Chocolate-Rose Parfait

Well, I got back from Los Angeles last week, and boy did I need some down time after that! What a crazy trip - an exciting roller coaster of food, fun, and friends, not to mention great things to write about!

Since getting back, I've been experimenting a TON with cashews. I saw a couple places make raw cheese from cashews, as well as other things, so I'm going to be posting a lot of recipes in the future that use cashews. They're seriously THE most versatile nut (or seed, even) that I've found so far.

The roomies and I were spending another sunny spring day in the back yard, talking about food (like we usually do) and the idea to make chocolate parfait came into conversation. I wouldn't have thought to use rose water, except our rose bushes were blooming unusually early, and the flowers were simply striking in the (mostly) warm sunlight. What a treat, to pay homage to those lovely yellow roses!

This recipe is particularly good because it's almost like a vegan cashew nutella. (More on that thought as it develops. ;)) For our next installment of the "Tour de Cashew", allow me to present:

Chocolate-Rose Parfait

3 cups cashews
1 2/3 light coconut milk (1 can)
2 Tbsp. rose water
6 Tbsp. cocoa powder
1 Tbsp. vanilla
3 Tbsp agave (or honey)

a pint fresh strawberries, sliced
2 bananas, peeled and sliced

In a high speed blender, puree everything except fruit until smooth. It'll take a lot of scraping down in the blender toward the end because it gets so thick. Alternatively, you can blend the coconut and cashews first, then hand-mix the rest in. You really just want extra creamy cashews.

In a nice glass (we used martini, but you'll probably want something bigger!) layer the chocolate cream, strawberries, and bananas. Garnish with extra fruit, or even rose petals. We used plum blossoms from our huge tree in the back yard!

Mini Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cupcakes!

I made these yesterday for a potluck, and OMG! They're so soft and fluffy and delicious... and the brown sugar gives the outside of the cup a little crust so when you bite into it... the inside is like a cloud! Totally vegan AND gluten free! How can you go wrong, really? :) I opted out of doing the lemon glaze* I usually do with this recipe, but you certainly can!

I originally adapted this recipe from a (wheat heavy) vegan chocolate cake recipe found on Vegweb.com, and also substituted coconut milk for the normal oil/water mix, and I'm very pleased. It gives the cake a richness and extra depth of flavour that you rarely find in cakes. I'm so happy to be able to share this with you!!


1.5 cups of rice flour
5 tablespoons of sifted good quality cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 tablespoon raw apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup coconut milk
about a handful of chocolate chips (more or less if you like) :)

Put your flour into mixing bowl, add cocoa, baking soda, brown sugar, salt and mix well.

Make two deep holes in the dry mix. Into one, pour the vinegar (oooh... bubbly) into the next, pour the vanilla. Then, pour the coconut milk in, over all of this, and mix it all up until there aren't any more lumps, then fold in the chocolate chips.

Use a tablespoon to fill your mini cupcake pan (available at most places) so the cups are about 3/4 full.

Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.

Makes about 1 1/2 pans, but I usually double or triple the recipe, as I've done it other ways in the past.



*Note: You can also use this as regular cupcakes, or in a cake/sheet pan. This was made as a sheet cake for a friend's birthday originally, with a tart lemon glaze.

Here's the rough glaze recipe:
Juice and zest of about 2 lemons and about a cup of raw confectioner's sugar, whisked together to make a moderately thin (but not runny) glaze. You can add more or less of either ingredient to find the consistency you choose. To spice it up, zest a bit of lime or orange into the mix! :)

Choco-Banana Pudding! - Raw

2 smallish bananas
1 avocado
raw cacao powder to taste (maybe 4 heap Tb)
about 1 Tb agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla (extract or raw powder, to taste)
1/2 c. fresh almond milk (optional)

In a food processor, blend bananas and avocado until smooth, add to a nice sized bowl. Bright green, YUM!

In the bowl, with a whisk, add the cacao, agave, and vanilla. Makes a nice, thick pudding. I added the almond milk to thin it out a bit, but you don't really need to. ;)