Chockie drops, Ice-cream, Cookies and Fudge

Russell James's chockie chip cookie are as good as they look - rich and chewy, without any nasties like flour, dairy or sugar. These are the first batch of dehydrated cookies I've tried and I can happily say they won't be my last.

It was an experience making these chocolate drops, using a piping bag to carefully pipe each drop. I placed them into the freezer for a few minutes to set as I prepared the dough, then the race was on to form each cookies before the drops melted. Once dehydrated though, they were dry and crunchy....like an SAD cookie, but much better for your body.

You can find this and other insanely good raw chocolate recipes by clicking here.

I also enjoyed trying out some of Heathy's raw chocolate and maple and ginger ice-cream. I really like ginger so I added twice as much - not recommended! The chocolate ice-cream is my favourite (in fact, chocolate anything is my favourite!) so that didn't last long in my freezer. Heathy's chocolate fudge sauce is so divine you simply must try it.You can find these recipes in her e-book, Just Desserts at her blog, Sweetly Raw

Raw Chocolate Mousse Cake with Strawberry Sauce

One word: YUMMMM!

I found out from a doctor that Aboriginal people process refined sugars differently than white Australians. He told me that the body of an aboriginal person will hold onto EVERY ounce of refined sugar, leading to inflammation and immobility whereas other body types tend to digest it more quickly. That seems to explain the onslaught of disease once we hit the early 40s or so. I'm so thankful for the discovery of AGAVE NECTAR. Now I can (still) have my cake and eat it too!

This is another raw and deliciously healthy dessert I've been wanting to make for a while and decided to do it as a weekend treat (ya know how we NEED our weekend treats). This cake is even MORE delicious than it looks. True! The mousse filling is extremely smooth and melt-in-your-mouth. What I love about this cake is that it holds its shape beautifully without having to be kept in the freezer; the fridge will do. That means you can serve and eat straight from the fridge without delay.

The creamy texture has to be experienced. It's SO creamy and SO melt-in-you-mouth (did I say that already?) that your eyes will be rolling back inside your head with every delectable bite. The cacao butter added to this recipe gives it the creamy, mousse-ey texture and it's worth scouting out your local stores for the ingredient (because, if you come from Western Australia - like me - you will have to scout). I bought it from Manna Wholefoods in Fremantle or Alive Organics in Bayswater will also have it.

The original recipe called for raspberry sauce but being in the midst of strawberry season, I used strawberries. O la la! So good.

Here's the recipe from the you-can-always-count-on-gliving-for-a-great-raw-recipe GLIVING. Make sure you use a small cheesecake tin for this and let it sit in the fridge overnight.

Roar Vanilla Chocolate Party

AGAVE SYRUP to the chocolate cravers rescue!
Today I attended a raw chocolate making class with my good friend Jas. We drove an hour to Fremantle to learn all about what makes raw chocolate SOOO nutritious and delicious. The team from Roar Vanilla filled us in with all the history and science behind the cacao bean. Wow, what alot of interesting facts!

The class began with a sampling of a cacao bean. Hmmm, the words that came to mind were woody, waxy, bitter-chocolatey, crunchy and ...browny. We then sampled chocolate almond mylk. That was sure yummmm! Then we sampled and watched a demonstration of four different types of raw chocolate: plain, goji, spirulina and (my favourite) almond chocolate. The chocolate was AMAZING! The first sensation you notice is the intense flavour of cacao. You also notice that it quickly dissolves in your mouth and doesn't leave a sticky residue like Cadbury chocolate does. The third thing you notice is that you don't need much to feel satisfied.

I'm sold! Yep, I think I can quite easily enjoy a couple pieces a day, given these benefits. I'm a happy girl!

Some really facts about raw cacao:

"Raw Chocolate is an incredible food for wellbeing! It is wonderful for balancing brain chemistry, is a natural aphrodisiac and elevates your mood and energy. It is a great source of serotonin, dopamine, anandamide (“bliss" neurochemical) and phenylethylamine (PEA) which are all neurotransmitters associated with feelings of wellbeing and used for alleviating depression. Cacao also contains MAO inhibitors which keep these wellbeing neurotransmitters in our system for longer!

It is also the number one source of magnesium – which assists in brain functioning, heart heath and bone strength, and aids in stress reduction as well as muscle relaxation. When the brain has enough magnesium, it acts with clarity and focus. Cacao is high in chromium, which assists pancreatic health and helps to regulate blood sugar levels and iron." (http://www.roarvanilla.com/chocolatetherapy.htm)

RAW ICE-CREAM MUDD PIE!!

OK, so...while we were in Canada I made sure to stop by my favourite restaurant, Red Robin, and have my favourite non-raw dessert, Mile High Mudd Pie. This is the ultimate in decadent desserts, complete with whipped cream, chocolate fudge sauce, nuts, ice-cream and peanut butter. This little picture to the right shows you the real thing.

Of course, I HAD to embrace the challenge of coming home and putting together a raw version, to make this pleasure GUILT FREE! This was my first attempt at making raw ice-cream so I'm sure there's room for improvement.

So basically, you choose your two favourite raw ice cream flavours...and make them. I used chocolate, from a recipe I found at gliving - click here for a video of the recipe, and mint, from Russell James (be sure to add raw chocolate chips - see below for chocolate sauce, chill and then chop). Grab a round metal bowl, line it with plastic wrap and fill half way with the first of the two ice creams. Freeze. Pour and smooth down the second of the ice creams on top. Freeze. Apply a layer of raw peanut, almond or cashew butter onto frozen ice cream. Lastly, add a layer of raw chocolate cookies or cookie crumbs. Freeze. Turn out onto a serving dish and pipe raw whipped cream on top (1 cup young coconut meat, 1 cup almond or cashew cream, 1 tea vanilla extract, 1/2 cup coconut butter, agave to taste. Blend til smooth and place in freezer til firm enough to pipe). Sprinkle with crushed cashews and drizzle with raw melted chocolate (1/4 cup melted cacao butter, 1/8 cup raw cacao powder, 1 tb maple syrup, 1 tb raw agave. Mix in bowl with spoon).

This is a fun recipe to try and like all ice-cream cakes, you make yours to suit your own style. Personally, I think anything with chocolate, ice cream and nuts is a sure thing.

Raw Chef Certificate, Vancouver

While we were in Vancouver, Canada I visited the Raw Foundation Culinary Arts Institute and completed Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Foods Raw Food Chef - Level 1 certificate. Yes people, I am now a qualified raw food chef!

Our instructor - Miss Janice - was the perfect host chef. I learned SO MUCH and used every square inch of paper to write everything down.

We made green smoothies, chocolate brownies, date torte, mock salmon pate, stuffed mushrooms, collard wraps, broccoli soup, fettucine and raw spaghetti. We received valuable teaching about how to put foods together according to the five tastes (sweet, sour, salty, spicy and bitter), how to use herbs and spices to create ethnic flavours, superfoods that balance hormones....and too much more to mention. It was all GREAT!

Thanks Miss Janice for a fabulous time!

Cafe Bliss, Victoria CANADA

On our travels through Canada we visited raw cafe Cafe Bliss, one rainy day in downtown Victoria. Victoria is a beautiful city located on Vancouver Island, Canada. This was my very first encounter with a raw food restaurant and, you guessed it, I made a beeline to the dessert display. I was pleasantly surprised by the chocolate desserts on show screaming BITE ME!.

As eager as I was to obey, we made sure to do the right thing (as an example to our children!) and order salads first. I ordered a huckleberry raw pizza (the picture was overexposed) which was simple yet delicious, Nate ordered the house salad with orange dressing and the Ethan and Tali had a children's meal (almonds, strawberries, raisins, raw crackers) then we dove into dessert tastings!

Here are a few pictures of the raw desserts Cafe Bliss serve. I don't remember the names of them but we ordered the caramel slice-looking-square, the mint chocolate square and a few of the heart shaped raw chocolates. They were very kind to give us some complimentary chocolates as well. They were all incredible and it was difficult to choose my favourite. Tali's favourite was the mint squares!

They assured me a Cafe Bliss raw recipe book will be released by Christmas 2009. You could probably order that by clicking the link to their website at the top of this post.

Apple Pie at Grandma's House

Here begins the tale of my adventures with visiting family and eating raw (well, trying to) in Canada. My family and I caught the midnight flight and flew from Perth, Australia to Vancouver, Canada and spent 5 weeks visiting with family and friends. We drove from Vancouver to Kelowna and towns in between. Even though it was a challenge eating raw (on holiday!!) there were a few raw highlights worth sharing. One of our first visits was with Nate's Grandma Braun and Aunt Sandy. They live in a house surrounded by fruit trees and vegetable gardens.

Hmmmm, what to do with fresh, ripe apples?? Raw Apple Pie, of course!

My mother-in-law Gwen and Aunt Sandy were both enthusiastic helpers in project apple pie. We gathered all our ingredients and put together two killer pies. Aunt Sandy got busy preparing the crust by blending almonds, coconut, vanilla extract,dates and stevia in a food processor, Mum picked, peeled and sliced the apples, and I made up the sauce by blending wild raspberries, dates, apples and water then tossed the sliced apples through the sauce and poured them on the crust in the pie dishes. They were sprinkled with remaining crust crumbs and placed in the freezer to set for half an hour.

Like I said, everyone enjoyed two killer raw apple pies.