You can have your cake and eat it too! There is no more pleasurable way to indulge than with scrumptious, rich yet highly nourishing desserts. ‘A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’ – we’ve all heard that one before, right? With these cakes, rather than simply satisfying a moment of gustatory enjoyment, you are also bringing in a fresh stock of vitamins, minerals and enzymes into your body. A power cake if you will.
Not to diss great tasting, beautiful looking ‘regular’ cakes…but, well, yes, I’m going to! Underneath that pretty exterior they are full of anti-nutrients which actually sap your store of vitamins, minerals and enzymes which are summoned to break them down and make sense of the processed, refined food stuffs you’ve just ingested so that it can transform them into something useable for the body, neutralise their harmful effects and/or eliminate them. That’s a lot of work. Work makes us hungry. So we reach for more.
Raw ingredients in their natural food state come ready packaged with the enzymes* required for their digestion and actually bring your body vital nutrients. Don’t go overboard, they still contain a significant amount of natural sugars and sugar, at the end of the day, is still sugar. They are to be eaten as treats, little mouthfuls of pleasure every now and then. The idea that cakes are a ‘treat’, to be had on special occasions has been somewhat lost in modern living when stress, busyness, feelings of loneliness and emotional eating have us reaching for the closest substitute to actually feeling what we are feeling.
But I digress, back to the cakes (which, by the way, are ridiculously easy to make and, bonus, you can’t burn them!)…
Here ‘s the so-easy-it’d-be-rude-not-to-make-it recipe for the Chocolate Orange Cake.
Those are goji berries on top and some orange zest shavings. If you're wondering what the chocolate looking sauce on the banana in the background is, here's how you make it: 1/2 cup cacao powder, 3/4 cup maple syrup, 4 teaspoons exra virgin olive oil
This Cashew ‘Cheese’ Cake is the most amazing alternative to using dairy. To make the strawberry coulis: blend 2 cups strawberries, 1/2 cup pitted dates in a food processor until mixed well. Divine!
The Real Cheezecake by Ani Phyo
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups macadamia CRUST
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup pitted dates
- 1/4 cup shredded coconut
- 3 cups cashews FILLING
- 3/4 cup lemon juice
- 3/4 cup raw honey or maple syrup
- 3/4 cup coconut oil (melted down in a bain marie)
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1/2 cup water (as required)
Cooking instructions
- To make CRUST: process salt and macadamia nuts into small pieces in food processor.
- Slowly add dates. Mix well.
- 'Flour' bottom of 9-inch springform pan with the shredded coconut. Press crust onto bottom of pan.
- To make FILLING: blend cashews, lemon juice, maple syrup/honey, coconut oil, vanilla in blender. Add water as required to form a smooth cream.
- Pour on top of crust. Place in freezer until firm.
- To serve: remove from pan whilst frozen, place on a plate in the refrigerator to defrost for 1 hour.
I challenge any healthy eating nay-sayers to hide their delight when taking a bite out of one these cakes. How about arranging a raw cake tea-party for a group of friends? What’s your favourite ‘healthy alternative’ dessert recipe?
If your mouth is watering just reading this recipe or you’ve already run out, bought the ingredients and blended it up, please share it with your friends on facebook and twitter using the icons at the top of this page or by forwarding this post (just think – they might make it for you next time you’re invited over for dinner…)
* enzymes are damaged when cooked over 42 degrees. Our bodies have a limited stock of enzymes.
You can have your cake and eat it too! There is no more pleasurable way to indulge than with scrumptious, rich yet highly nourishing desserts. ‘A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips’ – we’ve all heard that one before, right? With these cakes, rather than simply satisfying a moment of gustatory enjoyment, you are also bringing in a fresh stock of vitamins, minerals and enzymes into your body. A power cake if you will.
Not to diss great tasting, beautiful looking ‘regular’ cakes…but, well, yes, I’m going to! Underneath that pretty exterior they are full of anti-nutrients which actually sap your store of vitamins, minerals and enzymes which are summoned to break them down and make sense of the processed, refined food stuffs you’ve just ingested so that it can transform them into something useable for the body, neutralise their harmful effects and/or eliminate them. That’s a lot of work. Work makes us hungry. So we reach for more.
Raw ingredients in their natural food state come ready packaged with the enzymes* required for their digestion and actually bring your body vital nutrients. Don’t go overboard, they still contain a significant amount of natural sugars and sugar, at the end of the day, is still sugar. They are to be eaten as treats, little mouthfuls of pleasure every now and then. The idea that cakes are a ‘treat’, to be had on special occasions has been somewhat lost in modern living when stress, busyness, feelings of loneliness and emotional eating have us reaching for the closest substitute to actually feeling what we are feeling.
But I digress, back to the cakes (which, by the way, are ridiculously easy to make and, bonus, you can’t burn them!)…
Here ‘s the so-easy-it’d-be-rude-not-to-make-it recipe for the Chocolate Orange Cake.
Those are goji berries on top and some orange zest shavings. If you're wondering what the chocolate looking sauce on the banana in the background is, here's how you make it: 1/2 cup cacao powder, 3/4 cup maple syrup, 4 teaspoons exra virgin olive oil
This Cashew ‘Cheese’ Cake is the most amazing alternative to using dairy. To make the strawberry coulis: blend 2 cups strawberries, 1/2 cup pitted dates in a food processor until mixed well. Divine!
The Real Cheezecake by Ani Phyo
Ingredients
Cooking instructions
I challenge any healthy eating nay-sayers to hide their delight when taking a bite out of one these cakes. How about arranging a raw cake tea-party for a group of friends? What’s your favourite ‘healthy alternative’ dessert recipe? If your mouth is watering just reading this recipe or you’ve already run out, bought the ingredients and blended it up, please share it with your friends on facebook and twitter using the icons at the top of this page or by forwarding this post (just think – they might make it for you next time you’re invited over for dinner…)* enzymes are damaged when cooked over 42 degrees. Our bodies have a limited stock of enzymes.