RAW VEGAN PUMPKIN PIE with WHIPPED COCONUT CREAM

If you wish to find nirvana, search no further, fortunate fellow. I've made a couple raw pumpkin pie recipes before. In fact, raw pumpkin pie holds a special place in my heart because it's one of the first raw dessert recipes I ever made, over 3 years ago, and my memories of those times are still clear in my mind. Ah, the beginning of my journey; way back when I didn't think anyone read my blog (and no one really did) and my photos were just depressingly bad. I think my writing style hasn't changed much - I still ramble about nothing in particular. You guys seems to like my stream-of-consciousness prose though, and that is probably why it has survived. Of course, it's also just part of who I am, and it's very useful to me to write in this way; it provides me with a direct reflection of my inner being.

I write quite a lot of "poetry" or whatever you want to call it, and the amount of writing I do has increased in the past month or so. Mostly due to me getting out of a heart-breaking relationship and knowing that I need to reconquer my independence; not merely as a girl or human, but as a spiritual, living unit of energy in this universe. I am happy to say I have been successfully rediscovering old pastimes and finding renewed fulfillment in them. Some are yoga, meditation, writing, reading, and general arts and crafts. Music has also been playing a paramount role. Music done right is, in my humble opinion, the sound of the human condition, often begging a reaction. Fortunately I have friends who are offering up some amazing artists and albums, and currently my favourite way to spend an evening is by myself, lights out, incense and and candles lit, lying in corpse pose (or low-back Savasana) and meditating on an entire album.

My happiness comes down to my selfishness. I'm not ashamed to say that I'm a selfish person; because I think we all are, it's part of being human, but many of us don't want to admit as much. I care for others' and their well being deeply, but ultimately I put myself first. My logic is: I can't love anyone if I don't love myself. So, I am constantly working on improving me, so I can love myself in a more fundamental way. It seems (to me) that a lot of people don't love themselves enough or at all, so they don't feel whole unless they are with others who give them validation and affection. Obviously this is not practical. On the other end of the spectrum, we have those who only love themselves in an inflated way, and they don't give love to anyone else. The solution is a balance: find wholeness in you and you alone, then progress to sharing that wholeness with others. Be happy in being yourself, and love whatever you are. If you don't love what you are, work out what you would like to change and go from there. But certainly everyone deserves all the love in the world, there are no exceptions in my opinion. 

Now, where were we!? Ah yes, pumpkin pie. This Autumn, get healthy/jiggy with it and serve up a pie filled with whole food goodness and mind-blowing flavour. My mom bought a couple sugar pumpkins at the farmers' market and I immediately chopped them up, threw them on a raw pie crust and voila. Bliss in a bowl/plate/whatever. For real, all that is in this is walnuts, raisins, pumpkin, coconut oil, spices, and whatever sweetener you like. THAT'S IT. Ain't life magical? Here's where you answer, "Yes"! This recipe gets simpler every time I make it, and what we've got here is the truly bare-bones version. So go ahead and change it up as you want to. It's all about what you want. Let's eat.

RAW VEGAN PUMPKIN PIE with WHIPPED COCONUT CREAM

Crust:
2 cups walnuts
2 cups raisins
Pinch of salt (optional) 

Pie filling:
1 sugar pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cubed (about 6-7 cups) 
1/4 cup melted coconut oil 
3-5 tablespoons coconut nectar or other preferred sweetener
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon each of nutmeg, ginger and cloves 

Whipped coconut cream or cashew cream

To make the crust: pulse the walnuts in a food processor until they're crumbs, add the raisins and salt and process until it begins to stick together. Press into a pie dish and put in the fridge.

To make the filling: blend all the ingredients until smooth, adding however much of the spices you like. If it's quite runny, let it thicken in a bowl in the fridge. Spread into your crust and refrigerate overnight until it's set. Slice and serve with whipped coconut cream, cashew cream or your fave vegan ice cream!

strawberry banana cream cake with mint

You can feel GREAT about eating this cake because it's super healthy and has only simple, wholesome ingredients: fruit and nuts. Plus, it makes a cheerful, stunning dessert for any kind of party. Unless you are hosting a black-themed death metal get-together. Then you may want to consider making something else.

The pink filling is strawberries and bananas and the creamy outside is a blend of cashews, dates and orange. I suppose you could say this was made in anticipation of the eminent summer, because it IS sunny today. But at the same time, there's no reason you can't make this anytime of the year. 

I certainly recommend garnishing this cake with chocolate, berries and mint. When I took it out of the spring form pan I thought it looked rather plain (even though I knew about the surprise on the inside) so I chose to decorate the sides with mint leaves. I had dribbled a few spots of chocolate on parchment paper the day before and they looked very nice alongside the frozen berries. They all add different textures and colours to the presentation. 

This was actually quite easy to make and it didn't take much time, not including freezing. It may appear plain on the outside - unless you decorate with berries, mint and chocolate - but when you cut it open there's that burst of pink! My fave colour. If you have a fear of pink (umm...), just use blueberries instead of strawberries. Problem solved. 

strawberry banana cream cake with mint: 

Pink filling:

3 bananas

2 cups frozen strawberries (or other berries)

1-3 tablespoons coconut oil (optional but it will make it creamier) 

Cream exterior:

2 cups cashews

2 cup dates

1 peeled orange

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Water, as needed

To make the pink filling: put the bananas in your blender, followed by the frozen berries and blend until smooth. Spread evenly into a spring form pan, this pan should be slightly smaller than the second one you will use. I have an adjustable one so I simply made it smaller for this layer, then widened it for the second part. If you don't have either of those options, don't worry. The bottom part can be pink and you can just add the cream layer on top. Freeze until solid. 

To make the cream layer: blend all ingredients until smooth, adding as LITTLE water possible, if you need any at all. The less water you use, the creamier it will be. Using a larger-sized spring form pan, place the frozen pink layer inside and then spread the cashew cream layer around the sides and top. Or you can use the same pan and spread it on top. Freeze until solid and then garnish, slice and enjoy! Store in the freezer. 

raw carrot cake with cashew cream cheese frosting

I promised carrot cake - I deliver carrot cake (in cyberspace, anyway). This is a delightful recipe that I think everyone can appreciate. We all love(d) the classic dessert version, but I'm not crazy about the processed ingredients like white sugar, refined flour, pasteurized butter and cream cheese. I decided to remake this baby with healthy whole foods! Consider it DONE. 

Most recipes ask for carrot pulp (after putting carrots through a juicer) but I just shredded a couple carrots and used them whole. This way you can keep the flavourful juices in the cake. Having said that - carrot juice is freaking delicious. Dang. Now I want carrot juice. Wait a minute - perhaps other raw carrot cake recipes ask for the pulp alone because it gives the recipe makers an excuse to drink a bunch of the juice. Clever...

This cake is a bit less dense that my other raw cake recipes because it's not 100% oats and nuts. As one might expect - it's mostly carrots. These crunchy orange characters are not only delicious, they have an abundance of health benefits! Not surprising, seeing as how they are a plant - and also not surprising, they are most nutritious and easy to digest when they are eaten in their natural form: whole and raw. These guys will give you great skin, improved vision, a clean mouth, and keep you young - in spirit and body! 

I decorated this cake with pistachios, walnuts and dried edible flowers. I recommend also sprinkling on some cinnamon and maybe coconut. I forgot to do so but I'm sure it would make it even more lovely in taste and appearance. One last thing - cashew cream cheese is dangerously delicious. If you haven't made it before - watch out. If you have made it - you know how amazing it tastes. Thank the universal mother (or whoever is running this place) for cashews! 

carrot cake with cashew cream cheese frosting, pistachios & walnuts:

Cashew frosting:
2 cups cashews, preferably soaked for a couple hours
1-2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons liquid coconut oil
1/3 cup maple syrup
Water, as needed 

Cake:
2 large carrots, peeled
1 1/2 cups oat flour or buckwheat flour
1 cup dates
1 cup dried pineapple (or more dates)
1/2 cup dried coconut 
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

To make the frosting: blend all ingredients in your high speed blender until smooth, adding as little water as possible. Taste it - mmm. Put in a bowl and set aside. 

To make the cake: cut the carrots into small chunks. Then throw all the ingredients (including the carrots) in your food processor and pulse until it's all in really small pieces and sticks together. 

Assembly: Press half the cake mix into the bottom of an adjustable spring-form pan, mine was about 6 inches. Then spread on about 1/3 of the frosting. Put it in the freezer until the layer of frosting is hard. Then press on the rest of the cake mix. I let it set in the fridge overnight, then frosted the whole thing, but you can do it right away if you want. Take it out of the pan and use the remaining frosting, cover with whatever garnishes you like. Enjoy!

layered ice cream cake with chocolate, vanilla & peppermint

First of all - please listen to this exquisite album by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, it's incredibly beautiful and makes me cry.

Secondly - this turned out fabulously, if I do say so myself (and I just did - so there.) I had a dream about this cake a few days ago and have been itching to make it ever since. When it comes down to it - this ice cream cake is mostly bananas. The pink layer comes from beet juice, and the green comes from avocado and peppermint leaves. I recommend using your Vitamix for this (can be bought on amazon or ebay) to make the layers as creamy as possible. 

I must admit - the avocado layer tasted sort of funky on it's own and I was thinking "Hmm... maybe my subconscious failed to consider the weird combination of avocado and mint in an ice cream cake." But it ended up tasting great with all the other delicious flavour pairings. The beet layer is unusually enjoyable. you might be thinking beets are a strange thing to make into ice cream, but the earthy tones of beets along with the sweetness of bananas is outta this world! Letting each thin layer freeze is a tad time-consuming, but it's worth it. 

I love when my dreams come true.

spiced chocolate, cashew vanilla, peppermint-avocado & banana-beet layered ice cream cake

Crust:

1 cup raw flour (I used buckwheat)

1 cup dates or prunes

Chocolate layer:

3 ripe bananas

1/3 cup cacao

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne, to taste

2 tablespoon agave/maple syrup

water, if too thick

Vanilla layer:

1 1/2 cups cashews

3 tablespoons agave/maple syrup

seeds from one vanilla bean

1/3 cup water

juice of one lemon 

Beet layer:

1/2 cup fresh beet juice

2 ripe bananas

1/2 cup pine nuts

1-2 tablespoons agave/maple syrup

2 tablespoons melted coconut oil

Mint layer:

2 cup fresh mint leaves

1 avocado

1/4 cup agave/maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

juice of one lemon

1/4 cup nut milk

2 ripe bananas

Coconut Maple Drizzle:
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup

To make the crust: process the dates or prunes and flour until it all sticks together somewhat. Press into the bottom of a lined spring form pan and set aside. 

To make each layer: blend the ingredients (in each list) until smooth, then pour each one in a separate bowl. Pour on part of the chocolate mixture quite thin, then let it harden in the freezer. Next, pour on a thin layer of beet mixture, let it freeze. You get the idea. Pour, freeze, pour, freeze. Put them in whatever order you want until you use all the mixtures up! 

To make to drizzle, stir ingredients together until combined then decorate, I also added some lemon zest - why not. Enjoy!

lemon, lime & coconut cheesecake

you know how much i love cheesecake! i made another one yesterday. it's layers of lemon and lime with coconut. sounds pretty tasty, right? RIGHT.

check out this mix above; it's groovy, sexy and funkalicious. there's three of them and i recommend downloading them all. NOW, back to cheesecake. i really like the flavours of this one, fresh and light but just sweet and dense enough to let you savour it. unfortunately my camera is still missing so i couldn't take the best pictures. you will have to deal with it. bear with me, people.

let it sit in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours, or better still, overnight. it leaves it time to set properly and gain some extra flavour. it was way better today than last night when i gave it to my family for dessert. it was still darn good though. the stripe of green is a cute addition i think, but you don't have to add it if you just wanna eat the cake ASAP... i understand completely.

lemon, lime & coconut cheesecake: serves about 12

crust:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup almonds
1 heaping cup prunes or dates

lemon layer:
3 cups cashews
1 cup coconut milk
juice of 2 lemons
1 banana (optional)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons coconut oi

lime layer:
1 avocado
juice of 2 limes
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1/8 cup coconut milk (use as little as possible anyway)
1/4 cup coconut flakes 

for the crust, blend all the ingredients in your food processor until it starts clumping together and you can press it into shapes. press into the bottom of a springform pan lined with plastic wrap. put in fridge.

to make the lemon layer, blend all ingredients together in your blender until creamy smooth. YUM. pour half of it onto your crust - set aside the remaining half - put back in fridge. 

to make the lime layer, blend all ingredients until smooth in your food processor or blender. pour all of this onto the first layer on the crust, then pour on the remaining lemon layer from earlier. let it sit in the fridge for a few hours (overnight is better). i put coconut flakes on top of mine to add some texture. YEAH, BABY.

chocolate peanut butter cream pie

this is ALMOST raw... :) i don't mind the tofu. it's worth it. you know i'm a chocoholic and that i firmly believe chocolate and peanut butter are the greatest of friends and should spend as much time together as possible. so this hopefully explains itself.

i got my inspiration from here, but made some alterations. didn't use sugar, made a raw crust, and used raw peanut butter. i didn't have any raw chocolate but you could easily use that instead of conventional vegan chocolate. either way - you're in for a treat. i bet this would KILLA with banana. and if you wanna make it totally raw - use bananas instead of tofu! next time...

chocolate peanut butter cream pie: makes one pie

crust: 

1 cup walnuts

1 cup cashews

1/2 cup coconut chunks

1 cup dates/prunes

filling:

2 1/2 bars vegan/raw chocolate, melted

1/4 cup maple syrup/agave/honey/date paste

14 ounces silken tofu

splash of non-dairy milk

2/3 cup raw peanut butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

pinch of cinnamon

to make the crust, pulse all ingredients together in food processor until they form a ball, or you can press it together with your hands and it stays. press into bottom of your fave pie dish and stick it in the fridge.

to make the filling, blend all ingredients in your food processor or blender until smooth and freaking delicious, adding as much or as little "milk" as needed. scoop it into the pie pan onto the crust and put it back in the fridge for a couple hours to set. or if you can't wait (like me and my family) just eat it right away. it simply won't be as set, which is completely fine with me. enjoy!

for an alternate more RAW recipe: use 3-4 bananas instead of tofu. or if you don't like the taste of banana (you're weird) you could use 2-3 avocados. i took some prettier pictures the next day in the sunshine...