Stephanie's Test Kitchen

I am a big fan of raw vegan desserts so of course I’ve had to test out a couple of recipes for Easter. I may not follow a vegan lifestyle but I can certainly appreciate the sweet, healthy treats that can be made the vegan way.

I made a simple chocolate Easter egg recipe and raw vegan hot cross buns, two iconic Easter treats turned raw and healthy.

The raw chocolate eggs are all about making a naughty treat healthy, keeping it simple but still decadent and satisfying so no one feels like they’re missing out. The great thing with this simple raw chocolate recipe is that it can be used to make chocolates any time of year, not just Easter. It can be used for any recipe that calls for chocolate. I want to experiment more with different flavours as this recipe is a great base for simple dark chocolate and I reckon adding orange or mint or even crunchy bits or a caramel filling would be a great addition to these eggs.

I used honey as the sweetner but I found it too sweet so I want to test out different sweetners to find the best balance. This recipe definitely satisfys any sweet and chocolate cravings without the added guilt and you know your doing you body some good by eating these eggs as cacao is high in antioxidants too. Who’d have thought you could get your chocolate fix and up your nutrients in one bite.

With the raw hot cross buns it was very important to get the flavours right as its already a given that the texture won’t be the same as a traditional hot cross bun. I killed my blender motor blending the ingredients together so I had to finish mixing by hand so the nuts aren’t as fine as they should be but it all still tasted just like a good old hot cross bun and satisfied the taste buds. Instead of maxing a chaser icing for the corsets I simply used coconut butter as I had some that needed using up. I also used sultanas instead of rain sins as the recipe stated but that’s because of personal preference and either will work.

These hot cross bun bites have been quite popular with loved ones and I’ve found they’re quite satiating when hungry as well as being great for an energy boost from the nuts and dates. This is a recipe that can be used all year round as a heathy energy snack bar and it would be simple enough to change the flavours of the spices and dried fruits etc but I’d love au excuse to get hat hot cross bun taste in my mouth any time of year.

Raw Chocolate Easter Eggs

Ingredients:

• 1 cup cacao butter, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cacao powder
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup or to taste

Recipe:

1. Place cacao butter into a heat-proof bowl over a pot of slowly simmering water. Ensure the bowl is not touching the water. Take the bowl off the pot when cacao butter has melted.
2. Stir through the cacao powder and sweetener.
3. Pour the chocolate into Easter moulds. I used half egg moulds.
4. Tap the edge of the moulds to remove air bubbles.
5. Place into the freezer to set.

*Recipe Tested from the Move Nourish Believe Blog*

Raw Hot Cross Bun Bites

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 cups raw almonds
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 cup cashews
• 2 tablespoons sweetener of choice (agave, raw honey, maple syrup etc)
• 3 tablespoons ground flax seed (aka linseed)
• 3 large dates
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• Zest of 1 lemon
• Zest of 1 orange
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Icing:

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 2 tablespoons sweetener of choice – i used maple (agave, raw honey, maple syrup etc)
• 2 teaspoons water
• 1/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt or sea salt
• OR
• Softened Coconut butter as I used

Method:

Dough:

1. Using a food processor grind up your almonds to a fine powder (and if you are using whole cashews instead of cashew pulp add these too)
2. Add all other ingredients except the raisins. Pulse your food processor until the ingredients are well mixed.
3. Add the raisins and pulse so that they are mixed but not purified.
4. Shape your dough into balls slightly smaller than golf balls. Flatten them with the back of a spoon. Get a butter knife and carve in a cross shape. As you press the knife in wiggle it side to side so the groove of the cross is opened.
5. Set aside while you make the icing.

Icing

1. Using a food processor grind up your cashews to a fine, even powder. This is your icing so you do not want it to be lumpy and bumpy.
2. Add remaining ingredients and combine until they are a smooth caramel coloured paste.
3. If you have a piping bag use this to pipe your crosses. Otherwise I just used two butter knifes. I got a bit of icing onto the blade of one knife and then just scraped it into the cross grooves.

*Recipe Tested from Emily Ehlers Blog*