Birthday and Rich Chocolate Dream Cake

Here's a picture of my beautiful rich chocolate dream cake. It's almost all raw and very delicious and indulgent. It's sweetened with agave nectar and maple syrup (both with a low glycemic index). So yes, Carla, I made myself a raw Birthday cake.

I had a wonderful Birthday yesterday. Andy took me out to breakfast at a wonderful little cafe in Ashland. I had lemon ricotta stuffed french toast served with warm berry sauce. Not raw but absolutely delicious. Then we met my sister and brother at a bowling alley in Medford and went bowling (there's not too much to do around here except bowling). I got second place with a score of 99. My 3-year-old nephew Quin got 70 (with bumpers, but still impressive). Then Andy and I went to a movie - we saw Vantage Point, which was pretty good. Go Dennis Quaid.

Then Andy took me home and my whole family was at our house for a surprise party! I sort of knew about it, but I didn't think that my sister and brother would be there. Then a bunch of people stopped by throughout the evening to eat food, hang out, and to wish me a happy birthday. It ended up being a wonderful day.

As per Emily's request, here is the recipe for my Rich Chocolate Dream Cake:

For the Crust:

1 Cup Almonds

1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder (Cacao Powder)

2 TB Agave Nectar

1 Tsp. Virgin Coconut Butter

2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/4 Tsp. Sea Salt

Step 1 In a food processor, grind the almonds and cocoa powder together until fine. Do not over-process. Then add in the sea salt, vanilla, coconut butter and agave and pulse a few times.

Step 2 Press into bottom of 7″ Springform Pan and set in the freezer.

For the Filling:

5 oz Bittersweet Organic Chocolate (Green and Blacks or a raw brand)

1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder (Cacao Powder)

2 Cups Young Coconut Meat

1/4 Cup Virgin Coconut Butter

1/2 Cup Cashew Butter

1/2 Cup Maple Syrup

1/4 Cup Agave Nectar

2 TB Vanilla Extract

Step 1 Melt the chocolate over a pan of hot water in a heat safe bowl (double broiler), or in a dehydrator.

Step 2 Add everything to a high speed blender until smooth. Pour into the springform pan and set in the fridge or freezer until firm.

Vita-Mix

Since starting a raw food diet, I have come to realize that my Oster blender is not nearly powerful enough to blend most of the things that I'd like to blend. For example, today I made a rich chocolate dream cake (all raw, of course and good for you! I'll post pictures of it later). The Osterizer had a little bit of a hard time with all of the coconut meat, cacao powder, cashew butter, etc. It actually started to smell bad and I was afraid it was going to start smoking. But it didn't. I often have to stir with a long handled spoon to make it blend even my green smoothies.

Now I'll tell you about the blender I am currently coveting in a huge way.

The VITA-MIX Blender!

Not only is it the best blender that you can buy, it also doubles as a food processor, it kneads bread dough, grinds up grains, makes fruit juice, etc. They make me feel like I can't live without one. Of course I can, but I still want one badly. The only down side: they cost at least $350, and that's for a refurbished one of last year's model. They do come with a 7-year warranty, which is awesome. I guess I'll have to start saving up my pennies to get one in 5 years or so. By then they'll probably cost $500. Sadly, money doesn't grow on trees.

Work...

I'm just finishing up work right now. When I work on Tuesdays, I'm the only one in the office and it's kind of boring. I have lots to do, but it's always nice to have someone to talk to while you're doing things. Fridays are better because my mom's in here with me. I like my mom.

Our dog

I love our dog Jeffrey. He keeps us sane. These are his two favorite things to do on the couch: look out the window, and lay down. I'm glad we have a basset hound because he's lazy. He's not always hyper and he loves to nap.

Barbecue

We busted out our barbecue for the first time this year! We got a really nice Weber for our wedding. I've been doing very well at eating raw (except when we were in Portland), but I figured that making Andy happy with hamburgers was worth it. They were delicious, juicy burgers and I ate so much my stomach hurts. Back to raw tomorrow!

I love to barbecue with Andy because it takes us both to make a good meal. Other meals I usually make, or occasionally he makes, but this one takes a team. I prep the burgers and slice the tomatoes and things, and he barbecues. It's fun to produce things together.

Portland

We've been in Portland this week, and it's been very busy. We've had tons of friends to see, things to stock up on that we can't get in Yreka, the rain to enjoy, etc. It's all been great.



Last night we went to see Cirque du Soleil! It was amazing. If you haven't ever seen one, you really need to go.

Easter

I realized this weekend that a lot of people make Easter out to be a happy little day with eggs, bunnies, and an empty tomb. The old silly hymns like He Lives, and Christ the Lord is Risen Today have good things to say, but they're also a little trite. We had a Good Friday service that was very sacred, and I loved that we were challenged to really think about who Christ is, what He did, and how we should respond. Instead of just saying, "Yay, Christ arose!," I really thought of the implications of how that should affect my life every day.

On a totally different note, I made several raw goodies to have my family try at our very traditional Easter dinner. I made raw caramel coconut cookies (delicious!!!), raw sun-dried tomato hummus, and raw almond flax crackers. The crackers aren't all that good on their own, but with the hummus they are terrific. The hummus was absolutely incredible with a very rich taste. I don't like chickpea hummus (mostly because of the texture), but this is made with zucchini and is very tasty. My family members all tried them, and they raved about it! Especially my extremely non-raw Uncle David. He was very impressed. I also made a big huge delicious salad that I had for dinner while everyone else ate the usual turkey, beef, mashed potatoes, etc. (I had a little turkey and potatoes as well, I'm not 100% raw yet).