Rich & Raw Vegan Chocolate Cake

There seems to be a stigma attached to vegan desserts. A lot of people think they don’t taste like normal desserts, or that it’s impossible for them to even compare. In some cases, this may be true… But the people who think this must NOT have ever had a vegan dessert, because let me tell you, they really can taste amazing! {A vegan chocolate pudding I made a while back tasted so good!} Last night I wanted some chocolate cake, but nothing too sweet or fattening. I really didn’t feel like loading up on flour, eggs and butter. So I brought some items out of the cupboards, and got started on a chocolate cake, vegan style! For those of you that are raw foodists, you’ll be happy to know that you can make this too! Everything is “raw” in this dessert, although some argue that cocoa powder isn’t “raw” because the beans are actually roasted before being made into powder. You can easily use raw cocoa if you like, or even carob powder. Also, this dessert has no sugar added to it, but it’s still sweet! Anyways, I’ll stop talking about this and get to the recipe already! This is a very rich “cake”, and can be cut into 4 servings. This cake EASILY passed the husband-taste-test, and he ate half of the cake… So if you’re anything like him, this cake makes 2 servings… I’ve also included a ganache recipe that worked really well for this.

Rich & Raw Vegan Chocolate Cake

Layer 1 Ingredients:

1/2 banana, mashed
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup walnut pieces, finely chopped

Middle Layer Ingredients:

About 8 dates, soaked for about 20 minutes so that they’re nice and soft
1-2 tbsp strawberry preserve OR strawberry puree {you can use any berry you like for this part}
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Layer 2 Ingredients:

1/2 banana, mashed
1/2 cup ground almonds
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/4 cup sliced almonds, finely chopped

Method:

In a small bowl, allow the dates to soak while you make layer 1 of this cake.
Line a small/medium dish/cake pan with foil/parchment paper/plastic wrap, and set aside. {This cake isn’t too big, so I used a french onion soup bowl to form the cake. It’s about 4.5 inches in diameter, and only about 2 inches deep.}
Layer 1: In a bowl, mix together the mashed 1/2 banana, ground almonds, cocoa powder and 1/4 cup chopped walnut pieces until combined. Press the “dough” into the bottom of the lined dish/cake pan. Place the dish in the freezer while you prepare the middle layer.
Middle layer: Drain the liquid from the dates, and add the preserve. Mix until well combined. Remove the cake dish from the freezer, and spread the date and preserve mixture over the “dough”. Sprinkle the dried cranberries over it all. Return to the freezer for 10 minutes.
Layer 2: Make layer 2 the same way you made layer 1. After 10 minutes, remove the cake from the freezer and place this dough on top. You may need to make a ball with the dough, and flatten it into a disc before putting it onto the cake. Press the dough down lightly so that it’s flat on the top. Place the cake back in the freezer for another 10 minutes.

Ganache

Ingredients:

4 squares best quality dark chocolate {aim for as high a cocoa % as you can enjoy. For vegans, you can use any vegan chocolate.}
About 1/4 cup vanilla almond milk

Method:

Place the chocolate and almond milk into a bowl/cup, and microwave on high for about 20 seconds.
Remove from the microwave, and stir until smooth and creamy. It may not look like it will come together at first, but just keep stirring! If you want a thicker ganache, just add another square of chocolate while the liquid is hot, and stir until smooth.

To Serve The Cake:

Remove the cake from the freezer.
Hold a plate over the top of the dish, and then while holding the plate firmly to the cake dish, flip it upside down and rest the plate on the counter.
Slowly and carefully, remove the cake dish from the plate. While doing this, hold the sides of the foil/plastic wrap to the plate so that the cake comes out of the cake dish. Set the cake dish aside.
Slowly peel the foil/plastic wrap off of the cake.
Cut the cake into 2 or 4 pieces {depending on how many people you are serving}, and place each slice on a plate.
Drizzle with ganache, and enjoy!



Filed under: desserts, Recipes, Weekly New Recipe Project Tagged: almond, cake, chocolate, cranberries, date, dessert, fruit, ganache, healthy, strawberry, vegan, vegetarian, walnut