Sunday, April 28, 2013

Raw Ice Cream Cake Experiment Pt.2




Overall Success!

Unfortunately the cake was set on a warm oven for a couple minutes- DO NOT allow this to happen, it will soften enough just sitting out. As a result the bottom layer was much too melty. Fortunately, it tasted Great!





I ended up putting it back into it's springform shell so that it wouldn't smush everywhere when cutting it. I recommend doing this if you are worried about this happening. As you can see, I made a mess getting it back into the pan but serving it turned out much easier and the pieces stayed together well.




The overall group opinion was that the crunchy 'tween layers were delicious and the strawberry layer was the most liked. The chocolate crunchy layer was better than the peanut butter because the peanut butter flavor didn't seem to come through. I think it was because there was too much flavor wise going on. 

Everyone agreed that they liked that one piece took a while to consume, but wasn't heavy. I hope you get a chance to experiment with making your own raw ice cream cake soon, and enjoy it as much as I did!




Saturday, April 27, 2013

Raw Ice Cream Cake Experiment Pt.1

I have been wanting to try my hand at making a raw cake for a while now and so I have taken the plunge! And it, while time consuming, I am pretty sure will be totally awesome! I decided to make a layer cake because I was inspired by fragrantvanillacake's raw banana split layer cake, but I didn't want a chocolate layer- I know you're thinking- WHAT! no chocolate! Yeah, my husband isn't a big chocolate fan...

So here we go!






Crust

1/2 C raw coconut flour
1/2 C raw golden flax meal
1/2 C raw cashew flour
1/4 C date paste
1/4 C agave
dash of cinnamon
pinch of salt

Mix ingredients together and press into the bottom of an 8 or 10" springform pan- I am using a 10" pan. If you don't use all of the crust "dough" that's okay- I am going to post a recipe later with my extra to make into cookies or something!

Bottom Layer: Caramel

3 frozen bananas
2 tbsp vanilla extract- preferably alcohol free
6 pkts stevia
1/4 C agave

Blend ingredients together in processor and spoon over crust. Freeze until firm in middle. Overnight works really well :)




Now here is where I wanted to do something a little different. My brother always requested an ice cream cake from DQ when we were growing up and the cookie crumble between the layers was always sooo good! So here's what I did to emulate that:

Chocolate Crunch 'tween layer:

Nut Crunchies: Sprinkle a couple handfuls of buckwheat groats-unsoaked- over base layer. Then sprinkle almond and cashew pieces over to form a light nut layer.





Mix together the following ingredients and pour over nut crunchies.
3-4 to 1 C coconut oil (liquid state)
4-5 tbsp cocoa powder
6 pkts stevia
pinch of salt

Place cake in freezer to keep base layer firm and to solidify choco crunch layer.





Middle Layer: Peanut Butter

3 frozen bananas
2 tbsp PB2
2 tbsp sunflower butter
6 pkts stevia
1/4 C coconut milk (a little more as needed for blending)

Place ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth. Spoon over crunch layer and place back in freezer.

Peanut Butter Crunch 'Tween layer:

Same as above but with different sauce:
Nut Crunchies: Sprinkle a couple handfuls of buckwheat groats-unsoaked- over base layer. Then sprinkle almond and cashew pieces over to form a light nut layer.

Mix together the following ingredients and pour over nut crunchies.
3-4 to 1 C coconut oil (liquid state)
3 tbsp PB2
4 pkts stevia
1/8th C agave

Place cake in freezer to keep layers firm and to solidify PB crunch layer.


Top Layer: Strawberry

1 frozen banana
4 fresh strawberries
1 C (approx) chopped frozen strawberries
1 pkt stevia
1/4-1/2 C (as needed to blend) pomegranate juice
squirt of agave (to taste)
1/2 C coconut milk

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Should be thick but pour-able.


My ice cream cake is currently in the freezer and I will decorate it in the morning before church (we'll have it at lunch) and put it in the fridge. 

Check back for the final pictures and the verdict on how good - or bad- it turns out! 

Raw Coconut Curry ICE CREAM!!!



I had the brilliant idea to use the left over sauce from the curry dish I posted last in my raw banana ice cream! Oh what a brilliant idea-- it was Soooo tasty!!

Give it a try!

Raw Coconut Pineapple Mango Curry Ice Cream

1/4 C of coconut mango curry sauce
1.5 frozen bananas
almond/coconut milk

Slice frozen bananas and place in mini-processor. Add in sauce and a little almond or coconut milk to help it blend. 

Chocolate Sauce

1-2 tbsp warm (liquid state) coconut oil
2 tsp coco powder
2 pkts stevia
1/2 a pinch of salt

Mix ingredients together when coconut oil is in liquid state and drizzle over ice cream- YUM!

Enjoy! As always, try it and let me know what you think!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Raw Coconut Pineapple Mango Curry

Pineapple was on sale a few weeks ago and I still had one lingering in my fridge- cause I bought like 5 of them! So I came up with this SUPER delicious recipe that I just had to share! There was only one downside to the dish and that was that I made it with sweet potato noodles instead of zucchini- I know! But I was trying something different. Live and learn! If you want to do the sweet potato noodles go for it! But it will be crunchy unless you dehydrate them for a while!



Raw Coconut Pineapple Mango Curry
makes 2 servings

1 Mango
1/4 of a Pineapple
1/2 tsp Curry
1/2 C coconut milk
1 small yellow or orange sweet pepper
pinch of salt
dash of black pepper
sprinkle with red pepper flakes
half of a spiralized sweet potato


  



First, spiralize your sweet potato or zucchini. Then cut up your pineapple. You will only end up needing about 1/4 C for the sauce and 1/4 C to go on top of your noodles. Place one 1/4 C in the blender and the other in a small bowl.  Then cut the fruit off the mango pit. Set half aside with the pineapple to go on top of the dish and put the rest in the blender. Then cut your yellow or orange pepper- I have been buying these small ones- they are great for recipes, salads, and dipping! Next add the coconut milk to the pineapple and mango in the blender. Add in the salt, black pepper, and curry. Blend until smooth, it should be sauce like, not too thick but not too thin. Taste and add more curry as desired. Place your noodles in the bowl you are going to eat from, pour on half of the sauce, and top with your set aside pineapple, mango and yellow pepper. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and enjoy the deliciousness!!!



After making dinner I got inspired and made some super delicious raw banana ice cream!


Vanilla Carmal Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Shell Topping
makes 1 serving

1.5 frozen bananas
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp agave
2-3 pkts stevia
1/8th C coconut milk

Peanut Butter Shell Topping
2 tbsp PB2 or 1 tbsp nut butter of choice
1 pkt stevia
1 tsp agave
1.5 tbsp coconut oil

Slice frozen bananas and place in chopper or food processor. Add the remaining ingredients and process until smooth. You will need to smush the banana down into the blade to get it all smooth. (At least I do! :D )

For the sauce, get a small cup or container and mix the ingredients together. When placed on top of the cold ice cream sauce hardens into a delicious shell topping! I had a fun fancy pizzelle cookie with my ice cream (you should too!) Enjoy!!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Lemon Lime Bubbly Goodness!



I had an idea for a yummy green juice and it is so good I just have to share it! I have been craving soda recently so instead of buying some zevia, I thought I would make my own! I got a LARGE bottle of plain sparkling water- not seltzer or anything that had any other additives and started adding it to my juice! Or just adding some lemon or lime juice to it! Yum!
Lemon Lime Sparkler

1/2 Cucumber
3 cups spinach
2 limes
1 lemon
1" ginger root
1 apple
1 pkt stevia
1 C sparkling water

Prepare veg to be juiced- cut peels off lemon and limes, trim end off cucumber, cut the apple so it will fit down the shoot. Juice your veg and then add the stevia and sparkling water. Enjoy!!





In keeping with my green theme, I made a couple shakes that are deliciously green as well!


Pineapple Green Shake

1 banana
1/2 C fresh or frozen pineapple
1 tbsp brown rice protein powder
4 pkts stevia
1/2 tsp maca powder
1 tsp wheatgrass powder
1/2 -3/4 C green tea
1/2 C ice

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add more ice if you desire a thicker shake.



Orange Green Shake

1 banana

1/2 C fresh or frozen pineapple
1 tbsp brown rice protein powder
4 pkts stevia
1 scoop Amazing Grass Green Super Food Drink Powder- Orange Dreamsicle
2 pkts Emergen-C 5 drink powder- Passion Fruit
1/2 C orange juice
1/4 C green tea
1/2 C ice

Place all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add more ice as desired for a thicker shake.



Tomato Snack

1 Slice raw bread
1 tbsp white miso
1 tomato, sliced
sprinkle with chipotle powder

A hot and delicious snack!

My sandwich blended into the background too much! Hurrah for photoshop!

Friday, April 5, 2013

More Pulp-y-licous Recipes!

As I mentioned before I have adopted a juicer to my kitchen appliance family, and it has been a blast to use! My only personal "thing" about it is that I don't want to waste the pulp!! So I have been doing my best to make use of it in creative ways.

About 2 weeks ago (sorry, I know I should have posted it sooner!!!) I created some

Raw Carrot Bread: carrot pulp, red onion, and flax meal.

Mix 1-2 C carrot pulp with diced red onion and about 1 C flax meal. You know you have enough flax meal when it sticks together when thoroughly mixed.  Sandwich the batter between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out with a rolling pin till it is about 1/8" thin. Place in oven on lowest setting and leave door ajar to allow the air to circulate. It will dehydrate in about 4-6 hours. It should be dry to the touch but not real crispy- unless you want a more cracker like texture.




I also used carrot pulp to make a spicy BBQ-esque meatless replacement.


Raw Vegan Spicy Carrot Pulp BBQ

2-3 Cups Carrot Pulp 
1 TB minced garlic
3 TB onion
1 C tomato
1 TB nama shoya
2 TB Chili powder
1 tsp chipotle powder
tobasco- to taste  *optional for extra kick!
liquid smoke- to taste  *optional

Mix ingredients together and taste. It has more of an after burn than an immediate kick. If it is too spicy- you may want to add half the spices at once, taste then add the rest or more, till it is how you want it. If it comes out too spicy, add more carrot pulp. It keeps quite well. I have been eating off it for a week and a half! I used left over raw sunflower cheese from the raw pizza on top of the stuffed bell pepper- Yummy!!



You may notice a different background on the sushi picture-- it's on a real counter top!!  My father-in-law and my sweet hubby are putting in a real counter top and a dishwasher for my kitchen!!! We renovated the family barn and turned it into a home for us and well- we couldn't afford a counter so we had a plywood counter top. Dad found an awesome used counter that fits perfectly and now I have a real counter top!! Yay!