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Raw Ombre Cake (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

Raw Ombre Cake

Raw Ombre Cake

In the midst of a heavy work-week, it may be that all we care about is getting in and out of the kitchen as quickly as possible, living on leftovers and quick fixes. But every now and then, the occasion calls us to create something truly special. Maybe we get tired of preparing the same old dishes everyday, or we read a new blog post that re-kindles our passion for food.

Raw Ombre CakeThe Raw Ombre Cake featured in this post is a fantastic pick for those times. Looking over the instruction set and list of ingredients may feel intimidating at first, but with the right tools, a little know-how, and a desire to eat a bunch of delicious cake…anything is possible.

We recently had a chat with Shanna Jade of Kiss My Bowl, and she graciously granted us permission to share her seriously-epic, raw-vegan cheesecake recipe. Although Shanna has recently moved on to other business opportunities, her special talent for creating decadent desserts is evident here.

Here are her thoughts on the matter:

“Of all the things that can be made vegan, or even vegetarian for that matter – my favorite to play with is cake. Something about the prettiness of a cake, the elegance. Sure you can make a pretty mean looking burger, get mouths watering and imaginations wandering about exactly how flavorful it’ll be, what the crunch factor might be on the pickle or the spice in the oozing drippy sauce. A cake however, is so much more artsy than a burger. Maybe because cakes are delicate, the time and precision that goes into crafting a cake is somehow more impressive to me. The bottom line is, for me, cakes are an absolute pleasure to make.”

Shanna’s cake is gluten-free, cashew-based, and free from refined sugar. This recipe is a very clear example of plant-based awesomeness that can help to keep us all excited about healthy and compassionate eating. Give it a try and let us know what you think!

I really hope you enjoy our Raw Ombre Cake, excerpted from Kiss My Bowl and perfect for anyone who wants to demonstrate to themselves that they can create artistic, decadent dishes on the fly.

Raw Ombre CakeMakes: 1 large cheesecake

This is a great recipe to show-off to your non-vegan friends and family members. It’s also an awesome choice for communal gatherings and events. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to a potluck where the raw-vegan cheesecake totally stole the show.

Note that preparation time is likely to be somewhere around 2 hours from beginning to end.

For a touch of visual flare, add reserves from the preparation to a piping bag and place in the fridge to harden. Once firm, pipe the designs of your choice onto the cake before setting overnight.

For the best results, it’s best to use a high speed blender to pulverize the nuts. This is important to create a smooth, creamy final product. 

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Raw Ombre Cake (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

Ingredients

    Shortbread Base
  • 10 dates
  • 1 cup macadamia nuts
  • 2 tablespoons coconut flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • ⅓ cup melted cacao butter or coconut oil
    Blueberry Ombre Filling
  • 3 cups cashews (soaked for at least 6 hours)
  • 1 can thick full fat coconut cream
  • Juice of 2 small lemons
  • ½ cup + 1 tablespoon brown rice syrup
  • ½ cup melted cacao butter
  • ½ cup melted coconut oil
  • 8+ tablespoons blueberry powder
  • 2 tablespoons acai powder (optional, used only for color)

Instructions

  1. First off prep a 6" spring form cake pan by rubbing solid coconut oil onto the base, then lining the sides with wax paper.
  2. Melt the cacao butter or coconut oil for the crust in a heat-proof bowl over warm water.
  3. Pour some more warmed water over the dates and allow to soak - this will make them easier to feel for pit fragments (pit if they're unpitted) and to blend.
  4. While the dates are soaking, blitz the macadamias in a food processor. You're shooting for a bit of crunch so blitz to a semi fine crumb.
  5. Add the dates to the food processor and pulse until the macadamias and the dates begin forming a paste.
  6. Add the coconut flour, continue mixing, and then the oil.
  7. The crust mixture should be uniform with no bits of dry coconut flour.
  8. Press the crust mixture into the bottom of your prepared pan and place in the freezer to set.
    To make the filling:
  1. Add the soaked cashews, can of coconut cream, lemon juice and brown rice syrup to a high speed blender.
  2. Blitz, you may need to use the toggle, until smooth and creamy.
  3. Add the melted cacao butter and coconut oil.
  4. Pour the cashew mixture in equal parts into four bowls.
  5. Leave one bowl creamy white, mix 2 tablespoons of blueberry powder into one bowl, 4 tablespoons of blueberry powder into the next, and the last bowl mix in the remaining blueberry powder as well as the acai powder.
  6. Remove the crust from the freezer, pouring in all but 2 tablespoons of the the darkest mixture onto the crust. Return to the freezer until just set (about 15-20 minutes). Leave the few extra tablespoons in the bowl for later.
  7. Continue the process of layering each color once the one before it has set until you're left with only the creamy white layer. Use the whole bowl, do not reserve any of the creamy white unless you want creamy white stars as decoration.
  8. Return the cake to the freezer to set for 10 minutes or so.
  9. Remove from the freezer and place the cake in the refrigerator to set over night.
https://www.truewellth.org/raw-ombre-cake-vegan-gluten-free

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Vegan Birthday Cake — Hazelnut Cake with Homemade Nutella (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

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I love birthdays.

In my family, ever since I was a little girl, we have always had the tradition of birthday breakfast.

The best parts about birthday breakfast?

ReganAndMom

The good ol’ days, celebrating birthdays with Mom.

VeganBirthday

Ready for birthday breakfast

Waking up to a  festively set table, time together in the morning when no one is rushing and, of course, a far more elaborate breakfast than the average day.

As a chef, I can’t help but remember each of the foods that my family members likes and dislikes.

We celebrated my Mom’s birthday a while back, and in honor of her special day I decided to use all of my mom’s favorite sweets — hazelnuts, chocolate, coconut and “dry, Italian almond cake” as inspiration for one, crumbly, delicious birthday cake.

This cake comes out with a deep caramel flavor from the coconut sugar/hazelnut combination, the nutella is the perfect complimentary icing, and I highly recommend  topping it all off with some coconut whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Needless to say, my mom loved it and I think you will too!

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VeganBirthdayCake

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Vegan Birthday Cake — Hazelnut Cake with Homemade Nutella (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

Vegan Birthday Cake — Hazelnut Cake with Homemade Nutella (Vegan, Gluten-Free)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup + 2 tbs light coconut milk
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 cup gluten free all purpose flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1/2 cup hazelnut meal (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup coconut sugar
  • 1/3 cup unrefined coconut oil
  • 1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a flour cake pan (with coconut oil).
  2. Whisk the vinegar into the almond milk and set aside.
  3. Whisk together the flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt.
  4. In the same bowl as the coconut milk and vinegar, combine the coconut sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla extract.
  5. Make a well in the flour mixture, pour in the wet coconut milk mixture.
  6. Stir until completely combined, being careful not to over mix.
  7. Pour into the greased and floured cake pan.
  8. Cook for about 30 minutes, or until the edges brown and pull away from the pan.
  9. To test and make sure the cake is done, stick a toothpick in the middle, if it comes out dry it’s finished.
  10. Let sit for about 5 minutes before removing from pan and letting cool on a wire rack.
  11. Once cooled, top and serve with:
  12. Homemade Nutella or you can opt for a store bought version.
  13. Homemade Coconut Whipped Cream or ice cream.
https://www.truewellth.org/vegan-birthday-cake-recipe

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Better Than Pumpkin Pie

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Fall weather has finally arrived here in Southern Arizona. The cold weather is usually at least a month late in this part of the country, but it does arrive eventually.

Temperatures are dropping and I’m getting excited for tea, soup, and cozy evenings reading by the fireplace.

This also means that certain, yearly, recurring events are soon upon us. That’s right, I’m talking about holiday-pocalypse 2014!

What? You think I’m being over dramatic? That if I had TiVo it would be filled with soap operas and telenovelas?

Ok, maybe I’m being a touch sensational, but holidays can be quite stressful for many of us on the plant-based path.

It may mean attending dinners filled with old favorites that you must forgo in order to stand by your healthy values.

It may mean cooking dinner for relatives that love to make fun of your plant-based choices.

In general it means standing out like a sore thumb in a culture that doesn’t see food as medicine, and the incredible power that we have to shift our health destiny based on the food choices that we make.

I know the challenges the holidays can bring, so in the coming weeks I’ll share some of my best ideas on how to truly enjoy the holidays while keeping your health and social standing intact…not always the easiest thing to do!

Today, I’ll get started with one of my favorite ways to win over family and friends and make sure that you truly enjoy yourself over the holidays.

The ol’ make an incredible, delectable, mouth watering dish that will impress the pants off everyone in the room.

You don’t even have to mention the fact that it’s plant-based, whole food, and free of refined sugar until someone says, “Wow, this is incredible! What’s in it?”

I love the look on their faces when they find out that the delectable dessert they just inhaled was actually as healthy as it was delicious.

As you know, I’m a big believer in simplicity. Most of my meals are very simple, and think it’s a great strategy for long-term success on the plant-based path.

But sometimes, you just need to knock the socks off your mother-in-law with an incredible culinary delight.

To that end, I asked my wonderful partner Regan to share one of her recipes with you. Of course I’m biased, but she is an absolutely fantastic chef with the credentials to back it up.

Regan

Regan

Originally trained in the french culinary tradition, she became interested in the plant-based lifestyle when a loved one was told to try eating “raw” in order address a serious health challenge.

This led her to a 6-month apprenticeship at a center specializing in plant-based nutrition where she was later hired as a chef (also where we just so happened to meet).

She now does chef consulting, health coaching, and makes the most incredible plant-based dishes that I’ve ever had.

In fact, I’ve asked her to play a big role in the future of this little site, so this will be the first of many wonderful recipes to come.

So without further ado, here is Regan to introduce the recipe:

Better Than Pumpkin Pie

When I walk into a grocery store in Autumn, I am overwhelmed by all the different varieties of squash available. Sometimes I think “What the heck are the fall decorations doing in the produce aisle?”

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Recently, I tasted one of these fall decorations — the Kabocha Squash, sometimes referred to as a Japanese Pumpkin. This squash is a wonderful replacement for pumpkin. The texture is creamier and the taste, sweeter. The result is a very healthy, out of this world pie.

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Better Than Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients

    Filling
  • 3 Cups Kabocha Squash, Cooked and Pureed
  • 2 Cups Cashews or Cashew Pieces, Soaked 8 Hours
  • ½ Cup Coconut Oil
  • ½ Cup Maple Syrup
  • 1 Tbs Lemon Juice
  • 1 Tbs Cinnamon
  • 2 tsp Ginger Powder
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Powder or 2 tsp of Vanilla Extract
  • ¼ tsp Nutmeg
  • ¼ tsp Cloves
  • ¼ tsp Salt
  • 2 Tbs Agar Agar Flakes, Dissolved in Water
    Crust
  • 1 Cup Buckwheat Groats, Whole or Ground Into Flour
  • 1 Cup Shredded Coconut, Groud Into Flour
  • ¾ Cup Pecans, Ground Into Meal
  • ¼ Cup Coconut Oil
  • 3 Tbs Maple Syrup
  • 1 tsp Vanilla Powder or 1 ½ tsp Vanilla Extract
  • ¼ Cup Water
  • ½ tsp Salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350༠
  2. In a Vitamix, grind the buckwheat groats into a flour and scrape into a medium large bowl. If you would like a crunchy crust, leave the buckwheat groats whole.
  3. Grind the shredded coconut into a flour and transfer into the same bowl as the buckwheat flour.
  4. Place the pecans in the Vitamix or food processor and pulse them until they are crumbly, careful not to blend too long or you will start to form pecan butter (...a delicious mistake!).
  5. Add the pecan meal and the remaining crust ingredients, mixing together until everything is sticky. If the mixture is not sticky enough, add some water, a little bit at a time.
  6. Press crust evenly into a springform pan
  7. Bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden brown.
  8. Allow pie crust to cool before adding the filling.
  9. In a saucepan, bring 1 and ¼ cups of water to a boil
  10. Add 2 Tbsp of Agar-Agar flakes and simmer until completely dissolved.
  11. Pour mixture in blender. In the same blender, add all of the filling ingredients except coconut oil.
  12. Blend at high speed until everything is smooth and completely combined.
  13. Dip a finger or spoon into the mixture and taste it. Make sure it is well balanced and adjusted to your preferences.
  14. Lastly, add the coconut oil. Using the tamper to scrape down the sides in a clockwise motion. Do not leave the blender running too long or the coconut oil will become over processed and take on an odd flavor. If you would rather not use the blender for this step or if the coconut oil does not completely blend in after 30 seconds, use a rubber spatula to fold in the oil, until completely combined.
  15. Pour the filling into the crust and place pie in the freezer to set.
  16. Freeze until firm, then transfer to the refrigerator. The pie should keep for about 5 days.
https://www.truewellth.org/better-than-pumpkin-pie

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Crust

 

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Filling

 

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Considerations

There were a few tips I wanted to share with all of you about the process of making this pie. They will save you the heartache of making a whole pie only to find out that it tastes just a little bit off.

  • I use a Vitamix. The Vitamix has a tamper attachment, which allows you to scrape down the sides of a very full blender while blending. Ensuring that everything is smoothly combined as quickly as possible.
  • I do not use a traditional pie pan when I make pies. I prefer to use a springform pan. I think they are easier to work with and the presentation is nicer.
  • Remember all equipment varies. For example, my oven may cook my pie crust slightly quicker than your oven. Ovens in general circulate heat differently. This rule applies to blenders, food processors, etc. This means, always keep an eye on things, give it care and take it slow.

Happy baking!

VeganPumpkinPie


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