For Kylie with Love

So my sister Kylie (AKA Zippaloo or Zip) of All Things Food has been nagging strongly encouraging me to get back to blogging about food. Every time we talk or Skype I tell her about all the fun and tasty things I’ve made since we last spoke. She’s been requesting photos, recipes, etc. So here’s a few desserts I’ve made since moving into our new place…

Carrot Cake (free of animal products, gluten, and refined sugar)

Cashew Creme

Ingredients:

1/2 cup Cashews, soaked for 3+ hours then drained

7 dates, pits removed

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1/4 +1/8 your choice of nondairy milk (I used my homemade almond milk)

Tiny pinch of Sea Salt

Optional:

Spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, etc.

Directions:

Blitz ingredients in food processor until creamy.

Note:

Keeps for a week in fridge.

Next up…..

Mmmmm Mango…

Raw “Cheesecake”

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 rounded cup Almonds

3 Dates, pits removed

Filling:

1 cup Cashews, soaked overnight then drained

Agave to your liking (I don’t like mine to be too sweet)

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice (If you make it too lemony you’ll end up with Lemon Bars like Kylie’s did.)

1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract

pinch of Salt

Directions:

Blitz Almonds to your desired consistency in a food processor then add dates and blitz again until it forms into a ball.

Press the crust into a bread pan, slightly oiled if you’d like (I used a little coconut oil). Put in freezer until you’re done with filling.

Blitz  all the filling ingredients in a food processor, blender, etc. until smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness and spice if adding. Layer the filling over the crust, smooth it out, then put in fridge until ready to eat. Cuts easily and is great with fresh fruit.

Note:

Keeps for a week in fridge.

And a very common dessert in the Ahern household…

Banana Soft Serve

It was just frozen bananas this time, but I love to add other fruit, nuts, cocoa, almond milk, spices, etc. Check out my next post for a delicious mix in I made.

P.S. Kylie, thanks for your encouragement to get back to blogging!

Avocados for Dessert and Channeling Jason Mraz

So a while back my sister Kylie (aka Zippaloo) told me that the singer Jason Mraz not only has an avocado farm <sigh> but is a raw foodist! I love avocados. I like them with veggies and eggs for breakfast (I’m still eating eggs now and then), in salads, sandwiches, on top of chili or soup, or as a spread or dip.

Around the same time I heard the news about Jason and his avocados my friend Natasha posted about a raw lime pie she had made using avocados. (She had found the recipe here.) I had to try it as I had never thought of avocados as a dessert ingredient and was a bit skeptical. I looked at the recipe and tweaked it as I went along tasting. I’ve got to say that next time I will not be using Coconut Oil. As much as I’m coocoo for Coconut, the tang of the oil over-powered the tartness of the limes and no amount of lime juice and agave could bring the right flavor back. I ended up drizzling it with agave and a bit of lime juice and it was still good, just not perfect.

So I didn’t keep track of all the measurements but the version I’ll make in the future will have look like this:

Raw Key Lime Tart

Ingredients:

• Avocados
• Key Lime Juice (I like it more tart than sweet)
• Agave
• Pistachios (or other nuts if you must)
• Dates
• Shredded Unsweetened Coconut (optional for crust)
  

Directions:

• Blitz up the crust (1 part Pistachios and 1 part Dates).
• Press it into a tart tin and put in the freezer.
• Blitz the rest of the ingredients for the filling (tasting all the way).
• Put the filling on top of the crust and freeze again.
• Note: Can be kept in the freezer, but best to put it in the fridge an hour before serving.

OK, so avocados as an ingredient in sweet dishes not just savory ones blew my mind. I think it’s brilliant that someone thought of this. Avocados really have such a great creamy consistency, taste like whatever you add to it, and are such a great alternative to dairy products. As you know I’m interested in eating more vegetarian/vegan/raw, but I’ve been skeptical about desserts. I am starting to see the light. Tonight I decided I wanted to try to make a chocolate pudding. Here’s what I came up with:

Chocolate Pudding (Serves 2-4)

Ingredients:

• 1 Avocado
• 1/2 cup Agave Nectar
• 1/4 cup Cocoa Powder
• 1/3 cup Water
• 1-2 tablespoons Vanilla Extract
• 1/4 teaspoon Sea Salt

Directions:

• Place everything but the water in a blender or food processor and blitz.
• Gradually add water until creamy.

This was super delicious! The consistency was somewhere between pudding and mousse. I love chocolate mousse and I must say that I could trade this vegan/raw version for the dairy/cow hoof versions for the rest of my life. Also, Jim really loved it and despite the richness, ate all of it. I hope to feed this to some friends or family and tell them that it’s vegan, raw, and made with avocado afterward. Jim agreed that people wouldn’t be able to tell.

Side Note: Back to Jason Mraz…since moving to Costa Rica Jim and I have listened to Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” a fair bit and often sing it while walking on the beach together. (We’re goobers.) My sister Kylie got to see Jason Mraz live this fall and loved it. Although I can’t catch him on tour this year in person, I can see him (or other people) play his music online. Check out this little guy rock it (even with an itchy nose):