Raw avocado cake with carob and raspberries

Raspberries always bring memories of my childhood. It was the time when I enjoyed exploring garden, looking for this tiny, sweet fruits. Raspberries bushes seemed so huge for me then. Sometimes they pricked my fingers and face, sometimes I screamed, scared by those disgusting creatures called spiders. But I also met adorable snails and admired pretty ladybirds. Nowadays, unfortunately I don’t have possibility to eat raspberries from own garden, but that’s what groceries are for. Maybe is less charming than eating in companion of ladybugs and butterflies, but either way taste is always incredible.

When I’m full of raspberries in sauté version, I start to think what to do with them. Still, every activity connected to using heat or blender seems to drastic to me. That’s why I decide to put them on the top of my the healthiest and most delicious raw cake!

Why this cake is so healthy? Just try to think of something more nutritive than combination of cashew, avocado, carob and raspberries! Anything on your mind?

Avocado will give us proteins which are easy to digest, high amount of fiber and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids (110mg/100g of omega-3 and 1689/100g of omega-6). It’s also rich in vitamins: E, D; fitosterols, zinc and selenium. It will help up to lower bad cholesterol (LDL) and our HDL will go up.
Raspberries are perfect source of antioxidants (ORAC 5,065 μ mol TE/100g), which help us to defend from free radicals. So they protect us from cancer and heart problems. Another good thing is that they are full of vitamins and have almost no calories.
Cashews will give us energy, so much energy! The have a lot of calorie, but don’t worry they are good ones. The amount of protein is so huge (18g/100g), that nobody can tell you that on vegetarian diet there are only products low in protein! They are full unsaturated fatty acids, minerals (iron: 6,7mg/100g and 5,8mg/100g zinc) and vitamins B.
Carob bring another portion of vitamins and minerals. And what is more is far more nutritive than cocoa.
At the end lemon which is so full of vitamin C and will help us to absorb all the iron!

Healthy, isn’t it?

Ingredients:
for 16 cm spring-form pan
8 servings

Crust:
½ cup dried apricots (75g)
½ cup almonds with skins (70g)
pinch of salt

Filling:
1 ½ cup (200g) raw cashews
8 tbsp melted coconut oil*
10 -12 tbsp lemon juice
5-7 tbsp agave nectar**
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 ripe avocado (200g)
1,5 tbsp carob (15g)
160g raspberries

*cold-pressed, extra vergine
** add gradually to the level of sweetness you prefer

Crust:

Grind almonds to make flour (you can use blender). Chop apricots. Mix almonds, apricots and salt. The crust is perfect when the ingredients hold together and nothing fall apart when you roll a piece of crust in your hand. Spread the crust into sprig-form pan and press firmly to make solid base for cashew filling.

Cashew filling:

Soak cashew overnight. Blend cashews, melted cocnut oil, lemon juice, agave nectar and vanilla extract. It may take a while to get creamy, smooth filling. It should not have any lumps.
Divide the filling. 1/3 of it will be for carob layer. So, we added 1 ½ tbsp carob and blend for a while.
Add peeled avocado to the remaining 2/3 of filling. Blend until avocado is combined with the rest.

Spread the avocado filling on the crust and put in the freezer for 30 minutes. Next we spread carob layer and put in the freezer for another 30 minutes. Then you can do the topping with raspberries.
Storage in the freezer.

Enjoy!

Nutritional info:

Whole cake (8 servings):
4161 calories
protein: 60 g; fat: 240 g; carbohydrates: 268 g, dietary fiber: 44,5 g;
iron: 24 mg; calcium: 413 mg; zinc: 17 mg

1 serving:
520 calories
protein: 7,5 g; fat: 30 g; carbohydrates: 33,5 g, dietary fiber: 5,6 g;
iron: 3 mg; calcium: 52 mg; zinc: 2,1 mg