:: raw mango cheesecake ::

Raw cheesecakes are so much fun. For one, they are dead easy to make. You just put the ingredients for each layer in your Thermomix or high-powdered blender and whizz, the pour! There's no gelatine to set, and there's no baking required. Just pop in the freezer.

I've made several in the past, but this was the first recipe I'd found with a very odd ingredient added. A whole, peeled zucchini! Apparently it gives an extra creaminess. 

Last night we made this, and it was deeeelish. I found the mango layer slightly icier than the cream layer (naturally) but all in all it was so yum. Even my brother-in-law raved about it, and he only eats junk food! And usually turns up his nose at anything that looks 'healthy' or doesn't have sugar in it. Needless to say, I didn't tell him about the zucchini, but I will! After he enjoys it a second time ;).

I used a different base to the one on the original recipe, plus tweaked it a bit. Below is exactly what I did.

Raw Mango Cheesecake 

{vegan, dairy-free, sugar-free, egg-free, gluten-free}

Base
1 1/2 cups almonds
1 cup medjool dates (soaked briefly in hot water if kept in the fridge)
1/2 cup shredded/dessicated coconut
1/2 teas vanilla
pinch of salt

Middle
2 cup raw cashews (soaked for 2+ hrs and drained)
1 cup zucchini, peeled and chopped
Juice of one lemon/lime
2 TBS coconut oil
1/3 cup rice malt syrup
1 heaped teaspoon of stevia
2 teas vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt

Top
1 heaping cup mango, chopped (use ripe mangoes)
1/2 tsp turmeric powder

Method:

Base
1. In a Thermomix/food processor/high-powered blender, combine all ingredients (drain the dates first) until sticky and a good texture to be able to press into the base of a lined spring-form pan. 

2. Press into pan and pop in freezer while you make the filling.

Middle
1. Blend all ingredients till smooth.
2. Pour slightly more than ½ of the mixture into the cake tin and let it set back in the freezer for another 45 min – 1 hr.

Top
1. Add mangoes and turmeric to the remaining mixture in your blender’s container. Blend till smooth. Don’t worry you won’t taste the turmeric (won’t that be weird!), it’s basically a natural yellow food colouring.
2. Pour the mango layer into the cake tin and let the cake set in the freezer for at least 5 hours, preferrably overnight.

Make sure you take out of the freezer 20-30 mins before you want to serve it so it can soften! xx

:: vanilla slice (raw, vegan, gf, df, sf) ::

Raw Vegan Vanilla Slice

I thought I'd just take a minute to link you over to Wholefood Simply's website which is chockas full of amazing raw desserts. Very allergy friendly. My only caution would be consuming too much fructose in the form of dates. A lot of her recipes are bound together with Medjool dates. I often half the amount of dates and add some coconut oil. But if it's your first time following the recipe, it might be best to stick to the original. If you don't have Medjool dates (pricey!), I use dried dates but double the amount because they are so small, and soak in hot water for 5 minutes.

Recipe here.

:: almost-impossible brownie::

This DECEDANT chocolate brownie is 'almost impossible' because it's grain-free, dairy-free, peanut-free, egg-free AND sugar-free.

WHAT IS LEFT?!

I recently recieved a very exciting email in my inbox, from a dear New Zealand friend who announced that she was making time to come and stay with me on her upcoming trip to Australia. I just LOVE visitors, especially ones that stay a night or two. So I was all for the idea, especially as it was 2.5 years since we last saw each other.

Emails organising transport, girly plans once she arrived etc, went back and forth. Then a couple of days before arriving, she decided to remind me (thank goodness she did) that she was not only dairy and wheat intolerant, but allergic to peanuts and, wait for it.... EGGS. If any of you have tried the Paleo diet, or even just wanted to 'eat clean' for a while, you'll realize there are a LOT of eggs involved. The dairy and wheat part wasn't so scary; I've cooked without those many times. But EGGS usually were the turn-to when creating a dairy/gluten free dessert or cake. So we could have just eaten meat, veg and fruit for the whole visit but that didn't sit well with me. You've GOT to give a guest dessert, especially after dinner on the first night. So I took it upon me as a most interesting challenge.

It so happened I'd been eyeing a coconut-milk, choc-mint icecream recipe a couple of days before, so started straight into that. The recipe did call for one egg, but I guessed it could be left out without too much difference. I found the recipe here (but note, I wasn't that impressed with it in the end. Bit of bother). So with that setting in the freezer, I tried to think of what to serve it with. Wouldn't a brownie be perfect? There has got to be a vegan brownie recipe out there. I googled. There were dozens. I scanned multiple ones, and after closing tabs on those with weird ingredients or that were based on 'black beans', I narrowed it down to this one.

Not a lot to it, I had all the ingredients, and threw it all in the thermomix (food processor will work just as fine). As the author promised, it had a super thick consistancy, and I mashed it down into the tin figuring it would probably cook into a dry rock. I put it in the oven and turned to lick the bowl (not optional). I nearly dropped the thing in total shock. The mixture was SO good. So far, it tasted just like a bad brownie mix. I was really surprised.

The oven alarm finally went off, and I painfully left it for a few moments (ie. 5 seconds) to cool and sliced off 'that wonky looking bit'. GOOD GRAVY it's a brownie. It was just like a true brownie. Every bit as dense, moist, gooey, rich and chocolatey. I rushed another wonky bit into Jason's face, and he was floored. He agreed, it was just like the real, bad boy version.

So without further ado, the recipe, with thanks to Deanna from The Mommy Bowl.

Vegan Sugar-free Brownies

4 ounces (113 g) dates (about 23 medium dates, or about 3/4 cup)
1/3 cup boiling water
2 T. ground flax seed
1 t. vanilla
1/2 cup (112 g) coconut oil
1/2 cup (28 g) cocoa powder
2/3 cup (50 g) almond meal
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
3/4 teaspoon of powdered stevia (to taste)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 175°C (350°F). Grease an 8″ x 8″ baking pan.

In a small bowl, combine dates, boiling water and flax seed. Allow to sit for 10 minutes while dates soften.

Put coconut oil in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until coconut oil is creamy. Add date mixture. Pulse until dates break up, and then process for 5 minutes until mixture is smooth and creamy.

Add the rest of the ingredients except the shredded coconut. Pulse until mixture is thick and well-mixed. Taste for sweetness and add more stevia if desired. Stir in coconut.

Spread batter in prepared pan. (It will be very thick. That’s normal.) Bake for 20 minutes, or until knife inserted in brownie comes out mostly clean.

This was my friend Felicity's review, "So this is what a brownie tastes like! I've never had one before."

So proud to serve you your first safe brownie, girly! x