Chocolate & Raspberry Raw Vegan Cake

Raw deserts are one of my biggest guilty pleasures. While they don’t fall under the “career” type of content, they have a special place in my heart so I will dedicate a post and a few lines to share this beautiful raw vegan cake recipe, that I prepared last year for my boyfriend’s birthday. Full disclosure: it’s gluten free, dairy free, flour free, sugar free, so it’s actually quite healthy.

The recipe is very simple but a little bit time consuming so make sure to plan for time ahead. Also, raw desserts are totally worth it so you should definitely give it a try and make your own version of a raw vegan cake.

Ingredients

Base

• 10 dates
• 1 cup walnuts or pecan nuts
• Maple syrup
• 1 tbs coconut oil
• 3 tsp water
• Cocoa powder, 2 tbs

Chocolate cream

• 1 1/2 cups of Cashews (soaked in water for 6-12 hours)
• Coconut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• Vanilla essence
• Cocoa powder
• Water, 3 tbs

Raspberry cream

• 1 1/2 cups of Cashews (soaked in water for 6-12 hours)
• Coconut oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• Vanilla essence
• Handful of raspberries
• Water, 3 tbs

Chocolate frosting

• 4 tbs coconut oil
• 2 tbs cocoa powder
• Maple syrup to taste, approx. 5 tbs

Directions

For the base, put the nuts into the food processor and leave until well chopped (don’t make it into cream like texture as the base can be more ‘rough” – think cheesecake base, here). Add the dates, which depending on your food processor you might want to pre-chop a little, maple syrup to your taste, cocoa powder and the water. (NOTE: This is actually the recipe that I use for making raw brownies, so if you stop at this point you will have successfully made my absolute favourite raw vegan desserts. Add the chocolate frosting on the top, freeze for an hour, and it will be the best dessert you can ever imagine).

Now, if you continue with the full cake, it’s time to start preparing the cream – both creams are made in the same way and instructions are pretty simple, for each layer put all ingredients in the food processor and mix until creamy. With that said, make sure the cashews have been soaked into water for a few hours. If you’ve missed that step and need to speed the process up, you can also put them into very hot water and leave them for 15-30 minutes – make sure to throw away the water and clean them with clean water once done. Afterwards mix all ingredients in the food processor until very creamy. Pour the chocolate layer over the base and freeze for about an hour. Prepare the raspberry cream in the same way – put all ingredients, including a handful of raspberries into the food processor and mix until creamy. Take the cake out of the freezer and pour half of the cream over it, then place a layer of  raspberries and “bury” them into the layer, and cover them with the rest of the cream. Place the cake back into the freezer for about an hour before preparing the chocolate frosting.

For the chocolate frosting melt the coconut oil (bain Marie or just heat up the stove and place a cup with coconut oil on it for a while ) and then add the cocoa powder and the agave syrup or you can also substitute it with honey. Mix by hand until it’s well mixed and pour it over the cake. Freeze again for an hour and the cake is ready.

Very important is to freeze the layers one by one for about one hour in between, to make sure they firm up and don’t mix, if you want a properly layered raw vegan cake. The cake can be kept in the freezer, and it’s recommended to be taken out about 15 minutes before consuming it.

Note: The ingredients servings indicated are approximately. I hate to cook/bake exactly by the book so I always add ingredients based on my gut feeling.