A raw, vegan, gluten-free and refined-sugar-free cake that’s absolutely delicious.
You’ll need a semi-sphere silicone mould for this recipe. (Special equipment for the hipster cake? Who would’ve thought?) I used a mould with 24 cavities, each with a diameter of 3.5 cm.
Prep & Cook Time: 50 minutes + overnight soaking time + 3.5 hours freezing time
Serves: 14
Ingredients
Filling
- 3 cups (450 g) raw cashews
- 2 cups (500 ml) coconut milk
- 1 cup (340 g) rice malt syrup
- ½ cup (115 g) coconut oil
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) lemon or lime juice
- ¼ cup (60 g) sunflower lecithin or GMO-free soy lecithin
- 1¼ tablespoons chia seeds
- 1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 1 teaspoon matcha green tea powder
- Natural food colouring gels in green, yellow, pink and purple (optional)
- 1 greased 24-hole semi-sphere mould
- ½ teaspoon turmeric powder
- ½ cup (75 g) frozen raspberries
- ½ cup (75 g) frozen blueberries
Base
- 1 cup (150 g) macadamia nuts
- ½ cup (70 g) pistachio nuts
- ½ cup (90 g) raw buckwheat
- 8–9 pitted medjool dates
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Method
- Combine the cashews and coconut milk for the filling in a large bowl. Leave to soak overnight.
- To make the base, grease an 18-cm round spring-form cake tin and line the base with baking paper. Combine the macadamia nuts, pistachio nuts, buckwheat, pitted dates, cinnamon and sea salt in a food processor and whiz until the mixture is the size of breadcrumbs and begins to stick together. Press the mixture firmly into the base of the cake tin. Place in the freezer while you prepare the filling.
- For the filling, tip the cashews and coconut milk into the food processor bowl and add the rice malt syrup, coconut oil, lemon or lime juice, lecithin, chia seeds and seeds scraped from the split vanilla bean or vanilla bean paste and blend until smooth.
- Divide the cashew mixture into four portions, leaving one portion in the food processor bowl and dividing the other three portions among three separate bowls.
- Colour the first bowl of filling with the matcha powder and green colouring, if using. Use a spoon to fill six cavities of the greased semi-sphere mould and gently tap to level. Pour the remaining matcha mixture on top of the base. Place the mould and cake tin in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or until the filling is firm.
- Colour the second bowl of filling with the turmeric powder and yellow colouring, if using. Fill another six cavities of the mould and gently tap to level. Pour the remaining turmeric mixture on top of the matcha layer. Return the mould and cake tin to the freezer for at least 30 minutes or until the filling is firm.
- Put the raspberries in the food processor containing the reserved filling and blend until smooth. Add the pink colouring, if using. Fill another six cavities of the mould and gently tap to level. Pour the remaining raspberry mixture on top of the turmeric layer. Return the mould and cake tin to the freezer for at least 30 minutes or until the filling is firm.
- Put the blueberries and the remaining filling in the cleaned food processor and blend until smooth. Add the purple colouring, if using. Fill the final six cavities of the mould and gently tap to level. Pour the remaining blueberry mixture on top of the raspberry layer. Return the mould and cake tin to the freezer for at least 2 hours or until frozen.
- Release the frozen cake from the spring-form tin, running a small, sharp knife around the inside of the tin, if needed. Transfer the cake to a cake stand or serving plate and place in the refrigerator to thaw for at least 2 hours before serving.
Images and text from Bake Australia Great by Katherine Sabbath, photographer Jeremy Simons, Murdoch Books RRP $39.99.
