22 Mar, 2016
Raw Cacao, Avocado and Raspberry Cake
Created by one of our very talented chefs, this is everything a chocolate cake should be: rich, creamy and intensely chocolatey. There is no baking involved, and the sweet avocado icing is a brilliant alternative to a cream cheese frosting.
RecipesEquipment
Food processorRound cake tin
Ingredients
900g pitted dates
360g blanched (skinned) hazelnuts
120g raw cacao powder
300g raspberries
125g toasted and roughly blitzed hazelnuts
For the Icing
4 avocados
4 tbsp runny honey
150g raw cacao powder
Method
Serves 16. 420 calories per serving.
To make the cake mixture, put the dates and blanched hazelnuts in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the icing. Scoop the flesh from the avocados into a food processor and add the honey and cacao powder. Blitz until smooth. Taste and add more honey or cacao powder if the icing seems a bit bitter or tastes too much like avocado. Set aside in the fridge.
Drain the dates and hazelnuts. Blitz in the cleaned food processor, adding the cacao powder little by little until you get a smooth, thick consistency. Chill until cold.
Line the bottom of a 15cm round, loose-based tin with greaseproof paper.
Use about half of the cake mixture to smoothly line the bottom and sides of the tin, creating a well in the middle. Fill the well with 200g of the raspberries. Spread the rest of the cake mixture over the top, gently patting the mixture down to even the surface. Chill for 2 hours to set.
Before serving, remove the cake from the tin and cover with the icing. Decorate with the remaining raspberries and toasted hazulnuts. The cake will keep well overnight in the fridge.
