MILKING THE ALMONDS

 

This week’s bake is a Chocolate Cream Cake from Its Raining Flour

It’s a Chocolate Cashew Cream Cake, with an almond crust and topped with an Almond milk chocolate Ganache.   It’s Vegan, Gluten Free and has no refined sugars.

Veganism is an extreme form of vegetarianism, and though the term was coined in 1944, the concept of flesh-avoidance can be traced back to ancient Indian and eastern Mediterranean societies. Vegetarianism is first mentioned by the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras of Samos around 500 BCE.

In addition to his theorem about right triangles, Pythagoras promoted benevolence among all species, including humans. Followers of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jainism also advocated vegetarianism, believing that humans should not inflict pain on other animals.

 In November 1944, a British woodworker named Donald Watson announced that because vegetarians ate dairy and eggs, he was going to create a new term called “vegan,” to describe people who did not. Tuberculosis had been found in 40% of Britain’s dairy cows the year before, and Watson used this to his advantage, claiming that it proved the vegan lifestyle protected people from tainted food.

Three months after coining the term, he issued a formal explanation of the way the word should be pronounced: “Veegan, not Veejan,” he wrote in his new Vegan Society newsletter, which had 25 subscribers. 

By the time Watson died at age 95 in 2005, there were 250,000 self-identifying vegans in Britain and 2 million in the U.S.

Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Cream Cake

itsrainingflour.com

INGREDIENTS

Crust:

1 1/2 cups sliced or whole almonds

1 1/2 tablespoons maple syrup 

1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted

Pinch of salt

Filling:

2 1/2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water overnight (store in the fridge, covered)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

6 tablespoons cocoa powder 

3/4 cup water

3/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Ganache:

3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate

1/2 cup almond milk

Other:

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Instructions:

Crust:

Blend almonds, maple syrup, salt and melted coconut oil.

Press into bottom of pan and freeze for min 30 minutes

Chocolate Cream Filling:

Soak cashews in water overnight

Blend cashews, water, maple syrup, vanilla, salt and cocoa powder until creamy

Add coconut oil and blend to combine

Add to top of crust and smooth out

Freeze for 3 hours until firm

Ganache:

Pour boiling almond milk over chocolate and let sit for 2 minutes

Stir until melted and pour over filling

Freeze for 3 hours until firm

Decorate with sliced almonds

Let cake sit out at room temperature before serving

 Here are some pictures from the bake:

Have a Great Day !