Christmas cake was never a favourite for me. It wasn’t until I was in my early 20’s and made an amazing macrobiotic version containing miso and dark beer that I realised how delicious it could be without the weird artificial almond essence and glazed cherries.
This is my raw homage to that recipe. It has become a Christmas favourite; we sell as many as the kitchen can make.
Make time: 2 hours + component recipes
Makes: 2 cakes
Equipment required: blender, food processor
INGREDIENTS
CAKE
– 1 cup dried activated almonds (soak 10-12 hrs in water, rinse then drain)
– ¾ cup dried coconut
– ½ cup brazil nuts
– 1 apple (granny smith or braeburn)
– 1 tspn lemon zest
– 1 orange, zest and juice
– 3 dried figs
– ¾ cup pitted dates
– ¾ cup almond pulp (left over from nut milk, recipe here)
– ⅓ cup sultanas
– ¼ cup currants
– 1 cup roughly chopped dried apples
– 2¼ tblspn cinnamon
– 1½ tspn ginger powder
– 1 tspn allspice powder
– ⅓ tspn clove powder
– ¼ tspn ground nutmeg
– pinch sea salt
– 2 tblspns vanilla extract
– 1 tspn white miso paste
– 3 tbsp melted cold-pressed coconut oil
– ¼ cup organic maple syrup
FROSTING
– 1½ cups cashews (soaked 2–4 hours)
– ½ cup almond milk (recipe here)
– 1 tbsp vanilla extract
– ¼ cup light raw agave
– ¼ tsp natural almond extract (optional)
– pinch sea salt
– 1¾ cups melted cold-pressed coconut oil
– 3 tbsp melted cacao butter
DECORATING
– 1 tbsp goji berries
– ¼ cup dried activated almonds (see above)
– unbleached baking paper
– string
INSTRUCTIONS
Make the frosting recipe first so it can set before making the cake.
FROSTING
Drain the soaked cashews and rinse thoroughly. Put cashews, almond milk, vanilla extract, agave and sea salt in a high-speed blender, adding enough filtered water to blend until smooth.
With the blender still running, slowly pour in the coconut oil and cacao butter at the end.
Leave to set in the refrigerator overnight or the freezer for a few hours before using. It is easier to ice the cake when the frosting has hardened.
CAKE
Blend almonds and the coconut separately in a food processor until they resemble a ‘flour’ consistency. Hand chop the brazil nuts into rough 1cm pieces. Chop the apple up into approximately 5mm cubes. Zest the lemon and orange and hand squeeze as much of the juice as you can get. Set aside. In a food processor, or by hand, chop the figs up into approximately 5mm cubes. Set aside. Blend the dates until approximately the same 5mm cubed size as the figs.
In a bowl, add the almond pulp, ‘flours’, brazil nuts, sultanas, currants, dates, figs, apples, spices, sea salt, orange and lemon rind and fold together with your hands.
Blend the orange juice, vanilla, miso, dates, maple syrup and coconut oil in a food processor until well mixed and set aside.
Now add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together by hand until it sticks together.
Divide the mixture in half, shape with your hands into 15 x 15 x 7cm high square cakes and place in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
Now ice the cakes with approximately ¾ cup of frosting per cake.
OPTIONAL DECORATING
Place goji berries and activated almonds on top of the cake, cut a 30cm square piece of baking paper and tie up with string.
Once iced, it will store in the refrigerator for approximately 1 week.
Used with permission from The Unbakery – Raw Organic Goodness by Megan May, Beatnik Publishing, RRP $59.99.
The Unbakery is a celebration of the food served by the award-winning little bird unbakery. The book encourages food lovers to try more uncooked food made from raw, natural ingredients. All recipes are gluten, dairy and cane sugar free, along with being vegan.
Image / Supplied