BANANA STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM CAKE

Hello, all. How's everyone doing? This is a glorious recipe that is sure to brighten up anyone's day - who doesn't love ice cream cake? And what? It's HEALTHY, you say? Well, I'll be! It's a miracle! Actually it's not really a miracle, it's just momma nature treatin' us well and providing all the sustenance we need in the form of juicy fruits. Life is good when you've got ripe plants to eat. I am very happy with these photos, if I am being honest (and I am.) Then again, it's not hard to take beautiful photos when you have beautiful subjects to take photos of. The vibrant colours of nature are the thing to be admired here. I found these flowers at the farmer's market this morning, where a vendor was selling bunches of edible plants: 3 for $5.00! She recommended dipping the sage leaves in coconut oil then baking them with a pinch of salt until crispy... she is a genius.

Today I share with you a simple yet beautiful recipe for a sweet, creamy, fresh ice cream cake. It is made of 100% fresh fruit, and nothing else. Because when you care about the world, animals, and yourself - why eat anything but plants? Enjoying a plant-based diet is the best choice you can make to have the most positive impact on the health of our planet, our animal friends, and your own well-being. It is the intelligent decision, and the compassionate one. If you are a lover, you should let go of meat, dairy, and other animal products; it is that simple. I hope I don't sound preachy or judgemental in this post, I only want to spread a message of peace and equality. I have just been sobbing for an hour over the state of humanity. We support the systemized murder and torture of billions everyday, just to say "mmm... bacon!" It is literally insane and it must stop. I know the majority of people are not aware of the impact of their simple meal choices, and that is because there are huge corporations and massive amounts of money and power intentionally masking the truth and parading lies to the public. I do not blame the public. But I do think it's fair to demand an end to the killing. A sane person understands murder is wrong, so why eat meat? An animal is an animal - we are all animals. There is no categorical difference between us and all other living beings, so why kill one and love another? It doesn't make sense. I love my friends, so I do not eat them. Instead, I eat fruit. Let's eat cake, hug pigs, save the earth, regain our health, and love each other.

BANANA STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM CAKE

Ice cream layers:

4 frozen bananas

1 cup strawberries

Banana layers:

3 thinly sliced bananas

Slice the frozen bananas, then blend in a high speed blender until they get to the consistency of soft serve ice cream; it will take a minute but suddenly you'll have that perfect thick, creamy, fluffy texture. Add the strawberries one by one, until the mixture is pink but still thick. 

Now in a 4-inch cake mold, or other small mold, layer the sliced banana pieces with the ice cream mixture. Set in the freezer just long enough to make it hold together. Then cut around the edge of cake with a knife so it separates from the mold, then carefully take it out and enjoy! I decorated mine with edible flowers and sage leaves. 

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BANANA ICE CREAM CAKE with MATCHA, BLUEBERRY + VANILLA LAYERS

Heyo! To be honest, I wasn't too stoked on how this cake turned out, appearance-wise. I am still trying to develop my skills as a swirler (it's a word, shh), and you can really tell. If you wanna find the worlds best swirler, check out Fragrant Vanilla Cake! I am always in awe of her talent level of swirling. Anyhoo, back to my mishap: I messed up in the middle of the top of the cake, so I tried covering up my mistake with pumpkin seeds (don't we all? ... No.) Fortunately the lighting was nice today so the cake looks alright, but it still doesn't quite meet my standards in terms of prettiness. However, I am sharing it anyways because I love you. And since I love you, I of course want to give you as many delicious and healthy recipes as I can! Here's another one, folks. 

This is mostly bananas! As you may have learned from my reading my past posts and checkin' me out on Instagram - YES, I GOT INSTAGRAM! - I am eating essentially 80/10/10 now. That is, 80% carbs, 10% each for protein and fat. My diet looks a lot like *smoothiemania* all day (10 bananas per smoothie wasssapp!?) plus giant bowls of rice and vegetables for dinner. I ain't missing out on a thing! Even dessert! I love this lifestyle. I am so excited to eat everything all the time. And I have energy out the wazoo (we still do not have confirmation on the precise definition of wazoo though). Here I show you that you can have a tasty raw vegan treat, but it doesn't have to be filled with nuts and coconut oil! Those foods are awesome, but we don't need much of them; only a handful a day. You get just that with this cake. Actually, I'm gonna let you in on a secret - this cake is, for all practical purposes, a smoothie that is frozen in a cake mold. If that makes it seem unappealing to you, pretend I never said it. Blot it out from your mind forever. But if that fact makes it even MORE enticing... well, you're welcome. I think it's cool. Get it? 'Cause it's frozen? "OMG Em you are soooo funny!" Aw shucks, you're too kind. 

BANANA ICE CREAM CAKE with MATCHA, BLUEBERRY + VANILLA LAYERS

Matcha layer:

3 frozen bananas

1 teaspoon matcha powder

5 Medjool dates (optional)

Blueberry layer:

2 frozen bananas

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Handful cashews

Handful dried coconut flakes

Vanilla layer:

3 frozen bananas

1/2 vanilla bean

2 tablespoon coconut nectar or other sweetener

Handful dried coconut shreds (optional) 

For each layer: just blend all the ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth and very thick! If your blender cannot handle it, add some coconut milk to keep things moving, and keep things creamy (if you add water it'll just make it icy). Reserve about 1 tablespoon of the matcha and blueberry mixtures. Spread each layer evenly into a 6 inch cake pan (mine is adjustable), with the vanilla layer being on top. Now drop little dots of the matcha and blueberry mixtures onto the top of the cake. Use a toothpick or chopstick and drag the tip through the dots - it makes hearts! Freeze until sold. When you wanna serve this, I recommend letting it thaw for a bit so it gets creamy. 

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JICAMA BURGERS with CUMIN, CORIANDER, DILL & LEMON

These are inspired by crab cakes, but I think they're better 'cause they are healthy and cruelty-free. Also they just taste *freaking amazing*. I honestly wasn't expecting them to be as good as they turned out. I gobbled up 3 in mere minutes. They taste great with avocado, just so ya know. Please don't expect this recipe to taste much like the original thing... the ingredients are totally different and there's no cooking involved. Enjoy the flavours and textures for what they are! Veggies are winners all by themselves! But for those of you who are vegan, seriously craving sea food, and are fine with eating cooked food... try Sophie's Kitchen products (my mom loves them).

I never actually ate crab cakes when I was growing up but apparently (thanks, Wikipedia) they are made up of crab meat, bread crumbs, mayo, butter and eggs... yum? Well, we're throwing that stuff out and bringing in fresh veggies and spices. This recipe is based with jicama, onion, walnuts and lemon juice; and spiced with cumin, chili, coriander, dill, salt and pepper. I had trouble NOT eating all the mixture before shaping it into cakes and putting them in the dehydrator. Again: these probably don't taste anything like real crab cakes but they are delicious in their own right. Ya got me!? The spices liven up the crunchy, sweet jicama and zesty lemon, while the onion gives it a bit of heat. Think of this recipe as like a basic burger or something, add some mustard, avocado, tomatoes, etc. and it comes alive. But it's also delicious on it's own. My mom thinks you should add basil and olive oil to make them "pesto burgers", she's smart. Sorry for all the sporadic-ness in this post. There's not really one focus. Hopefully you just scrolled past this because I don't even know what I am talking about now. C'mon, scroll.

JICAMA ONION CAKES with CUMIN, CORIANDER, DILL & LEMON

1 cup jicama
1/4 cup onion 
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Cumin, coriander, dill, chili, salt and pepper (as desired) 
1 cup walnuts

Peel and chop the jicama and onion up into small chunks. Throw all the ingredients - except the walnuts - into your food processor and pulse a few times until it's a consistency you like. Dump into a bowl and set aside. Now process the walnuts into a thick paste and add this to the first mixture, combining evenly so you end up with a mushy mix... it doesn't sound appetizing but other describing words are not coming to mind at the moment. Shape into cakes (I used a large cookie mold) and then dehydrate for a few hours until they hold together; or use your oven at it's lowest temperature to get the same result. Serve with herbs, avocado, veggies, spreads, crackers, or whatever else you like!

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! 

CASHEW CITRUS CREAM CAKE with POMEGRANATE

This was made in anticipation for the holidays. The red and white are festive colours, plus who doesn't want (raw vegan) "cheesecake" at Christmas? Only the loonies. Watch out for them...

This cake is not only beautiful, it's delicious. The cashews create a rich, filling creaminess and when paired with fresh lemon juice, oranges and sweetened naturally, the result is practically divine. Impress all the skeptics - and non skeptics alike - with this at your next holiday dinner. Don't tell 'em it's healthy, raw, vegan and gluten-free until AFTER they've licked their plates clean and asked for seconds. Trust me - they will; or else they go in the loonie bin. I'm serious. But not really. But mostly.

My motto is "do what works for you" so here's a bunch of substitution options if this recipe doesn't quite fit your diet ideals: if you don't want or can't eat cashews, you can use fresh young coconut meat instead; or avocados, or any other nuts. Hemp seeds would even work. If you don't want nuts in the crust, use oats, seeds or buckwheat groats. If you can't have coconut oil, use cacao butter. If you don't like coconut nectar, use a syrup of dates and water. Bam! Anybody can make this work for them. Hallelujah to the heavens, amiright!?

I'm pretty much done with calling raw vegan "cheesecake" by that name... I prefer cream cake now. Although the inspiration comes from cheesecake, raw vegan cream cakes are just better in every way. They taste better, they're healthy, they're better for the planet, their ingredients aren't involved in the abuse of our animal pals... there're no down sides! So I'm tired of associating them with cheesecake... from now on - my "cheesecakes" will be cream cakes. It's also less confusing this way.

I'd like to say a big, warm thank you to all you lovely people who commented on my last post and emailed me about it. I know this blog is first and foremost about raw vegan recipes; but it's very therapeutic for me to let out what's going on inside my head. What becomes equally important when I share my emotions in a public space is the responses from you, which do SO MUCH to make me feel better. So many of you can relate, and that is extremely helpful and relieving to know. I think for a lot of you, it's good to know that YOU'RE not alone either! It makes me infinitely glad to realize we're all in this together, and that we can come together over our personal selves with healthful recipes. I am blessed. All my love to you. Let's eat cake.

GRAB THE RECIPE HERE.

CHOCOLATE PUDDING TART WITH COCONUT CREAM & GOJI BERRIES

I've made variations of this pie/tart/thing a few times now (click here and here for past recipes) and every time the result is a winner with the crowd I serve it to. It's one of those desserts where you can expect the plates to be licked clean. Why? It's simple, really. You have a crust that tastes like butter tarts, followed by the most delicious and healthy chocolate pudding you can imagine, covered in whipped coconut cream and topped off with goji berries. This here's a no brainer, folks - make this recipe immediately.

Technically-speaking, the coconut cream isn't 100% raw because as far as I know, there're no raw brands of canned coconut milk (which is what you need to make it). If this doesn't bother you, let's hug and chow down. If you'd rather keep it all raw, use a cashew cream instead (blend cashews, dates, water and vanilla). See? Everybody gets what they want. Happy happy happy people. I originally made this for a friend's birthday but they seem to have celebrated without me (pfffff not hurt at all) SO it's going towards another good cause; my mom's lunch party with all her lady friends. I hope they enjoy it. They loved it. 

CHOCOLATE PUDDING TART WITH COCONUT CREAM & GOJI BERRIES

Crust:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup dates

Chocolate pudding:
1 avocado
2 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons coconut nectar (or date paste)
2 tablespoons cacao powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Pinch of Himalayan salt
1/4 cup nut milk, as needed

Coconut cream:
See this recipe

To make the crust: pulse the walnuts into powder then add the dates until it all begins to stick together. Press into a lined tart tin (mine was about 8 inches) and put in the fridge.

To make the chocolate pudding: blend all the ingredients together in your food processor until smooth and thick... it should taste a-freaking-mazing. Spread evenly into your crust.

Make the coconut cream, spread it on top of the pudding layer, and put back in the fridge overnight. Serve with goji berries, coconut flakes and cacao nibs. Nom.

AVOCADO CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE with GOJI BERRIES

If you like avocados and you like chocolate; you will appreciate this recipe. Its creaminess is thanks to those magical green monsters that are full of healthy fats, protein and fiber, all wrapped up in one delicious package. When I eat avocados, I like to massage the seed on my face and neck, it feels good and it simultaneously rubs the avocado meat on my skin which is great for it. Just remember to wash it off, otherwise people will think you are turning into a goblin...

But hey, maybe it's been a dream of yours to look like a goblin. In that case, you're welcome.

I was gonna make these into individual cakes but decided that I'd throw everything together in a large spring form pan just because I haven't done that in awhile and it DOES seem more impressive. Don't you agree? If not, too bad. What's done is done, buddy. And what's done is also deliciouusss. I didn't add too much sweetener to this, so the flavour of the avocado comes through and combines with the cacao powder and raisin-walnut crust to create a smooth, decadent, uber nutritious experience in your mouth. Yes, it is an EXPERIENCE.

I kinda sorta made this cake as a happy birthday present for my friend (whose name is ALSO Emily, go figure). Almost all my friends are 20 now! We be growin' up, yo. I think my soul is like 72 years old though, and I've always felt that way. These days, instead of wishing my loved ones a "happy birthday", I tend to say "happy continuation day" instead. It's a Buddhist thing. See, in Buddhism it is taught that we are all part of the universe and the universe is equally part of all of us; it has been this way for eternity. Thus, we are never really born and likewise never really die. We simply continue to be! I dig it.

And what better way to "continue to be", than with raw vegan chocolate mousse cake? No better way - this is it, people. So make this recipe, nom it down and thank the universe and your own creative spirit for the gifts of life and ability! I hope you are having an amazing week; I know I am. It's safe to say that things are going swell, even swimmingly! And you know when ANYBODY says "swimmingly", they must be feeling freaking fantastic... listening to this mix doesn't hurt either.

AVOCADO CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE with GOJI BERRIES 

Crust:
1 cup walnuts
1 cup raisins

Mousse cake:
2 avocados
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
3 tablespoons cacao powder
2 tablespoons maca powder
1 teaspoon vanilla powder
3-4 tablespoons coconut nectar or date paste
Pinch of salt

Topping:
1 tablespoon each of almond butter, cacao powder and coconut nectar
1/4 cup dried goji berries

To make the crust: pulse the walnuts into powder in a food processor, then add the raisins and process until it begins to stick together. Press into the bottom of a small spring form pan. Put in the fridge.

To make the cake: blend or process all the ingredients until smooth and thick. Spread evenly on your crust and refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight. 

When ready to serve: take our your cake. Make the chocolate sauce by stirring the almond butter, cacao powder and coconut nectar together until smooth. Drizzle over your cake and garnish with goji berries. Slice. Ain't it nice? Oh, I also sprinkled some chia seeds on there.