Sweet Treats

I owe Connie a big ‘thank you’ for asking recently about rosewater. It’s wonderful when lightly drizzled over a fruit salad, but I’d never actually thought about incorporating it in raw cookies or cakes before. Connie is a very talented artist and metalsmith, and if you have a spare minute pop over to the blog, Saschi and Squee, which she shares with her friend, Ashley.

I’ve had loads of fun concocting a few rosewater-flavoured sweets using ground almonds as a base (see recipes below). There are some other desserty things in the pipeline too that need a little more refinement, so I’ll save those for another day.

First up, Pistachio Rosewater Sweets (yeah, I know it needs a more inspiring name – all suggestions welcome!). I love the utter simplicity of this raw food recipe: just four wholesome ingredients that taste out of this world when combined.

Pistachio Rosewater Sweets

1 cup raw almond meal
½ cup pistachios (shelled)
2 dessertspoons raw honey
1 dessertspoon organic rosewater

Add all ingredients to the food processor and process until evenly mixed and binding together. Press into a silicone mould or use your fingers to form the dough into small, bite-sized balls.



I also made Pecan Pudding Sweets – these tasted remarkably like Christmas pudding and even had that warming, alcoholic kick thanks to a new organic vanilla extract I decided to try. Despite giving the bottle a good shake, I managed to add a dessertspoon of neat ethanol with just the teeniest hint of vanilla! It was potent stuff, I can tell ya! You might prefer to make these using an alcohol-free vanilla extract or vanilla powder so as not to overpower the delicate flavour of the rosewater…

Pecan Pudding Sweets

1 cup almond meal
½ cup pecans
1½ teaspoons orange extract (or a few drops orange essential oil)
1 dessertspoon organic rosewater
1 dessertspoon vanilla extract
1½ dessertspoons raw honey

Add all ingredients to the food processor and process until evenly mixed and binding together. Press into a silicone mould or use your fingers to form the dough into small, bite-sized balls.

Simple Pleasures

Time for a few more raw dessert pics! Both of these sweet treats are from Ani Phyo’s fantastic book: ‘Ani’s Raw Food Desserts’. I know I recommend it a lot, but I’ve yet to discover a duff recipe and unlike some of the raw food books in my collection, pretty much all the ingredients are easily obtainable.

If you like the flavour of carob then you’ll love these easy to make Carob Walnut Cookies (click here for the recipe). They’re delicious with a little dollop of walnut butter on top.



And these little beauties (Sesame Snap Cookies) are my new favourites! Funnily enough, I’ve never been a huge fan of dried apricots on their own, but add pistachios and sesame seeds to the mix and I’m seeing them in a rather different light...



Dive in!



Most of the moulds I use when making raw desserts and chocolates are from a great selection at SiliconeMoulds.com. I’ve been really impressed with all their moulds I’ve tried so far - they’re excellent quality and release very easily. Take a look at Sarah-Jane’s foodie blog as well, for some gorgeous culinary eye candy and recipes.