HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

So about a month ago my father decided to go all raw. For those of you who don't know what that means...he eats nothing but raw fruits, veggies, and nuts. And he is loving it! (I wish I could say the same for myself.) Soooo...I thought it would be a great idea to make him a raw birthday cake.

Me and baking have a long and tumultuous history together. We actually hate each other. A few years ago when I quit my architecture job and I didn't know what I wanted to do I thought it would be a great idea to start a cupcake company. Well, the last I pursued that business I made cupcakes for 10 hours and made $15. I was also the most stressed out I had ever been. I mean it. I had an easier time getting a masters degree than baking cupcakes...wah wah whaaahhh!

So why did I think this time would be any different? Well, for one I knew going into this that I wouldn't be baking per say. Since it is raw there is no heat involved. I looked up a recipe online for a raw chocolate "cake", got the ingredients, and started making it this morning. After making the full recipe, I realized that it was half the amount that it needed to be. I'm not sure what kind of crack the lady who posted this recipe was smoking, but I read the recipe front to back like 6 times...and the error definitely wasn't on my end. SO I went back to the food store and bought MORE ingredients. Made the second batch. Put it all together, and VOILA!

If it tastes even half as good as it looks I will consider it a SUCCESS!  *ding  I massaged the F-ed up recipe as I was going and here is what I used:

CAKE

• 1- 10 oz pkgs dried pitted dates
• 1/2 c. water
• 1 tbsp. raw honey or regular honey
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 lemon juice
• pinch sea salt
• 3 c. ground raw almonds, cashews, macadamia nuts
• 1 c. finely ground dried coconut or raw coconut flour
• 1/2 c. raw cocoa powder

ICING

• 4 egg whites (room temperature)
• 3 boxes confectioner sugar

TOPPING & FILLING

• strawberries
• blackberries

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: You need to make 2 batches of the recipe above; one for each layer. Also, only one will fit in your food processor at a time which is why you need to make two. 

date mush

this is what it should look like

the bottom of this comes out so it is easy to remove

Instructions:

• In food processor, put in all nuts and coconut. Grind until finely chopped. Put in another bowl.
• In food processor, put in dates, honey and water. Grind into a paste. 
• Add back in ground nuts and the rest of the ingredients.
• Mix thoroughly.
• Oil the spring-form pan with coconut oil so it doesn't stick...don't be afraid to be generous
• Mold dough into spring-form pan of choice (note: whatever you use must have a removable base...Google it if you don't know what I am talking about)
• Put in refrigerator.
• Repeat steps above for second layer.
• In KitchenAid mixer (or similar), beat 4 egg whites for a few minutes.
• Add in confectioner's sugar a little at a time until desired consistency (NOTE: you may not use all of the sugar listed in the ingredients above, but better to have more than run out in the middle like I did)
• Put icing in the refrigerator.
• Chop fruit into small pieces.
• Arrange layers- cake, icing, fruit, cake, icing , fruit.
• Refrigerate if not serving immediately.

There you have it folks...it is expensive, and time consuming, but if you have a loved one in your life who is on a raw food diet, it would be a nice surprise! 

I tasted the cake before I put it all together and it definitely has a nutty flavor (to say the least). Not sure what it is going to taste like all put together with the icing and fruit. Will let you know!

Have any of you ever made a raw cake before?




12/2 UPDATE: So the "cake" was a hit last night. It was edible, which was what I was going for. It was also the most dense cake I have ever eaten, actually it was more like a brownie, but good. I would imagine that it could be done in a coconut version as well. I would just leave out the cocoa powder and add in more dried coconut and instead of strawberries you could use mushed up bananas and more coconut shavings...and the icing of coarse. I will try that and report back :) Oh and I also figured out why the original recipe was so small...because the cake is so dense that you can only physically eat a tiny piece of it. So unless you are making it for a huge party....1 batch would suffice, just use a smaller spring-form pan (I used 9" I think, I would use 6" next time).