Raw(ish) cake, the Christmas edition

This is my very first blogpost in English! Please let me know if this reaches people overseas or English speakers anywhere in general. It means I´ll keep on posting in English and you´ll start to learn awesome stuff about Scandinavian food :)

  Not only is this my first post in English but this is my first raw cake ever, too. I´m a raw virgin! :D Well, at least I was.. I guess after this one I´ll be making heaps more of these. I got totally hooked, it was so goooood! :)

 So, the raw cake. Or, at least this is an ALMOST raw cake. I haven´t really searched the Real Essence of The Raw Cake, yet but I do think this one is a pretty damn close one because it´s raw and it´s yummy. Wasn´t that the definition of a raw cake?

 I say it´s not maybe a real one because I used a wee bit of alcohol in it. I haven´t really gotten to the bottom of what ingredients Xanté liqueur has in it. All I know it´s good! That´s why this might give the ish to the raw.
But do try the liqueur flavoring, it totally gives the delicious to your cake! Also, if you haven´t ever tried to make a raw cake before, give it a go, too – it´s super-easy to make. My only difficulty was getting the filling smooth. I don´t have a food processor so I had to process the filling in my blender. It´s doable but it takes a while.

 Finland got heaps of snow yesterday and it made me feel all fuzzy and Christmassy. I wanted to have a taste of the Best Holiday time ever already so I gave this cake a good old Xmas flavouring. I guess no one will judge me - it is November already, after all and I think we all just gotta love Christmas, at least a little ;)

The cake doesn´t take too long to make but you do need some patience. The dried fruit should soak in the liqueur for at least a few hours, preferably overnight. Also, the cake needs to set for at least 12 hours.  For all of yous who have ants in your pants (in Finnish we´d say hätähousut), this may test your nerves but at least, you do get to lick the spoon quite a bit in the making.
So, don´t worry, you´ll get your sugar fix soon enough!

Without any further jabbing, here´s my very first raw cake. Please enjoy!

Cake for 18 cm cake pan.

Fruit mix:

2 dl dried fruit of your choice. I used apricots, raisins, dates and plums

0,5-1 dl Xanté liqueur (the fruit has to be covered with liquour)

1 ts cinnamon

½ ts ground ginger

½ ts ground clove

juice of ½ lemon

Cut the fruit in to small pieces. I like to use scissors for this operation. Put the fruit into a bowl and mix in spices, liquour and lemon juice. Mix well. Cover with clingfilm and rest in the fridge over night or at least a few hours. This gives the fruit time to absorb all the flavors of the liquour and the spices. After this tastebath your cake will become an amazingly balanced piece of heaven.

Base:

125 g dried dates

150 g nuts, I had a mix of hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, walnuts..

a pinch of salt
Mix the nuts almost smooth in a food processor. Add dates and mix until it has thick and sticky consistency. Press into the bottom of your cake pan. I like to cover the bottom of my cake pan with baking paper so I can move the cake to another tray if I like to. But it´s totally up to you if you want to use it or not!

Filling:

soaked fruit mix

2 heap tbls peanut butter

2 dl lingonberries

1 dl sunflower seeds

1 tbls honey

2 tbls coconut flour

pinch of cinnamon

juice of 2 mandarins

0,5-1 dl of water, if needed
Mix all the ingredients in a food processor (or blender) until smooth and silky. If the filling is so tight it won´t move in the processor, add a bit of water and mix. Pour the filling on top of the base and pop the cake into the fridge overnight.

To finish and to Finnish it up:

Heaps of (frozen) lingonberries on top

Finnish superfood - lingonberries. These ones I stored in my freezer for the winter.

Tips:
-if you don´t have lingonberries, replace with cranberries
-to add crunch to the filling add roughly chopped hazelnuts in to the smooth mixture
-you can replace Xanté with some other liqueur of your choice

Happy weekend everybody and to all the fathers in Finland, happy Fathers day!

 Rakkaudella,

Paula