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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.
I seem to have developed a strange obsession with apricots of late, sneaking them into everything when no one’s looking! Here are a couple of my fave recipes for luscious apricot sweet eats…
Apricot Almond Cookies
1 cup raw almonds
Two-thirds cup dried apricots
¼ cup desiccated coconut
2 heaped dessertspoons raw almond butter
2 teaspoons raw honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Small pinch Celtic sea salt or Himalayan crystal salt
Using a food processor or coffee grinder, process raw almonds into small pieces and transfer to a bowl. Add dried apricots to food processor and process until well broken down. Return the ground almonds, add coconut and salt, then blend until evenly mixed. Add remaining ingredients and process again until mixture begins sticking together. Press into a silicone mould and refrigerate for a couple of hours to firm up before serving. Will keep for a week or longer in the fridge.
This is such a versatile recipe and I’ve used it in several raw desserts over the past few weeks as both a tart crust and crumble mix. It’s lovely served as an apricot cobbler with fresh, sliced apricots (toss them in a bowl with a little honey and vanilla extract before adding to the crumble). If you have more time available then you really can’t beat a raw Apricot Almond Tart.
Firmly press the above cookie mixture into a cake tin or pie tray, ensuring the crust reaches about an inch up the sides. Leave in the fridge to firm up while you make the filling.
Apricot Almond Tart Filling:
1 cup desiccated coconut
1 cup fresh apricots (about 7 or 8 with stones removed)
½ cup coconut milk
2 heaped dessertspoons lecithin
20ml coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 dessertspoons raw agave
Add the coconut and pitted apricots to the food processor and process until creamy. Then add remaining ingredients and process again until mixture starts to thicken. Scoop filling onto the crust and refrigerate for a couple of hours to firm up. Sprinkle with sliced almonds before serving if desired. The assembled tart will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days.
The Chocolate Almond Fudge Cupcakes below are based on another wonderful recipe from ‘Ani’s Raw Food Desserts’ (Almond-Goji Cacao Chip Cookies p117). These cookies are delicious just as they are, but I couldn't resist converting them to a cupcake with a chocolate frosting and a sprinkling of raw cacao nibs on top for a little extra crunch.
I tweaked the proportions of Ani’s original recipe to give it a softer, fudge-like consistency and only made enough for 2 cupcakes, which I totally regretted later on as they tasted amazing!
Cupcake mix:
3 heaped dessertspoons almond butter
2-3 dessertspoons raw agave nectar
1-2 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch sea salt
½ cup almond meal
Handful of goji berries
1 dessertspoon raw cacao nibs
(Stir together in a mixing bowl).
Chocolate frosting (enough for 2 cupcakes):
¼ cup almond meal
1 tsp raw cacao powder
1 dessertspoon raw agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp water
(Stir together in a mixing bowl).
I recently bought some silicone moulds on ebay and have been itching to try out the raw cupcake recipes in Ani Phyo’s beautiful book, ‘Ani’s Raw Food Desserts’. I can never refuse a slice of carrot cake (well, cake in general), so I was intrigued by the prospect of how raw carrot cake would compare with the trusty cooked version. Even though I’ve been having fun making raw desserts for a couple of years now, there are still a few cooked recipes I hold sacred lol!
The cupcake base is a mixture of grated carrot (with some of the juice squeezed out), almond meal, ground cinnamon, Medjool dates and shredded coconut… and it really does taste every bit as good as the baked version!
Ani’s dairy-free ‘Kream Cheeze Frosting’ is made with ground cashews, lemon juice, raw agave nectar and a little water. I’ve used this delicious cream cheese alternative before in raw desserts and it’s perfect for topping any carrot cake, raw or not.
(Photos: Pam)
