The Cake Merchant

Whole Wheat Vegan Chocolate Cake

Vegan Chocolate Cake

I’ve decided to up my chances of keeping my New Year’s resolutions by making them easier this year. Let’s call them goals instead, shall we? I figured I could handle one short term goal and one long term goal.

Long term goal- phone detox. You know that moment when you find yourself on your phone, iPad, and computer all at the same time? Guilty. I’m going to start my detox by NOT looking at my phone first thing in the morning. Doesn’t sound like much, but baby steps, people. I may have to buy a real alarm clock.

Short term goal- Go vegan for a month. You can do anything for a month, right? It’s not too far of a stretch from my current diet. I wish I could say that I had a really good reason for doing it other than I’m just curious about life without cheese, but I just want to try it. Needless to say, you’ll be seeing more vegan recipes than usual on the blog, starting with this one.

And guess what? It’s a mini cake! I can’t help myself, they are just so cuuute! I healthified it a little bit by replacing half the oil with applesauce and using whole wheat pastry flour. You could also use a half and half mix of whole what pastry flour and all-purpose flour to make it less obviously whole wheat if you want to.

Vegan Chocolate CakeVegan Chocolate CakeVegan Chocolate Cake

During my vegan month, I’m going to explore other frostings outside of the margarine/shortening/so much powdered sugar your teeth hurt variety. I gather from comments and emails that most of my readers don’t like overly sweet frosting (I don’t either), but I have yet to find a good version of vegan swiss buttercream. However, I know there are other good vegan frostings out there and I can promise you that this one is not too sweet and very chocolaty. I added corn syrup to keep the frosting shiny and smooth (keep in mind that this is not HFCS) but you can sub golden syrup, maple syrup, or omit it all together.

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Raw Pumpkin Cheesecake

Raw Pumpkin Cheesecake

One of the best things about being married and having family close by is hosting Thanksgiving, because even though I don’t eat turkey, I’ve always really loved the holiday. Aaron makes the turkey and I make everything else and get to indulge in foods that my mom always deemed to bland for consumption when I was a kid. When your in-laws aren’t Indian, they don’t feel the need to douse the mashed potatoes in Tobasco and add chili paste to the green beans.

After hosting our first Thanksgiving last year, it was clear that oven space is prime, so not only is a raw pie healthier, it’s more practical. Plus, it is so so easy, and this is the one time of year when easier always wins for me. God knows I cannot be trusted to roll out a pie crust under pressure. I swear pie crust can smell fear, and after the pumpkin pie disaster of 2011, give me a press in pie crust recipe any day.

Raw Pumpkin CheesecakeRaw Pumpkin Cheesecake

This recipe has been a long time coming, mostly because the first time I made this cheesecake and removed it from the pan, the filling completely oozed out the sides and onto the floor. I’ve often said that I have no shame when it comes to desserts, but even I won’t lick cheesecake remains off the ground.

Gloopy cheesecake didn’t keep me down for long, though. I’ve tweaked this recipe a couple of times since then, so not only will it hold it’s shape now, but it will taste so good that even your pumpkin hating hubby will eat it and enjoy it! Ok, I can’t guarantee that, but mine certainly did. If you’re not concerned about the pie being raw, you can roast the pumpkin and use the puree instead of the raw shredded pumpkin. I plan to try it that way for my own Thanksgiving table.

As for the soy lecithin being raw, I’ve done some research and I’m still not 100 percent sure. Apparently sunflower lecithin is raw and a good alternative for those with soy allergies. I’ve never tried it, but I would love to hear your results if you do.

Raw Pumpkin Cheesecake

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Vegan Chocolate Raspberry Crunch Cheesecake Bites

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bites

Our last few Halloweens have gone something like this:

1. Dress Bigsby up as a hot dog.
2. Buy lots of Halloween Candy.
3. Have one trick-or-treater come by the entire night and proceed to make ourselves sick on leftover candy.

This year, we decided that due to our lack of trick-or-treaters (and self-control), we did not want to repeat this tradition. Rather than sit at home and wait to hand out candy to nobody, Aaron and I got our butts out the door and played some Halloween night tennis. When our sweet craving hit, we ate kinda healthy cheesecake. Ok, not exactly healthy, but way better for you than anything you can get in a plastic bag at the store.

I know I’m the last one to talk about healthy eating with a blog full of sugary cakes, but I’ve recently discovered how good raw vegan desserts can be, and I wanted to share one of my new favorite creations with you. I was first introduced to raw desserts a few years ago at an all raw Oklahoma restaurant called Matthew Kenney, and my obsession with raw vegan desserts grew after having Divine Pie in Portland, Oregon. I tried to exactly recreate the raw vegan key lime pie I had there (you can read about that here) but I got tired of almost losing my fingers attempting to hack open young coconuts. Oboists need their fingers.

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bites

This newer version involves a filling made of cashews. I’ve made cashew cheesecake before, but found it to be not as creamy as non-vegan cheesecake, so I used Divine Pie’s method of adding a little bit of soy lecithin. It’s an emulsifier that adds creaminess to the texture, and was surprisingly easy to find at my local grocery store. I’m not 100 percent sure that lecithin is raw, though, so I’m not labeling this dessert as such.

The crust is a little but different than what I’ve used before as well. I upped the quantity of the dates so it has a chewier, more brownie like texture. In the past, I’ve used medjool dates, but deglet dates were half the price at the grocery store and I couldn’t tell the difference in the finished product. I could totally have eaten the crust plain and just called them brownies.

You can top the cheesecake bites with whatever you like- nuts, fresh or freeze dried fruit, coconut, etc., but I wouldn’t skip the cacao nibs. They’re my newest obsession. I got sucked in when I picked up a few from the bulk section the last time I was at Central Market, and now they take a hefty chunk out of my grocery budget on a regular basis.

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Bites

 

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Vegan Chocolate Raspberry Crunch Cheesecake Bites

Ingredients

    For the Crust:
  • 1 cup deglet or medjool dates
  • 1 cup pecans
  • 4 tablespoons raw cacao powder
  • 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconuts
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • For the Filling:
  • 1 1/4 cup cashews, soaked for at least 4 hours or at least overnight
  • 1 cup non-dairy milk (I used hazelnut milk)
  • 4 tablespoons raw cacao powder
  • 1/2 cup raw agave (or maple syrup if you're not concerned about raw)
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup coconut oil (refined if you don't want coconut flavor)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons non-GMO soy lecithin
  • about 1/4-1/3 cup freeze dried raspberries and/or cacao nibs for topping

Instructions

    For the Crust:
  1. In a food processor, combine all of the ingredients and process until they come together into a ball. The mixture should be pliable.
  2. Press the mixture into an 8x8 pan lined with parchment or waxed paper. Set aside.
    3. For the Filling:
  3. In a high powdered blender, combine the cashews, non-dairy milk, cacao, agave, vanilla extract, and salt and blend for about 5 minutes (or longer depending on your blender) until completely smooth.
  4. Add the coconut oil and soy lecithin and blend for an additional 15 seconds until smooth (don't over blend here or the coconut oil will start to solidify).
  5. Pour the mixture over the crust and tap the pan against the counter a few times to knock out any air bubbles.
  6. Top the filling with freeze dried raspberries and and cacao nibs and let it set in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.
  7. Cut into pieces and serve cold. Keep refrigerated.
https://cakemerchant.com/2014/11/01/vegan-chocolate-raspberry-crunch-cheesecake-bites/

Notes:
-Recipe inspired by Divine Pie
-If you’re not concerned about this being raw, you can substitute cocoa powder for cacao.
-Refined coconut oil will not impart any coconut flavor. Unrefined coconut oil will, so choose what you like best. Both will work.