VANILLA, RASPBERRY & PEPPERMINT CREAM CAKE with CACAO TRUFFLES

I know, I know; I'm freaking out about this one too. I MEAN CAN LIFE GET ANY MORE MAGICAL! C'mon, momma nature, why you gotta be so amazing? You're making the rest of us look bad. All that is in this cake is fruit, nuts and seeds - and I promise it tastes even better than it looks. Typing that out literally made me giddy and I squealed a little bit just now. 

I'm tryin' real hard to balance out the ratio of dessert and savoury recipes on the blog because I wanna give you what you've been asking for... but you know me - I can't go more than a day without something sweet.

This was made in excitement of reaching 40,000 likes on good ole facebook.com. Sometimes I forget how much of a privilege it is having an entire community of amazing people supporting me through all my trials and tribulations... and cake-making. Seriously, you guys are my emotional backbone, in that you give me strength and confidence with each word and cyber hug we share. Thank you for being.

Lemme give ya a rundown of what this cake is all about. We've got a basic raw crust on the bottom (dates and hemp seeds), followed by three gorgeous cashew and orange cream layers. One is subtly sweet and includes vanilla, one is a bit tart and flavoured with raspberries and one is mega refreshing and packed with peppermint leaves. It's all topped off with dark chocolate (cacao) truffles and drizzle. I also sprinkled mine with hemp and pumpkin seeds because... it looks prettier like dat, ya feel me?

As far as deliciousness goes, I think this is a sufficient description to give you an idea of what to expect:  I practically fell on the floor after my first bite... but instead stayed upright and proceeded to devour a slice in mere minutes with wild eyes while whispering sweet nothings to the very thing I was eating.

VANILLA, RASPBERRY & PEPPERMINT CREAM CAKE with CACAO TRUFFLES  

Crust:
1/2 cup hemp seeds
1/2 oats or almonds
1 cup dates

Cream cake:
2 cups cashews
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup dates 
1-2 tablespoons coconut nectar (optional) 
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
Pinch of Himalayan salt
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1 peeled orange 
Water, as needed (I used about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup raspberries
1 cup mint leaves

Truffles:
1/2 cup dates
1 tablespoon cacao powder
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil 

Chocolate drizzle:
Use this recipe. 

To make the crust: pulse the hemp seeds and oats or almonds in a food processor until they turn into flour or crumbs. Add the dates and process until it all sticks together somewhat. Press in to the bottom of a lined cake pan (mine is adjustable and was about 7 inches). Put in the fridge.

To make the cream cake: blend all the ingredients together until smooth, EXCEPT the berries and mint. Take out one third of the mixture and pour onto your crust. Put back in the fridge. Take out half of the remaining mixture in the blender and set aside. Add the raspberries to the blender and blend until you get a smooth pink cream. Spread on top of your first layer and put back in the fridge. Put the remaining mixture (that you set aside a moment ago) back into the blender along with the mint leaves; blend until smooth and green. Spread evenly on top of the pink layer and keep in the fridge for 24-48 hours to let the cake set and flavours develop. 

To make the truffles: put all the ingredients in your food processor and process until smooth and thick like frosting. Roll into balls and coat in cacao powder. Decorate your cake with these, as well as hemp and pumpkin seeds, if you like. Drizzle with chocolate and slice!