(raw vegan, gluten-free*)
These little chocolate cakes have given me another perfect opportunity to rave with total geekoid enthusiasm on the deliciousness of raw food’s sheer simplicity. Not just in the ingredients, but in method and execution. Sure, you can get very elaborate with equipment, multiple steps and layers, and time consuming processes to achieve the end result, but it certainly isn’t always necessary.
As I’ve said before, I’ve never been into the whole sweets and baking thing, and really don’t have all that much of a sweet tooth, period. Yes, I know I’m weird. I’m a 37 year-old woman that hasn’t a hint of a chocolate addiction. At best, whenever I do have a sweets craving, chocolate or not, it’s usually dictated by the time of month. The last couple of days happen to have been one of those occasions, and instead of hitting the Godiva store for a fix, I decided to take a chance and come up with some kind of chocolate mint cookie. Maybe even an Oreo-like sandwich cookie – at least that was my original thought.
You see, even an anti-baking sweet tooth idiot like me can create something pretty fool-proof, fancy, and so good that whoever your lucky guinea pigs are would never even know these are a “raw” treat. Raw ingredients allow so much room for adjustment and non-precision. Real baking is quite the opposite, which is why I probably never got along with it. You have to have the exact amount of this and exact amount of that. One ingredient off, and your cake will fall flat. Leave your cookies in a minute too long, and they’re like hockey pucks instead of moist and chewy.
Furthermore, even if you love to bake (and I commend those who do, it’s truly an art). . .even if you know hardly a thing about raw food. . .or maybe you’re just looking for a decadent way to enjoy your chocolately sweets without the guilt, raw desserts are your savior! Not only are they guilt-free, they’re naturally good for you!
After doing some recipe research both online and through all of my wonderful raw food books, it’s apparent that formulas and methods for chocolate desserts vary greatly, with the exception of a few fundamental ingredients like cacao nibs, cacao powder, and agave, just to name a few. So with the basics I gathered, I headed to the kitchen last night and pulled out everything I thought would work for the cookie portion. Because this was a totally winged first attempt, there is no real recipe. Every step was an experimentation.
I began by making a rich chocolate syrup from cacao nibs, agave, and coconut butter and processed until completely silky smooth. From there, hazelnut flour, pecans, vanilla extract, peppermint oil, cocoa powder, rolled oats, chopped dates, and a pinch of salt were added. I took a small ice cream scooper and dolloped portions onto Teflex deyhdrator sheets. And then, with the back of the scooper dipped in water (for non-sticking) I gently pressed into each dough ball to create concave cups. They were dehydrated for 12 hours at 110 degrees. The end result was much more of a rich cake texture, rather than a cookie – hence, “mini cakes”.
The filling was simply made with cashews that were pre-soaked for 8 hours and refrigerated. I blended them with agave, vanilla extract, coconut butter, and a pinch of salt. The key in getting a silky smooth, crème texture is drizzling in very cold water simultaneously while processing, as well as blending very well and adjusting ingredients throughout the process.
I filled a plastic storage bag, corner snipped and fitted with a cake decorating tip, with the cashew crème and filled each mini cake. Finally, I let them chill and set in the refrigerator for about an hour before serving.
I loved how chocolately rich and delicious these turned out, but I will definitely make a few small adjustments next time around. They were so easy! And the 12 hour dehydration time should never be a set-back since this is something you can conveniently do before going to bed.
* Make sure rolled oats are not from facility which processes wheat products, which could result in cross-contamination and therefore would not be considered gluten-free.
<3, JMK
