It is hard to believe that this Raw Chocolate Orange Torte is not only raw but gluten free and vegan. The perfect guilt-free dessert!
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been obsessed with cookbooks. While in high school in the 80’s, I can remember spending what to me was a fortune at the time on a big hardback Martha Stewart Entertaining cookbook. I had no use for it because I certainly didn’t know how to cook, nor would I be preparing elaborate meals for company any time soon. Still, I’ll never forget the excitement of snuggling up with that book on a rainy fall afternoon and losing myself for hours.
Today, I own hundreds of cookbooks and it takes a lot to get me excited.
I’m lucky to be sharing with you a recipe today from what I think is one of the best cookbooks of 2014, my friend Tess Master’s book, The Blender Girl: Super-Easy, Super-Healthy Meals, Snacks, Desserts, and Drinks–100 Gluten-Free, Vegan Recipes!
If you don’t know Tess, she is the blogger behind theblendergirl.com. She writes gluten free vegan recipes for smoothies, meals and desserts.
On a personal note, she’s the kind of person that makes the world a little brighter. She has a spirit that flies and takes everything she touches with her. When you read her work and see the amazing photos in her book, you get swept up in this spirit.
You start to think you could fly too.
You might be thinking that a book entitled The Blender Girl
Some of my favorites are the Tastes Like Ice Cream Kale smoothie, which will win over the most skeptical green smoothie critic, and the Green Queen salad. The Alkaline Tacos are also to die for! Even the carnivores in my family loved them.
In addition to over the top recipes, The Blender Girl
Just so I can show you what a genius in the kitchen Tess is, she’s agreed to let me share one of the recipes from The Blender Girl with you today. How she manages to make a dessert be both healthy and decadent is simply amazing, don’t you think?
Raw Chocolate–Orange Torte
It is hard to believe that this Raw Chocolate Orange Torte is not only raw but gluten free and vegan. The perfect guilt-free dessert!
Ingredients
- crust
- 1 cup raw whole almonds 160g
- 1/2 cup 80g firmly packed chopped pitted dates, plus more as needed
- 1/4 cup 18g cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- filling
- 1 cup 240ml coconut oil in liquid form
- 1 cup 240ml freshly squeezed orange juice
- 3/4 cup 180ml raw agave nectar
- 1/2 cup 35g cacao powder or unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3 cups 420g raw unsalted cashews, soaked
- 1/4 teaspoon orange extract
- Pinch of natural salt
- 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
- Shaved vegan chocolate to garnish (optional)
- Finely grated orange zest to garnish (optional)
Instructions
- To make the crust, grease a 9- or 10-inch (23 or 25cm) springform pan with coconut oil.
Put the almonds, dates, and cacao powder into your food processor and process until well combined and the mixture forms a dough.
Form the dough into a ball; if the dough doesn’t hold together, you may need to add more dates and process again.
- Press the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan and set aside.
To make the filling, put all of the ingredients into your blender in the order listed and blend for 2 to minutes, until rich and creamy.
To achieve the smoothest filling, stop the machine periodically and scrape down the sides of the container. Pour the filling into the crust. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and freeze the torte for 8 hours.
To serve, transfer the pan from the freezer to the fridge at least 1 1/2 hours before serving; let the torte defrost in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Remove the sides of the springform pan and then cut the torte into slices with a very sharp knife. Keeping the slices together, return the torte to the fridge to continue defrosting for at least an hour before serving.
Recipe Notes
note: Because of the coconut oil, this filling will melt if left out at room temperature.
For more recipes like this one and to become inspired, check out The Blender Girl
Wow, looks absolutely fabulous!