This past weekend I celebrated my birthday with my fiancé’s family. In total there were 3 of us who had birthdays in July. Since I had a birthday dinner/trip to NYC I thought making a cake (ok, it’s a pie but I’m just going to refer to it as a cake- well, because birthday pie just doesn’t have the same ring to it!) for all 3 of us would be great. Yes, I made my own birthday cake!
Funny enough last year, my fiancé bought me a vegan gluten free chocolate cake that was pretty darn good from a local baker BUT he had no clue what was in it. No clue. This would have been fine if he was someone else’s fiancé but I am pretty particular about what I put in my body. From his logic the cake was vegan and gluten free and that was all that mattered. He probably didn’t expect me to bombard him with questions like; What kind of flour did they use? What kind of sweetener? What are the ingredients? Etc. I love him for being thoughtful and buying me a cake but I decided that for my next birthday I wanted a homemade cake; either he would make it or me. So this year I was inspired to make it; yes he got off the hook J
This year I had my (birthday) cake and ate it too. It was raw, yummy, satisfying and healthy. Having a cake that is this good won’t leave you wanting more cake or overeating like some other birthday cakes. It will leave you feeling fabulous on your special day.
So on to the cake. I was inspired by a raw pecan pie and played around with the amounts of each ingredient and added a secret ingredient, yellow summer squash, just for fun! As I was making the cake, I tasted it at every step of the way and it was really yummy. The final cake was amazing and I have a feeling I will be making my own cake from now on 😉 It tasted like a cross between a cheese cake and an ice cream cake, perfect for summer!
Ingredients:
Makes 6-8 servings
Crust
- 1 cup of pitted dates (I used Medjool dates)
- 1 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 ½ cups of walnuts (soaked for 4 hours)
Filling
- ¾ filtered water
- 1 cup raw pecans plus a few for garnish (soaked for 15-30 minutes)
- ¾ cup Thompson raisins
- ½ tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 Medjool dates pitted (or 1/3 cup pitted dates)
- ¾ tsp Himalayan pink salt
- 1 medium summer squash chopped
Directions:
1. Place all crust ingredients into a food processor until well mixed. Alternatively you can use a high speed blender.
2. Once crust mixture is well mixed, spread mixture into a pie plate or a spring form pan. I used one that was 25cm in diameter and about 10cm high. The crust was about 1cm in thickness.
3. Place all filling ingredients into a high speed power blender. I use a VitaMix. Once the ingredients are blended well pour into the crust.
4. Place in freezer overnight.
5. Once ready to serve remove from freezer and let sit on counter for a few minutes. I had to use a knife to separate the pie from the pan. You can alternatively use shrink wrap to easily remove the pie.
6. Slice into 6-8 pieces.
7. Devour and share (probably the other way around)
Better for you ingredients:
Walnuts
- are heart healthy; contains monounsaturated fats
- contains omega-3 fatty acids (learn more here)
- help you relax; contains l-arginine an amino acid that converts to nitric acid which reduces blood pressure
- prevent free radical damage; contain polyphenols that have powerful antioxidant activity
Coconut
Read more here
Thompson raisins
- are heart healthy; they contain flavonoids including resveratrol and increase nitric oxide
- contain resveratrol; studies show this compound help reduce cancer growth
- prevent free radical damage (contains antioxidant vitamin C and Manganese)
~Michelle
