it was my birthday a couple of weeks ago, ish. Twenty three!

there was, of course, a cake involved.

this one (all raw)  had a salted coconut & caramel base, then a layer of lucuma hemp cream, then a vanilla infused superfood filled chocolate ganache. Topped with chewy salted caramel hearts and a white chocolate drizzle.  

yes.

oh, cake. It is magic. Like coffee. Really, all I need is coffee and cake to remind me that everything is okay. Gloriously, imperfectly, okay. Just the way it is.

back to writing more regularly now, I hope.

♥

 

“we are all connected, joined together by an invisible thread, infinite in its potential and fragile in its design. yet while connected, we are also merely individuals, empty vessels to be filled with infinite possibilities, an assortment of thoughts, beliefs, a collection of disjointed memories and experiences…can I be me without these? can you be you?”

“and if this invisible thread that holds us together were to sever, to cease, what then? what would become of billions of lone, disconnected souls? therein lies the great quest of our lives, to find, to connect, to hold on. for when our hearts are pure, and our thoughts in line, we are all truly one, capable of repairing our fragile world, and creating a universe of infinite possibilities”

(Heroes)

♥

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Raw Caramel Shortbread 

hello, cake.

cake is always special, but this one particularly so. It was a birthday cake for one of my very favourite people.

I have made this one a few times before, changing around the ingredients ever so slightly each time. Finally, I am happy with it.

here, then, is my much tested and tasted raw caramel shortbread recipe for you!

first of all, make the biscuit base. This, by the way,  is quite delicious on its own, especially alongisde a cup of raw hot chocolate.

so you will need…

1 cup of sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat (make your own, or I have seen it available to purchase in health food shops and online)

1/2 a cup of mesquite (lucuma would be a fine substitute)

1/2 a cup of coconut butter/oil, melted

2 heaped tablespoons of cacao butter, melted

2 tablespoons liquid sweetener of your choice

grind your buckwheat to a powder. This can be done in a high speed blender but will also work in a food processor.

transfer to a bowl with the mesquite, and rub together.

slowly pour in the melted butters, mixing as you go. Then add the sweetener and give it another good mix until you have a soft dough. Press this into the lined cake tin of your choice.

now it’s time to make the caramel! Caramel! Oh, this is wonderful stuff. The stuff of dreams. A beautiful thing. Hush now, Lana.

anyway, you will want to make this many times, I promise. I particularly like it poured into raw chocolate cups, with a generous layer of almond butter. But that’s probably a story best kept for another day.

here is how I make it…

1 cup dates, pitted and soaked in the juice of half a lemon and one cup of water for one hour

drain the dates (keep the soak liquid to hand)  and pop them in a food processor with a 1/4 teaspoon of pink salt and 1 tablespoon of coconut butter.

blitz, scraping down the sides every now and then, adding a little of the reserved water as necessary until a smooth caramel is formed.

spread this evenly over your biscuit base.

for the topping, any raw chocolate recipe you like will work, adding in whatever superfoods or herbs you are being drawn to. This time I used…

1/4 cup cacao butter, melted

1/4 cup cacao powder

1 teaspoon of coconut butter, melted

1 tablespoon of maca powder

1 big tablespoon coconut sugar, powdered

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

combine the powder and then whisk in the melted cacao butter, being careful to get rid of any clumps.

pour this on top of the caramel.

leave to set for a couple of hours before gently removing from the tin. I then sprinkled a little extra coconut sugar on top.

devour.

♥

“it’s the simple things in life that are the most extraordinary”

(Paulo Coelho)

coffee, banana & walnut muffin.

♥

♥

Honey & Rose Brownies, with Lucuma Fudge

oh, I do love those moments when an idea unfolds.

rose water has been on my mind for a while, who knows why.

originally I had planned on making a cake, but after playing around with some ingredients the result was more like a brownie. I pressed the mixture into heart shaped moulds and added a layer of my favourite lucuma fudge.

these are absolutely full of raw chocolate, and not too sweet. Perfect for me. Carob could beautifully replace half, or even all, of the cacao powder for a less intense, more gentle experience.

2/3 cup ground almonds

2/3 cup raw cacao powder

3 tablespoons raw honey

1 teaspoon – 1 tablespoon rose water, to taste

1/8th teaspoon pink salt

mix together almonds, cacao powder and salt, rubbing with your fingers to get rid of any clumps.

add honey the honey. Then add the rose water, tasting as you go. I used the full tablespoon, but if you don’t you may need to add some water everything to stick together.

press into the mould of your choice, then make your fudge topping! This is also blissful on its own.

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1/3 cup lucuma

1/3 cup mesquite

1 teaspoon vanilla powder

combine lucuma, mesquite and vanilla. Add to the melted coconut oil a little at a time, whisking as you go to make sure that it’s completely smooth. Pour on top of the brownies. Chill until set, about an hour in the fridge.

do let me know if you give this a go!

♥

 

“You know what the issue is with this world? Everyone wants some magical solution to their problem and everyone refuses to believe in magic.”

♥

“It goes to show, doesn’t it, what happens when a person isn’t true to their own nature?”

(The House at Riverton, Kate Morton)

I wonder sometimes as to why I hoard quotes. Fragments stolen from novels, poems, songs, films, anywhere and everywhere. Maybe it’s got something along the lines of what Hector says in The History Boys: “…you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – that you’d thought special, particular to you. And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you’ve never met, maybe even someone long dead. And it’s as if a hand has come out, and taken yours.” Yes. That’s a pretty perfect way of explaining it.

now, on a wonderfully unrelated topic: raw superfood hot chocolate! I have been drinking this so often lately and absolutely adore it, so thought that today I would share my magical method with you! You lucky things.

2 very generous cups brewed herbal tea of your choice (I love like pau darco, but lately I have been using Teeccino for a mocha-esque elixir)

1/4 cup soaked nuts of your choice* (brazils, almonds or hazelnuts have worked best for me)

1.5 tablespoons cacao powder

1 tablespoon cacao nibs

1 tablespoon maca

1-2 tablespoons of your preferred natural sweetener (I use raw honey), to taste

1/2 tablespoon lucuma

1 teaspoon vanilla powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

cayenne, to taste

superfoods of your choice, optional, but right now I like he shou wu and mucuna, just go with whatever you are drawn to

*if you don’t have a high speed blender, substitute 2 tablespoons of your favourite raw nut butter

drain and rinse your nuts. Let the tea cool slightly, then pop everything in a blender, and blend blend blend for a good few minutes. This is so that everything is completely broken down, velvet smooth, and frothy. Taste, and adjust quantities. You will end up with about 2.5 cups of delicious hot chocolate. Share if you are nice, but I always drink it all myself!

Cuddle up, sip slowly and dream.

♥

“Go where we may, rest where we will

Eternal London haunts us still”

- Thomas Moore

a lovely few days! My very favourite thing is to sit in coffee shops and watch the city unfolding  in front of me, around me. And then to be a part of that. Also rather wonderful was a visit to Roast & Conch on the recommendation of a friend. Oh my goodness, if you love chocolate, this is an absolute must. Situated on Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, this is a very special café hiding beneath a Hotel Chocolat shop. Instead of a coffee prepared in the usual way, you can opt to have your drink brewed from freshly roasted cacao beans. The highlight for me was a cocoa cappuccino made with soy milk, and it was bliss. Like nothing I had ever tasted before, it has inspired me to try and recreate some similar chocolate elixirs at home. I see many returns on my horizon.

other than that, we had perfect wandering weather, so lots and lots and lots of walking was done. Much time was also spent in Wholefoods, gazing at things and putting my Christmas gift card to good use. Such fun!

quite, quite happy to be back in my hobbit hole now. As much as I love little adventures, I find that they continue to exhaust me. Maybe not as much as they would have a year ago, so I must hold onto that. I am not letting it stop me from living any more, which is surely progress.

I am still manifesting a life where I am in London, always.

♥