It’s feast or famine with avocados in our region and while supermarkets may boast avos on the shelf all year round the local season is actually quite short – from August to November, with avocados from down south kicking in to produce fruit until February.
With avocados from Gingin in abundance right now we’ve been brainstorming different ways to store, use and make the most of them! They are notoriously hard to keep once ripe, and although they can be mashed and frozen, the defrosted product has limited uses, and cooked avos have quite a different flavour (read gross) and we’ve concluded they are simply best fresh!
Once you’ve had your fill of guacamole and sliced them into every salad or smashed them onto every bit of toast you can find, try this unusual raw avocado ‘cake’. Before bakers get too excited, a raw cake doesn’t require cooking, and is free from all the traditional baking staples like flour, eggs, dairy and sugar. What’s left you ask? Well surprisingly quite a lot! Raw cakes depend on nuts, coconut, oils and unprocessed ingredients like dates and other dried fruits for sweetness and are amazingly diverse. I’ve only just begun experimenting with raw cakes myself, beginning with raw cacao and date balls, and graduating to a raw carrot cake with a nut frosting which is now my absolute favourite.
Most raw cakes last quite well in the fridge, but this one is best kept frozen. It’s very rich in healthy plant-based protein, healthy fats, fibre, and an array of beneficial vitamins and minerals, as well as being very dense in nutrients and calories, so consume guilt-free, but in moderation!
You will need a powerful food processor or blender and a springform pan for this recipe. Medjool dates work best, but if you have dried dates, soak in water for an hour prior to soften.
INGREDIENTS
Base:
• ¼ cup walnuts
• ¼ cup pistachio nuts (shells removed)
• ½ cup pitted dates
• Tablespoon of coconut oil
Filling:
• The flesh of 2 large or 4 small ripe avocados
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup brown rice syrup or honey
• 400ml coconut cream
• ½ tsp matcha powder
• A few drops of peppermint oil (optional)
METHOD
1. To put together the base pulse all of the ingredients in a food processor until they are the consistency of wet sand. Press this mixture evenly and firmly into a cake tin, a circular spring-form is ideal, but I just used baking paper in a square tin). Place in the freezer while you make the filling.
2. For the filling, scoop the flesh out of the avocados and put in the food processor with the lemon juice, vanilla, rice syrup or honey and coconut cream. Add the matcha (green tea powder) for colour and if you like a peppermint taste add the peppermint oil (I actually preferred it plain). Blend until the mixture is smooth and creamy.
3. Pour the filling on top of the base, cover the tin, and return it to the freezer to set overnight, or for at least 5 hours.
4. Remove the cake from the freezer to soften a little about 10 minutes before you serve it. Decorate with fresh strawberries or lime slices – whatever you like! Cut into small slices as it is quite rich. Any leftover cake will keep if stored in the freezer for up to 3 weeks.
