Raw GFCF dessert (chocolate cake and pudding)!

After a weekend in the mountains with our friends and raw foodists (and also former OT - but friends first!) the Savages, Sunny, Lee, Justin, Ivy and baby Lucy, we came back to the valley energized and also motivated to add in some raw foods into our diets. Why are raw foods important? Well for one, eating raw means inevitably you will each no processed foods or junk! All that stuff is "cooked" and therefore not raw! And another things is the very fact that you are eating food in its natural state means all of the great enzymes and nutrition stays intact without degrading as the food is heated. But, you have to be pretty motivated and creative to start an endeavor like this. I watched my friend Sunny do this a few years back. Not only did she lose a bunch of weight (80 lbs I think) but she got a bunch of stuff out of her diet that was not benefiting her or her family. Last weekend she made raw taco salad with all the fixings (tons of veggies with ground walnuts and seasoning for the taco "meat" - it tasted JUST like taco meat, I swear!) and then a very yummy raw chocolate cake with vanilla cream pudding on top. So, I recreated the cake and pudding (with a few variations) and I am going to share it with you here.

Chocolate torte

1 1/2 cups raw walnuts

Dash of salt

Blend those two until it is powdery

add in 10 pitted dates unsoaked if they are medjool or soaked if they are deglet or very hard

1/2 cup raw cacao or carob powder

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp water (use the date water if you soaked your dates)

1/4 cup raw agave nectar

Blend all in a food processor until is begins to "stick" together and is well mixed

1 cup fresh berries - sliced as garnish

After everything is blended you smooth into a pie plate and you can chill or eat immediately. We topped with strawberries. It will be very thin. You can also double the batch, spread half on the bottom, layer sliced berries and then top with the other half. We added the vanilla cream pudding on top. We need a *good* blender, ours was not as smooth and creamy as Sunny's! Here it is:

Vanilla cream / pudding

1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 4 hours or more

1/2 cup filtered water

1/2 cup agave nectar

2 tablespoons vanilla extract

seeds of 1/2 vanilla bean or 1 additional tsp of vanilla extract

1/4 tsp salt

2 tbsp coconut butter

blend and chill

I want to discuss the agave nectar issue. I know the issue of agave can be iffy. My friend who is very smart about nutrition still uses it but from one source that uses an enzymatic, not heat process and is not the high fructose that many on the market today are turning out to be. Since I don't have that source, I subbed in coconut sugar. It is a new thing that Sunny told me about. It has way less sugar than traditional sugars. It comes from the sap of the coconut tree flower. Let me tell you, it tastes JUST like sugar but with a smoky coconut flavor, yummy!!! I cut the amount in 1/2 for the pudding and used the full amount for the cake. It is rich, a small piece will do! But as summer approaches and we all get sick of heating up our kitchens, here is a healthier, yummy treat that needs nothing more than a blender and food processor. And I will guarantee that your whole family will LOVE it!! And, I plan to use the pudding recipe as regular pudding, not just to top the cake. I have been looking for a healthier pudding recipe. And you could throw in a half of a banana for banana cream, or some cinnamon, or some cocoa powder for chocolate pudding! Dairy and wheat free and lots of protein to boot!! More raw recipes to come as we get some additional tools like a good blender and a dehydrator! Come on kitchen fairy!!!

Enjoy!