Raw Food Red Velvet Cake and Caramel Cream Icing
Valentines day is next week! You know what that means...
My Valentine gets a brand new beautiful cake and you get a brand new beautiful recipe.
Everybody wins!
I always put a little extra time and effort into a special Valentine's Day treat for Elliot and this year was no exception! I've dreamed about creating Red Velvet Cupcakes for so long now, trying to make up formulas in my mind about how to substitute ALL the not-so-good for you ingredients in a traditional recipe for the best-ever-in-the-whole-world ingredients, without fake colourings, processed or animal products, but still tasting divine...
Well I could spend all day selling to you the scrumptiousness of how the cake turned out or quote all the amazing things Elliot said about it, but you really MUST try this for yourself!
PS If you are more into a live class and would love to see how I make it step by step, as well as learn how I make swirly marble tarts, cheesecakes and brownies, there are still a couple of spots left for the brand new Raw Food Sweet Sensations workshop, come and join me!
RAW FOOD RED VELVET AND CARAMEL ICING CAKE
For the essentials
7 inch (18cm) adjustable cake tin
blender
food processor
For the red cake
3 cups almond meal (left from making milk out of 4-5 cups soaked almonds)*
1/2 cup beetroot juice (from about 2 beets)**
8 medjool dates, pitted
4 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp cacao powder
pinch salt
For the icing
2 cups cashews, soaked overnight
3/4 cup coconut butter, gently melted
1/2 cup lukuma powder
1/3 cup agave
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 vanilla pod
For the optional decorations
goji berries
mulberries
*The prepared almond milk will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge and actually is an amazing compliment to this cake. Otherwise make superfood shakes or freeze in ice cube trays to use in smoothies later
**If you don't have a juicer, use the blender, like I've done here. Blend up the beetroot and strain the juice through a nut bag/ cheese cloth
-Process all the red cake ingredients in a food processor with an S blade
-For the icing, firstly scrape out the seeds from a whole vanilla pod. To do so, slice the pod in half lengthwise, then use a teaspoon to literally scrape all the seeds out until the inside of the pod is dry
-Blend all the soaked cashews with melted coconut butter, agave and lemon juice until smooth, then add the seeds of the vanilla pod and lukuma powder, blend until combined
-If your icing mixture happens to be really runny, add more lukuma. If too think, add more melted coconut butter. If it is too warm/hot, transfer to the fridge for a few minutes to cool down before icing the cake
-Now for the tricky/fun part: divide the red cake mixture into three equal parts, take one part and distribute it along the bottom of the cake tin, firmly pressing it down with your hand or a soft spatula. The trick here is not to spread a layer of icing and then add another layer of cake, as it will all turn into one big splurgy mess when you try and make a firm smooth layer of the cake again... so...
-Open up the cake tin and with a help of a knife or spatula, carefully remover the layer of cake and transfer to a clean serving plate, spread a layer of icing on top. Repeat this process of creating the red cake layer two more times, each time carefully removing it out of the cake tin, placing on top of the frosting layer and icing it again
-When all three layers of red cake and icing are structured into a cake, use the remainder of the frosting to cover the sides of your cake, until the red colour is no longer peaking through
-Decorate with berries / dried fruit of your choice
-Place in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours to set, then slice with a sharp knife, wiping it clean with a paper towel after each slicing
Happy day of love!!!
*The prepared almond milk will keep for up to 5 days in the fridge and actually is an amazing compliment to this cake. Otherwise make superfood shakes or freeze in ice cube trays to use in smoothies later
**If you don't have a juicer, use the blender, like I've done here. Blend up the beetroot and strain the juice through a nut bag/ cheese cloth
-Process all the red cake ingredients in a food processor with an S blade
-For the icing, firstly scrape out the seeds from a whole vanilla pod. To do so, slice the pod in half lengthwise, then use a teaspoon to literally scrape all the seeds out until the inside of the pod is dry
-Blend all the soaked cashews with melted coconut butter, agave and lemon juice until smooth, then add the seeds of the vanilla pod and lukuma powder, blend until combined
-If your icing mixture happens to be really runny, add more lukuma. If too think, add more melted coconut butter. If it is too warm/hot, transfer to the fridge for a few minutes to cool down before icing the cake
-Now for the tricky/fun part: divide the red cake mixture into three equal parts, take one part and distribute it along the bottom of the cake tin, firmly pressing it down with your hand or a soft spatula. The trick here is not to spread a layer of icing and then add another layer of cake, as it will all turn into one big splurgy mess when you try and make a firm smooth layer of the cake again... so...
-Open up the cake tin and with a help of a knife or spatula, carefully remover the layer of cake and transfer to a clean serving plate, spread a layer of icing on top. Repeat this process of creating the red cake layer two more times, each time carefully removing it out of the cake tin, placing on top of the frosting layer and icing it again
-When all three layers of red cake and icing are structured into a cake, use the remainder of the frosting to cover the sides of your cake, until the red colour is no longer peaking through
-Decorate with berries / dried fruit of your choice
-Place in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours to set, then slice with a sharp knife, wiping it clean with a paper towel after each slicing
Happy day of love!!!