Boysenberry and Lime Raw Cake
Last weekend I was pruning our rather sad berry patch. Sad because after two years of not much rain many of the raspberries had died, all of the blueberries had died but my heart sang when I saw our boysenberries looked pretty good. The plan is to focus on the boysenberries for spring and rejuvenate the raspberry bed as it was also filled with weeds. We are hoping our bore will go in in the next couple of weeks and there will be water. Say a pray for us!
But back to the boysenberries one of my favourite berries. Berries make me sigh with delight, they remind me of the warmth of spring and summer and we all know how good tehy are for our health and well being. As my mind danced around and I wandered past the lime tree I thought about our stash of berries in the freezer and how delcious limes and boysenberries would be.
A new recipe was born and here it is.
This raw cake is the most amazing colour and it really makes a wonderful centre piece for an afternoon tea party with friends. Maybe slip on a spring dress (leggings on underneath) and rejoice in winter coming to an end soon.
Ingredients
Base
- 1 1/2 cups of almonds
- 2 tbl of cacao powder
- 1/2 tspn of salt
- 3/4 cup (130g) of medjool dates – stones removed
Boysenberry filling
- 2 3/4 cups of cashew nuts – soaked overnight
- 2 cups of fresh boysenberries (if you use frozen ones make sure you press out most of the juice when you defrost them)
- 1/3 cup of honey
- 4 tbl of lime juice
- 3 tabl of lime zest (adjust to taste)
- 1/2 a vanilla bean scraped
- 1/4 tpsn of salt
- 2 tbl of lecithin
- 1/2 cup (140g) of coconut oil melted
- 1/2 cup (120ml) of irish moss paste (see below)
Method
- to make the base, process everything except teh dates until well ground
- Add dates, little by little, use a few more dates if the base isn’t holding together with ease. It should have a consistency whereby it can be held together by hand yet is still easy to break.
- Press the mixture into a lightly greased 21 – 23cm loose bottom cake tin. Place in the fridge to set.
- For the filling, blend the cashews, boysenberries, honey, lime juice, lime zest, salt, lecithin and vanilla until smooth.
- Add the coconut oil and irish moss and blend well.
- Pour into the base and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight until set.
- Garnish with fresh berries and serve with vanilla cashew cream.
Irish Moss
Irish moss is a seaweed and is great additon to raw cakes as it really helps make the cakes lighter both in texture and in calories.
Irish moss is a source of potassium chloride, a nutrient which helps to dissolve inflammation and phlegm in the mucous membranes which cause congestion. It contains compounds which act as a natural antimicrobial and antiviral agents, helping to boost immunity and get rid of any infections.
Irish Moss Paste
- 1 cup of Irish moss
- water for soaking
- 1/2 cup for making the paste
Method
- Rinse the Irish moss very well in cold water.
- Soak in a bowl of water for 3 – 4 hours. Change the water a couple of times.
- Rinse and drain.
- Blend Irish moss adding up to 1/2 cup of water until you have a smooth paste.
- Store in the fridge (will last around a week).
