When Nicole and Lisa posted a raw cake pop challenge, and it just so happened to fall during April in the Raw, I knew I had to join in the…um…fun. Yes, that’s what it’s been. Fun.
Well. Sort of.
Let’s call it a good learning opportunity. Let’s see. What did I learn?
- Trader Joe’s Dried Mango slices are tougher than shoe leather, can not be re-hydrated, and refuse to be chopped up by my food processor.
- Mango SOUNDS like it would be good in a cake pop. It’s not.
- White chocolate is hard to make. And expensive. Never did get that right.
- Agave syrup makes coconut butter congeal/emulsify/do something weird texture-wise. (But, I think it might wind up being a yummy truffle center….. Stay tuned.)
- Cake crumbs fresh from the dehydrator are warm enough to melt coconut oil-based frosting. Oops.
Despite all the foibles. I think I managed to create two good recipes. Why two? Well, because the first one, though it technically counts as a raw cake pop, is really more like a raw lara bar pop. Or a raw cookie truffle pop. And, darn it, if I was gonna work this hard, I wanted a cakey cake pop. Happily, the second one fits the bill. (Both use the same coating, though. I swear I’ll learn how to make raw chocolate yet.)
That one in the front? That's the coconut chocolate chip one.
Coconut Chocolate Chip Sort-of-Cake Pop
1/2 cup (85 g.) whole raw almonds
2 T. unsweetened shredded dried coconut
2 T. raw palm sugar
2 T. almond milk
1/4 cup (30 g.) coconut flour
1/8 t. salt
2 T. raw cacao nibs
In a food processor, blend almonds until they’ve turned into almond butter (approximately 6-8 minutes). Add the rest of the ingredients, except cacao nibs and pulse until well combined. Stir in cacao nibs. You may need to knead this dough a few times to get it to all come together. Divide into 8 pieces and form into balls. Insert a stick in each ball and pop into the fridge to chill. Dip chilled balls into warm Coconut Butter Coating (recipe below.) Twirl and shake to get rid of excess coating, and then place upright in plastic-wrapped floral foam or in a bowl filled with rice and covered with plastic wrap.
German Chocolate Cake Pops
German Chocolate Cake Pops
Cake Part
1 t. ground agar *
2 T. warm water
8 dates (60 g.)
2 T. (28 g.) melted coconut oil
1/4 cup almond milk
2 T. (10 g.) raw cacao powder
2 T. (10 g.) raw carob powder
1/3 cup (30 g.) fine ground pecans
2 T. shredded coconut
1 t. vanilla (or seeds from 1/4 vanilla bean)
1/2 t. salt
Soak the agar in the water for 15 minutes, until softened. Place agar, dates and coconut oil in a food processor and blend until creamy. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend well. You should have a fudgy, spreadable brownie-esque batter. Spread thinly on teflex sheet or fruit leather tray. Dehydrate at 115° for 2 hours. Crumble cake batter. (I used my fingers. And then I licked them. Yum.) Continue drying until cake batter is more crumbly than sticky. It took about 5 hours for me. It will vary based on the thickness of your batter and the powerfulness of your dehydrator. Cool thoroughly.
*Note: I am far too cheap to buy agar powder. So, I buy it in packages of long strands at the Asian grocer and grind it in my coffee grinder. It’s courser than powder, and finer than commercial agar flakes. Honestly, I’m not entirely sure it does anything in this recipe, and I ran out of time to do a comparison recipe without it. I’m HOPING that it helps maintain a cake-like texture. Have you heard all the hub-bub about Irish Moss? Well supposedly, agar is derived from Irish Moss. And, it’s all of 2 bucks at my local Asian store. Woot!
Filling
2 T. (28 g.) coconut oil
2.5 T raw powdered palm sugar (I make my own in a coffee grinder.)
1 T. coconut cream (from the top of a can of coconut milk
2 T. chopped pecans
In a small bowl, beat the coconut oil with electric beaters until smooth and fluffy. Add the sugar. Beat well. Add the coconut cream. Beat again. Stir in pecans. Try not to just eat this with a spoon.
To Assemble
Crumble dry, cooled cake crumbs into the bowl of filling. Mix well. Get your hands right in there and squish it all around. It’s fun! Divide cake goo into 8 equal portions. Form into balls. Put sticks into balls and pop the balls into the freezer. When frozen, make coating (below). Dunk the balls into the coating. Be sure to completely cover the ball and make sure that the coating touches the stick where it enters the ball. Twirl and shake to remove excess. Sprinkle covered balls with more chopped pecans and shredded coconut. Place in plastic-wrapped floral foam or bowl filled with rice and covered with plastic wrap.
Coating
1 cup reduced fat shredded, dried coconut (Note – if you don’t have reduced fat, you may just need to reduce the coconut oil by a tablespoon or two.)
1/4 cup (56g) coconut oil
1/4 cup powdered raw palm sugar
Place all ingredients in a food processor. Process until it becomes liquid, scraping sides as needed. This takes a while. It really will happen. I promise. Don’t be discouraged, just grab a magazine or something and wait it out. If your coating starts to solidify while using it, just process it a bit more to melt it again.
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