The finished Raw Torte de Chocolate with Strawberry Icing, decorated with raw pecans and double impatients.
Oooooo, this one turned out really well, both as eye candy and truly tasty. This Raw Torte de Chocolate with Strawberry Icing was an experimental cake for the combined birthday party for my son and his wife. Mason, my grandson the sous chef, assisted. His job this time was pouring the ingredients into the food processor and then licking clean the emptied work bowl. He did take some photos and I did give him a bit of the torte mix to play with. A job well done.
The cake formed and ready to frost as the sous chef looks on with approval.
This came together quite quickly in the food processor. Be sure to process the nuts first, gradually adding the rest of the ingredients to mix in evenly. If you just throw everything in at once, there will be a lot of stopping and scraping and manually mixing and pressing it all together. I imagine a Vita-Mix would make short work of it all. It is on my short list of equipment to add to the kitchen along with a food dryer.
The soaking is short term–only an hour which doesn’t require too much thinking ahead, but it is essential. Soaking nuts, seeds, grains, or beans brings them to life again with augmented nutritional content as they begin to grow. Once the torte is mixed, there is no baking time, just manually forming the torte and chilling until firm. It could be formed into almost any shape. I did start a day ahead to let the completed cake firm up with an overnight chill in the fridge. This also allowed more time to do the rest of the party prep the day of.
The partially frosted raw cake.
Frosting on, ready to be chilled.
A raw cake is dense and potent in flavor, so the servings can be petite. It is more like candy than cake in intensity, but with no refined sugar, plus no wheat or soy. For the valentine theme, I chose strawberries for the topping, resulting in an alluring shade of pink. The combination of strawberry and chocolate with a little vanilla is classic, especially for Valentine’s Day. On the day of the party I checked the greenhouse to find whatever edible flowers might be blooming. It turned out to be double impatiens—no hibiscus flowers were open. Another option would have been streaking melted chocolate over the top that would have become solid as soon as touching the cold cake. The candles were a birthday party addition, but for Valentines Day, no candles are necessary.
¡Feliz Dia de Amistad!
Putting on the candles for the party.
Raw Torte de Chocolate with Strawberry Icing
Yield: one nine inch heart cake
For the Cake:
2 ½ cups pecans (12 ounces), soaked in pure water 1 hour
2 ½ cups pitted medjool dates
6 tablespoons raw cacao nibs, ground superfine
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
Drain the pecans and process the soaked nuts in a food processor into a fine meal. The soaking water can be used as stock for another recipe. Gradually process in the dates, ground cocoa nibs, and vanilla, continuing to process until the mixture forms a ball. Transfer to wax paper on a flat surface and form into the desired shape, about ¾-inch thick, then slip the paper onto a serving plate or platter. Cover and refrigerate until firm.
For the Icing:
1 cup macadamia nuts or raw cashews, soaked in pure water 1 hour
1 cup strawberries, stems removed (fresh or frozen)
¼ cup pitted medjool dates
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Drain the nuts (reserve the soaking water for stock) and combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender, process until smooth, thick, and creamy. Cut or peel the wax paper away from the cake then spread the icing over the chilled torte, and chill again until all is firm.
The raw cake cut open. I cut pieces about an inch wide and 1.5 inches long.
February 5, 2010
As much as possible I like to eat either what I can grow or find locally. There occasionally comes a time in the middle of winter when I give in to the less green options, especially when the pineapples start showing up from Central America, and the oranges and pomegranates are harvested in Southern California. So for a special treat recently with snow on the ground the icicles falling, Mason and I put together a colorful winter fruit ambrosia. His small hands were quite adept at separating the pomegranate seeds from their membranes after I opened it up for him. After slicing off the top off a pomegranate, you can usually see it has five sections separated by membranes that can be slit down with a knife and pulled open for easy access. If you can’t find a pomegranate, dried cranberries are a good substitute.
For chunks from a fresh pineapple, slice off about ½ inch of the top and bottom, then stand the fruit upright. Using a flexible, serrated knife, slice off the skin following the curve of the pineapple, cutting off as many of the dark brown eyes as possible with each downward slice and leaving as much fruit as possible. (You can always nibble out any good bits left attached to the removed skin). If you don’t get all the eyes with the first cutting, a shallow “V” cut can be made diagonally around the pineapple following the pattern of the eyes to lift them out. For pineapple chunks, cut the whole pineapple lengthwise into quarters, slice out the core, and chop into chunks.
We added fresh organic navel orange chunks and slices of a banana to the bowl along with some unsweetened shredded coconut, plus a touch of almond extract. The juices from the fresh fruit dress the mixture. This is definitely kid friendly food, as illustrated below. Mason has a pomegranate juice beard.
Mason mixing the Winter Fruit Ambrosia.
Winter Fruit Ambrosia
Yield: 8 to 10 cups
2 oranges, peeled and chopped
2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
1 banana, sliced
1/2 cup fresh pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
This makes a wonderful winter fruit treat since all these fruits should be easy to find seasonally in a supermarket. It can be made a day ahead without the banana, which can be sliced and added upon serving. Serve as a salad, snack, or dessert.
Sampling the Ambrosia.
February 1, 2010
Maneuvering the holidays without refined sugar is a challenge, to say the least, but not impossible. Raw sweet treats rule here. And it is not too late—there are still parties coming up! During this holiday season, I decided to break with tradition and not make cookies, but experiment with raw, natural ingredients for the goodies for gifts, parties, and family get-togethers.
Raw Cranberry Treat ingredients ready to process.
One of my favorite holiday foods are cranberries, but they usually come loaded with refined sugar in the form of sauce, breads, or cookies. Naturally sweet medjool dates sweeten these treats and nuts help to firm them up. I tried several different versions, including adding raw apple, pomegranate seeds, and unsweetened coconut. They tend to be soft, but can still be served as finger food for gentle fingers.
Raw Cranberry Treats
Yield: 30-one inch balls
- 2 cups raw cranberries, fresh or frozen (1/2 pound)
- 8 pitted medjool dates (4 ounces pitted)
- 1 cup raw walnuts or pecans (4 ounces)
- 2 teaspoons powdered organic orange peel or 1 tablespoon fresh zest
- pinch of salt
Process all ingredients in a food processor until coarsely ground, then chill for an hour or so until it firms up a bit to roll into balls. A little grapeseed oil on the hands will keep them from sticking to the hands while rolling. Try rolling some in unsweetened dry coconut shreds for variety. These will keep in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days, if they last that long.
After processing.
Raw Cranberry Treats
For an awesome raw cranberry sauce, replace the nuts with a small peeled orange and/or apple and process.
December 28, 2009
