RAW CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT CAKE

 
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Recipe & Photo by Lauren Glucina ASCENSION KITCHEN

AUTHOR NOTES

This cake is chocolate overload, it tastes like chocolate orange ice cream. The great thing about raw cakes is there is no dairy. And one of the many benefits of this, is calmer skin. The Phyicians Committee For Responsible Medicine published a review of diet and acne in 2009.  Their research found that milk and sugar were linked to bad skin. Oil, fatty foods, and poor old chocolate were previously to blame, but their findings showed little evidence that actually implicates them. But now what we do know, is that dairy products and high GI foods such as sugar and white bread, are clearly linked to acne in scientific studies…And, according to more recent reviews, it doesn’t matter if its full fat or skim milk, as it’s the actual hormones in the milk that are linked with acne – in fact, low-fat milk actually had a greater association with acne. Now who would have thought that chocolate ice cream cake was good for your skin!

SERVES:   This base will fill a 9 inch cake tin. You could halve the recipe and fill a 7½ inch tin, which will give you a taller cake, that’s what I did.

PREP TIME:  20- 30 Minutes + Setting Time

DIETARY CONSIDERATION:  Raw, Vegan, Vegetarian, Paleo, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, Gluten Free

INGREDIENTS 

Base:

  • 1 cup of Hazelnuts

  • 1 cup of Almonds

  • 1 heaped cup of Medjool dates

  • ¼ cup of Cacao Powder

  • 1 tsp of Vanilla Paste

  • ½ tsp of flaky Sea Salt

Filling Richest

  • 1½ cups of Soaked Cashews

  • 1 cup of Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

  • ½ cup of Coconut Oil

  • ½ cup of Cacao Powder

  • ¼ + 2 tbsp of Agave Nectar

  • A good pinch of flaky Sea Salt

  • 1 tbsp of Lecithin

Filling Rich

  • Exactly the same as the Richest Filling, only use 2 tbsp of Cacao Powder.

 EQUIPMENT 

Vitamix or Blender of choice

DIRECTIONS

Base: Blitz everything in the food processor except the dates
Now gradually add the dates one by one. Stop when you reach the desired consistency – The dough should still be crumbly but sticky enough to hold its own when pressed together. Press into the bottom of a spring tin cake tin and pop in the freezer

Filling: Soak Cashews for 6 – 8 hours. Then start by making the Richest Filling first. Blend everything but the lecithin.
Add the lecithin last, this helps the cake to set. Pour into your cake tin

Rich Filling: Soak Cashews for 6 – 8 hours. This is exactly the same recipe, only less cacao. Pour this over the top, but don’t be gentle! Let it push its way through the darker colour. You can also use a chopstick to give it a cheeky swirl. This part is purely cosmetic!

If you wish to keep the colours the same, use equal parts cacao in each blender batch, but you will still need two batches, as it won’t all fit in one jug at a time

Decorate with smashed hazelnuts and orange zest. Pop in freezer for 4-6 hours or until ready to serve.

 
Stacey Christie