Simple Fives

Easy Does It Raw Desserts

May 14, 2011 at 3:26 am Leave a comment

I went to a birthday party last weekend that featured two cakes: the old Costco bakery standby and an exquisite “raw” creation from organic, vegan restaurant Cafe Gratitude. The dessert consisted of deliciously moist almond flour cake layered with fresh strawberries and a whipped “cream” made from cashews and coconut milk. Low-cal the cake was not, but it was packed with fortifying, nutrient-rich ingredients and two slices later (I’m not shy when it comes to asking for seconds), I felt like a million bucks – far from the sugar bomb ickiness that would come with eating that much of a standard baked cake.

I couldn’t stop thinking about this divine dessert, so I visited Cafe Gratitude a few days later to sample a couple of their other offerings: tiramisu and chocolate coconut cream pie, both made entirely of raw, vegan ingredients and both absolutely scrumptious. I decided that – rather than blow my meager writer’s paycheck gorging myself at Cafe Gratitude every other day – I would learn how to make similar goodies at home. I spent an hour or so researching raw food recipes online (I found a lot of good stuff on The Sunny Raw Kitchen and Rawmazing) and came up with a list of recipes to try. I was delighted to find that, while my creations didn’t approach the caliber of Cafe Gratitude’s professionally made offerings, they were still awfully tasty and – most important of all – pretty easy to make. I also discovered that many raw desserts consist of essentially the same five ingredients, with a few additional items thrown in for flavor and texture. In my admittedly limited raw dessert preparation experience, those “magic five” ingredients are:

1. Medjool Dates – The go-to sweetener for raw desserts. Agave nectar also comes up frequently in recipes, but I’ve found that the dates are already so sweet, you don’t really need anything else. You can find them at your local grocery, farmers market or bulk bin mart.

2. Ground-up Nuts – You can either buy almond meal or another type of nut flour, or get nuts in pieces or whole and then grind them yourself in a food processor, coffee grinder or blender. Almond flour is commonly used in recipes, but walnuts work equally well.

3. Unsweetened Shredded Coconut – This adds a lovely flavor and texture to pie crusts and cookies. It can also be blended with water to make coconut milk, a common ingredient in pie/cake fillings and whipped “cream.”

4. Cashews – This is a common base ingredient for raw whipped “cream,” but I’ll admit I’m still having some trouble whipping the nuts to a light, fluffy consistency. Some recipes call for soaking the cashews for hours and others don’t. I’ve tried it both ways, but still end up with something lumpy (but delicious, nonetheless). Maybe I need a more powerful blender.

5. Coconut Water/Almond Milk – I keep both items on hand and alternate between the two when I need to add moisture to a batter or cream.

If you’re interested in creating truly healthy desserts with absolutely no refined sweeteners, consider this your starter shopping list. And below is a terrific starter recipe – scandalously easy and delicious.

Raw Coco-Nutty Macaroons (This is essentially a raw interpretation of the Nutty Coconut Cookies recipe)

Ingredients:
1 cup almond meal
4 medjool dates, seeds removed and roughly chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 to 2 tablespoons coconut water
Pinch of cardamom (to taste)

1.  Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until well combined, adding the second tablespoon of coconut water if it seems too dry.
2. Shape dough into a ball; flatten and use a cookie cutter to make whatever shapes you wish. (If you don’t have cookie cutters, you can also just break off pieces of the dough and flatten it into cookies or roll it into balls – it will taste great no matter what form it takes.)

Stay tuned for more recipes here at Simple Fives, or visit the raw food websites I mentioned above for inspiration and have at it!

Entry filed under: Healthy Living, Sweet Treats. Tags: .