes and blend on low for a couple seconds, do this a few times. You’ll start seeing the chia seeds floating around in the milk and staying there, that’s what you want. If you skip this step you will end up with a pile of chia seeds at the bottom of your dish and the milk on top.
• pour in desired cups or bowls and put in fridge to set for at least 2 hours, or overnight is great too
• top it off with fruit and chocolate sauce if desired

Pistachio Cherry Chocolate Crunch Grawnola

The gentle nuttiness of the pistachio paired with the sweet tartness of the cherries are a perfect combination to the deep richness of the chocolate. The olive oil is a nice touch to add healthy fats without changing too much the previous flavors. While I generally use coconut oil in my grawnolas I wanted to switch it up as I truly do love the taste of a nice olive oil. And for this kind of recipe I really believe one should use high quality organic olive oil. This is my first time making this granola and I can say with confidence that it won’t be the last! Since all of these ingredients are not necessarily seasonal like my butternut granola or my orange cranberry one, I can make and enjoy this granola all year round! This is taking a high spot in my top favorites 🙂 Ingredients:

• 5 cups sprouted buckwheat or soaked for at least 8 hours and rinsed really well
• 1 cup small oats
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 1 cup organic olive oil (high quality is best here!)
• 1 cup dried cherries (no sugar added)
• 1 cup raw pistachios
• 1 cup quinoa crispies (omit this if you want a truly raw granola, you can add buckwheat groats or oats if you like)
• 3/4 cups homemade chocolate chunks or chocolate chips

Steps:

• mix first 3 ingredients in a large bowl until well combined
• add following 3 ingredients to a food processor and pule until the cherries and pistachios are broken down a bit but not fully blended
• combine all ingredients except chocolate and mix well adding the crisps last
• put on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for about 10-12 hours at 105*F
• add the chocolate once the granola is done and mix well
• enjoy with milk of your choice, mine is often home made fresh almond milk
• store in airtight glass containers for weeks!

Bread and Butter (Raw,vegan,delicious)

This raw bread is one of many variations that I make and it never fails to make me so happy every time I pull a batch out of my dehydrator. It is soft and moist just like sliced bread but it doesn’t leave me feeling too full or sluggish like I can sometimes get when eating bread. Not only that, but it is packed with nutrients making this bread and and butter breakfast not just something to fill up my belly but something to nourish and fuel me for several hours in my day!

The vegan butter is a twist on my childhood favorite. I grew up eating vegan butter that my family would make. I actually preferred eating that over butter, even though I grew up in the country in France where the butter we got was freshly made in our neighbors barn. Don’t get me wrong, that butter still tasted amazing to me, but on a regular basis, I preferred lathering my bread with the vegan homemade stuff. I remember my family using vegetable margarine, which I am not a fan of so I replaced it with coconut oil, which adds a really great flavor in my opinion. But if you are not a coconut fan, you can replace the coconut oil with another vegan oil or butter of your choice.

This butter if full of healthy fats, super easy to make, and lasts a really long time in the fridge!!! Several months I would say. But I usually make a small batch so that we go through it in several weeks.

Top it off with some homemade jelly or fruit spread and have a happy belly!!

The bread is a variation of this bread. I did not put coconut this time and used brown flax seeds instead to the golden. It was equally delicious.

Vegan Butter Recipe (raw):

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/2 cup nut butter (I mixed almond and hazelnut)
• use all raw ingredients if you want to keep this recipe all raw, but I have to admit I prefer the flavor of toasted nut butters

Steps:

• in a double boiler (or a glass dish over a boiling pot) melt all ingredients together
• store in a jar or ramekin in the fridge
• use just as you would any other butter!