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!

juice fast: day 2

today was farmer's market day! it was (tragically) the last one of the season for our neighborhood. BUT - and what an important "but" - there are three winter farm markets in our city area so i don't have to go without local, organic, love-filled produce all through the chilly season. PHEW.

today i'm feeling great. last night i had sore muscles which is a sign of mild detox. yahoo! i had a tasty carrot-apple-orange juice with my parents for breakfast, fed a butterfly that has been finding comfort and safety in my room (until my cat attacked it today!) during the rainy weather, then went to the market.

we loaded up on EVERYTHING. when you're on a juice fast you are actually getting more nutrients then you normally would because you can without feeling full. the fiber is mainly what produces that full feeling and when you juice - you take that out! so although i wouldn't normally eat 4 apples and 2 cucumbers in one sitting, i can with juice. thus i bought a ton of veggies and greens today for the next few weeks of juice fasting; i know i will be able to consume it all.

when we got back i made THE MOST DELICIOUS REFRESHING AMAZING AWESOME JUICE EVER! seriously. this is in my top three fave juice recipes now. i bought some peppermint with the idea that it might make interesting juice, especially if i mixed it with citrus.

i was right. 

pineapple peppermint love: serves one or two

4 small carrots
1 apple
1 orange
4-5 pineapple slices
handful fresh mint leaves
1/2 cucumber 

cut, slice and peel as needed. then juice it. hurry up and JUICE IT.
be prepared to have your mind blown (as well as your taste buds).

the plans for the rest of my saturday are pretty great. my juice fast partner-in-health (get it? instead of "in crime"... okay fine i'm not funny) is heading over soon and we're going to make some savoury juice for dinner. the boyfriend is coming over later too and it's also my friend's 19th so we might go out to dinner to celebrate.

i DO need to get some school work done at some point... hm.

raw hot chocolate

i've made this before but this recipe is simpler. if you thinking eating raw means you can't have hot chocolate... think again, my friend! an added bonus (and a pattern in the raw food diet) is that this is guilt-free and in fact - healthy. if you've ever heard david wolfe ranting about how cacao is gonna save the world and our collective health then you'll understand.

although i'm comfortable chillin on the fence when it comes to the question of wolfe's genuineness; i do love chocolate. some say cacao is poisonous to humans and shouldn't be consumed at all. all i know is that mayans have been enjoying it for thousands of years and it tastes pretty dang YUMMY. you just can't make me give up chocolate. too bad.

anyway, just as many people offer up that cacao is a superfood and should be eaten like a vitamin supplement everyday. until the evidence is conclusive, you can find me sipping delicious vegan hot chocolate on rainy nights in my living room.

(if you actually come to my house and find me i'd be a little scared though.)

raw hot chocolate: serves two

6 pitted medjool dates
3-4 cups nut milk
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cayenne powder (careful with this...)
1 teaspoon vanilla 
2-3 tablespoons cacao powder
1 tablespoon melted coconut oil (optional)

note: the cinnamon, cayenne and vanilla are optional but i really recommend them. warm the nut milk on the stove then add it and all the other ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until smooth. pour into mugs, cuddle up with a loved one and enjoy! you could add some peppermint or candy canes to this too.