It feels like forever and a half since I wrote my last recipe post. I've been so busy writing articles for various magazines and websites, that my own little gem of cyber haven got neglected. Sad face.

I shall make up for it over the next couple of weeks with details on our Croatia visit and our engagement party too. But first, there was Venice...

The only two places I've been to in Italy prior to this trip were Rome with my sis and Turin for skiing. Elliot's been all over Italy many years ago when he did a Contiki Tour around Europe.

He had great memories about Venice. I've always wanted to go. It was [kinda] on the way to our Croatia destination. Why not?

Being the usual fuss-ball with food, I brought a bunch of pre-prepared snacks with me, as well as my own pH booster green powder (a mix of alkalising greens, grasses, herbs and algae - the healthy traveler's dream!) and continued drinking them, as I was also on the Acid Alkaline Breakthrough program along with all my members. When the program was finished, I welcomed the opportunity to do a little research...

A tiramisu sort of research. You know- 'when in Italy'.

Well it didn't take long for me to realise, that all the time I've spent salivating over a vivid memory of the world's best, most divine, heavenly, orgasmic scoop of coffee sponge fingers and vanilla mascapone cream, was simply the tricks of my cogent imagination.

Still, I was convinced that tiramisu really had to be the best dessert on the planet, it was just that the non raw food version was no longer satisfactory to my tastebuds. As usual, this trip provided more than enough inspiration to return home and create my own version of the heaven I dreamed up in the first place...




For the hazelnut milk
1 cup hazelnuts, soaked overnight
3 cups pure water
4 pitted dates
pinch Himalayan salt

For the coffee cake layer
1 cup macadamia nuts
1 cup hazelnut meal (pulp left over from making hazelnut milk)
1/2 cup sunflower lecithin granules
1/4 cup cacao powder
1 cup pitted dates, soaked 2-3 hours
3/4 cup espresso (3 tbsp ground coffee brewed with 3/4 cups boiling water)*
1/3 tsp Himalayan salt

For the vanilla cream layer
2 cups cashews, soaked overnight
1/2 cup hazelnut milk
1/2 cup melted cacao butter
1 cup sunflower lecithin granules
1/2 cup maple syrup*
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped out only
pinch Himalayan salt

*This is not a raw ingredient, but is regularly used in raw food recipes.


-Make the Hazelnut milk by blending and straining all the ingredients. [If you've never made a nut milk before, watch my step-by-step YouTube video here>>]

-Prepare the coffee cake layer by processing the first four ingredients in a food processor, until finely ground. Add the dates, brewed coffee and salt, and process again until you have a mixture resembling a runny and grainy cake dough.

-Prepare the vanilla cream layer by blending all of the ingredients in a high powered blender. Use a tamper to make sure that all the ingredients are touching the blade and combine well into a cream.

-This recipe should be enough for 5 small glasses or ice-cream sundae bowls (cup size or 250ml). Layer each glass by scooping in a tablespoon of coffee mix and spread it along the bottom.
-Pour in some cream, until the glass is filled to a half level mark.
-The next step will have to be done more carefully, as the cake mixture could sink into the cream if you were to throw it on top. Simply scoop little bits of cake mix around the inside edge of your glass and then add a bigger spoonful into the middle. Use the back of your spoon to lightly even out the surface, careful not to apply any pressure.
-Cover with a layer of cream and transfer to the fridge to set overnight.
-In 4-8 hours, sprinkle with some cacao powder using a sieve and serve.

[The tiramisu could be prepared well ahead of time, as it will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.]


And there you go. It's pretty straight forward, but the result is incredible!
And here are just a few snaps of our trip...

Buon pomeriggio :)

Venezia loving!!

Just 2 people in love...

Still trying to figure out why I love this photo so much, but I do.  It makes me happy.

Beautiful, Venice, beautiful!

Raw peeps won't go hungry! Fresh coconuts are everywhere, so is every kind of fruit. I went nuts for cherries.

Happiness.

Where are all the people?

'I'm on a boat!'.

Sun + Elliot + Venice + Boat = can hardly handle so many favourites in a single image!

Just cruisin' and soaking up final moments of Venice.

Trieste in all its glory.

Miramare Castle visit.

Not sure what happened here, but this was my natural reaction to so much overwhelming beauty around.

A refreshing water break on a super hot day.

Nothing unusual here, folks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Z13VFFJE8&feature=share&list=UUcZcGZ88-ZcXUWBpvUPk2oA


While visiting, my friend Jesse van der Velde interviewed me on how I discovered raw food for the first time and asked me to share some of my top strategies on creating lasting lifestyle changes, as well as my three very best healthy eating tips.

This inspirational man by the way is like the Tony Robbins of Netherlands! If you don't know him yet- meet Jesse, Europe's renowned personal trainer, power energy coach, author, star nutritionist and the mega sensation behind www.jessevandervelde.com , www.superfood.nl and www.detoxyourworld.com .

In our interview he asks me about my favourite superfoods, a question to which I shamelessly declare my love of mulberries for their toffee-like, chewy, caramel properties.

This caramel obsession of mine stems all the way from childhood, when my grandma- angels rest her soul- had a whole stack of it ready for me every time I came to visit. She would boil an entire can of sweetened condensed milk for something like 3 hours until it turned into gooey caramel heaven and grandma's house became the only place a sweet-tooth-of-a-child could ever dream of living in.

Well, Stroopwafels (which you may know as caramel thins, toffee biscuits, syrup waffles or treacle waffles) happen to be a hugely popular caramel syrup and baked butter batter treat, which originated in the Netherlands.

It was a no-brainer then, that as soon as I got back, I'd create my own healthy version of the most delicious biscuit in the whole entire world. [Disclaimer: This statement is so all mine, but I bet I'm not the only who thinks stroopwafels are the bee's knees to your tastebuds.]





For the essentials
Food processor
Cookie cutter (I used a 4 inch food presentation ring)
Blender
Dehydrator (but you can also bake the biscuits in the oven, they will no longer be raw, but they will still be the healthiest gluten free biscuit you could get your hands on)

For the biscuit
2 cups walnuts, soaked overnight
1 cup hazelnuts, soaked overnight
1 cup hulled flaxseeds, dry
3/4 cup coconut palm sugar
2 tbsp mesquite meal / algarroba powder
1 tbsp maca root powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup pure water

For the caramel
1 cup pitted dates, soaked for a minimum of 2 hours
1/2 cup coconut butter, melted
1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
1/3 cup mesquite meal / algarroba powder

-Start by making the biscuits first. Finely chop all the walnuts and hazelnuts in a food processor, add all the remaining biscuit ingredients, apart from lemon juice and water, then process again to combine. Add the lemon juice and water, then process one last time until the batter has your desired consistency.
-Spread the biscuit mixture over a teflex sheet of your dehydrator tray, carefully evening it out with the use of a spatula. The thickness should be about 0.5-1cm if your cookies are going to dry in one solid form. Use a cookie cutter or a food presentation ring to create as many cookies as your dough allows.
-Dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 8-12 hours, turn the dough plank over onto a mesh sheet and place another mesh sheet or even two over your cookies, so there is some weight on them and they don't start curling up at the edges whilst drying. Return to the dehydrator for another 8-12 hours.

-To create caramel, you will need either a Vitamix or a powerful food processor. Transfer all the caramel ingredients into the machine and blend on high, while using a tamper or a pulse button (if using a food processor). Continue to blend until you reach a smooth, sauce-like consistency.
-Spread the caramel over each biscuit, you can then either eat right away (you will want to, believe me!), return to the dehydrator for another 2-4 hours to make it more dense or transfer to the fridge for 1-2 hours to make it more solid. Note that if you transfer to the fridge, it is best for the stroopwafels to remain there until serving, as they would start to moisten and soften later while 'defrosting'.







Are you in love? Me too!

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1. Climbing Mt Pauanui.
1. Catching up with besties and checking out Auckland's raw food eats.
See more of my pics for details and if you live there or you're visiting, defo stop by Little Bird Organics in Kingsland and Wise Cicada in New Market.
1.  The sun! The sun! The sun!
1. Spending time with Elliot's lovely family (there's a missing troop in this pic though) and meeting our precious baby nephew, Stanley.
1. Piha beach. You complete me.
1. The viaduct! This was my hub and my working home, where I studied and then leased office space for Jones Lang LaSalle.
1. Spending time with my fun guy.
1. Trecking to the Cathedral Cove.
1. Elliot getting to surf.
Why is this a highlight of mine? I guess because it is his form of meditation. He's already a pretty peaceful person, but the ocean has that little bit of magic which he brings out of the water with him and into any energy space he enters (which is mostly mine :)).
1. Free range living :)
Here's the full album of our trip>>