Raw, Vegan, Vanilla-Berry, Gluten-Free, Paleo 'Not-a-Cheesecake'

Click Here for Printable Recipe

This delicious uncheesecake was inspired by an equally gorgeous cake from the Fragrant Vanilla Cake blog. However... coconut butter? rosewater? young coconut meat?  pomegranates?.. none of these exist in my immediate world.

Actually I did find rosewater and coconut butter, and if I'd been willing to part with $40+ , they would have been mine. But I wasn't. Then I decided that buckwheat takes too long to sprout, let alone dehydrate.  And so, a different cake evolved, organically, like a force of nature that must have life.

Raw, Vegan, Not-Really-a-Cheesecake, Vanilla-Berry Cheesecake

Ingredients: For the Base: ¾ cup almond flour ¾ cup coconut flour ¾ cup of pitted, chopped medjool dates ¼ tsp salt ¾ tsp cardamom For the Topping: 3 cups of cashew nuts (soaked for 3 to 5 hours) ½ cup coconut oil ½ cup coconut milk or coconut cream ½ cup liquid sweetener (agave, coconut nectar (or sugar syrup if you are not concerned with raw and paleo)) ½ cup finely grated beetroot 1 Tbsp vanilla extract 1 tsp freeze-dried raspberry powder*

• ½ tsp salt

Instructions:

For the Base:

Mix the almond flour, coconut flour, salt and cardmom in a food processor. While it is running add the dates slowly, allowing each handful to be fully processed before adding another.

The base is ready when you squeeze it and it sticks together. Add more dates if not sticky enough.

Press the base firmly into the bottom of a springiform or silicone baking pan and set aside.

For the Topping:

Drain the cashews and blend them in the processor at a high speed until they are relatively smooth.

Add the coconut milk, vanilla and salt and continue to blend until the consistency is very smooth – like cream cheese.

While the processor is running, add the liquid sweetener and coconut oil. Taste test  ;)

Drop large dollops of the mix randomly on the base.Use half the mix. The other half is about to be berrified!

Add the grated beet (you don’t taste this at all, trust me!) and raspberry powder to the remaining mix and blend.

*If you can’t get raspberry powder (I used this one), use a berry essence (of course, this is probably not ‘raw’), some berry juice, a few crushed berries or rosewater (thanks Amy @ fragrantvanillacake.blogspot.com for the rosewater inspiration).

Drop the berry topping into the gaps left between the vanilla dollops, then swirl the topping exactly once with a knife. Freeze for at least two hours until solid, remove from the pan and let sit in the fridge for about an hour before eating.

I also made a cute cupcake version, and one without the 'vanilla' part. That one was decorated with blueberries and white chocolate (the chocolate was not vegan, but I'm sure you can find some). The lighter colour is because I was wary of all that beetroot!

Even with my eyes closed and full concentration empowered, I could not detect even a hint of beetrootyness. This gave me confidence to go the full monty with the swirl cake above.

The cupcakes. I made  these in a silicone muffin pan - very easy removal and they were ready in less than an hour, compared to the whole cake which took the full two hours to set.

The trial cake, less beetroot.

Packed lunch... ;)

This cake is really delicious. I think the little kick of cardmom in the base sends it over the edge in a very good way. Let me know how it works out for you. I'd love to see your pictures too, so link it up, link it up in the comments.

Honey Fried Bananas, you complete me. AIP

Yesterday was just a good day.  The sun was shining, Fisher and Paykel sent me a new tablet PC (present for spending a gazillion dollars on a new tardis fridge) and then a friend from the anthroposophical reading group gifted me some home-grown honey in return for something I was supposed to do for him, but in the end didn't. He gave me the honey anyway. Some people are just nice.

I put that honey to the best possible use: fried bananas.  To anyone that thinks they could never do an Autoimmune Paleo (AIP) diet: try this and you'll realise there is nil deprivation involved.

Honey Fried Bananas

The process is very simple.

Melt some coconut oil in a non-stick pan;
Add banana slices (I used one medium sized banana);
Drizzle honey over the bananas, or just add it to the oil if it's hard;
Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the bananas;
Wait until the bananas are browned, then flip them. This is a bit tricky, I found using a spoon or fork was better than the usual implement;

Serve with coconut yogurt or cream.

As they cool, the bananas become chewy and a little bit crunchy.  My brain swooned.

I even packed some to take on a client visit. They were still warm when packed and melted the yogurt. Somehow this make it even better.

On the AIP, sweeteners like honey, maple and dried fruit are to be kept to a minimum, so this won't be an everyday thing. It's nice to know though, that should the need arise, I can indulge without messing up the protocol, and hopefully, the desired result.

Next Post: An AIP update. How's it going? How am I feeling? What have I changed? Do I still have my sanity and my friends? Have I lost weight? What about socialising?

All shall be revealed.

Vegan, Gluten-Free Pumpkin Pudding Slice / GM Soy

I was at a party last night, being the sober one, resting my fashionably but uncomfortably clad footsies and watching straight-laced industry people prove that they do, indeed, have the moves like Jagger, when I started thinking about food.

Jeffrey Campbell 'Lolita' shoes. These are good for about 2 hours.

I visualised a vegan, gluten-free and paleo pumpkin pie.  As I'm a believer in dream it-do it, today I did it. 

Quite pinworthy, yes?

Ingredients:

• The flesh of half a pumpkin, baked (I just stick the whole thing in the oven, there is really no need to suffer the frustration of trying to hack up a raw pumpkin, just bake it in the skin until soft, then scoop out the flesh)

• 140g ground almonds (about 1.5 cups)

• 2 Tbsps ground chia seeds, soaked in a little water to make a gel. You can also use whole chia seeds and just mash them a bit in the mortar and pestle

• Half a banana

• Tbsp Maple syrup or honey

• Tsp cinnamon
• Tsp ground ginger
• Tsp vanilla essence
• Tsp baking soda
• Tsp salt

Put everything into the food processor and mix it.  It should be fairly firm. If you want it to be more slice-like and less pudding-like, you could add some dessicated coconut.

Pour the mix into a lined dish or use a silicon one. The mix will stick viciously to a regular pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes at a moderate heat. It is done when the edges start to look a bit darker.

Place in the fridge until completely cool, or as near to it as your patience will permit. 

Stab a few holes in it so that the chocolate topping will marble through the slice (this also helps it stick together)

Topping:

Melt 250g of vegan chocolate (I used Whittakers Ghana) and 3/4 of a cup of coconut oil over a low heat.

Pour that over the slice.

Place in the freezer for at least an hour.

Straight out of the freezer, this works as a slice.  Once it warms up, it becomes a bit soft, and can do duty as a pudding.

Or breakfast.  Coconut yogurt or cream will keep it all paleo and vegan, but I used regular greek today.

Of course we could argue that this is not exactly caveman food, not really paleo, and this is a valid point.  However, modern paleo people don't generally live in caves (although I know one that lives in a Yurt), and most don't live entirely on meat, veg, fruit and nuts.  Some of us have embraced certain fun cultural norms, like pretty shoes, and dessert.

I intend to also try this as a warm dessert, just pour the topping on the warm slice and serve.  It's the right time of year for something spicy and pumpkiny.  

I hope your weekend is buzzing along.  I've just started researching GM soy in order to make a submission on a proposal to allow a new GM soy product in NZ/Aussie foodstuffs. The new plant is resistant to two powerful herbicides and I haven't quite decided which angle to emphasise: the fact that spraying more herbicides all over the place isn't great, or the fact that GM soy products just seem like a bad idea.

I need to do some research, as saying 'this seems like a really bad idea' doesn't strut like a scientific argument should.  I am starting with the safety assessment which Foodstandards have provided. To my dismay, this document is 54 pages long and lacks both plot and character development.  Is anyone else making a submission?  If so, let me know and we can amalgamate our efforts. Sending duplicate submissions is fine. At this early stage, numbers are what count.  We have the power, let's USE IT.

Pumpkin Pie and Politics = my weekend. :D

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F3 Check In Day and Party Pics

Festive Fitness Focus Challenge Check In!

F3 Challengers, it's check in day! You can either comment on this post, or email me your spreadsheet, or both.  How is it going?

Week two for me was.. ok. I'd give it a B. As mentioned in the last post, I find the 2-4 week part of a new fitness regime to be, well, challenging.  That's why it's a "challenge", I guess. If it was not somewhat difficult, it would be the F3 .. what? The 'F3 easy'?