I see myself more as a cocoa researcher and cake chemist than a baker. I associate baking with heating, fermentation and ordinary baking as we know it. In the preparation of raw cakes, the rules of the game for other baking are not followed. It may sound unusual to freeze instead of warm up, but in many ways it is easier. The ingredients should simply mixed, frozen and eaten. If you are impatient, you can eat the dough raw, without getting a stomach ache or a guilty conscience.

Nut-free candy

I also make lighter cakes without nuts, which I can serve to anyone with a nut allergy. I always find some clever solutions. Most cakes can be made completely nut-free, and thus the cake table becomes more tempting for anyone who wants to treat themselves to something good, regardless of allergens. The nuts can be replaced with other nuts, seeds or groats. In the cake bases, the almonds can be nicely replaced with coconut mass, oatmeal or sunflower seeds, while the cashews in the cake filling can be replaced with coconut cream and avocado.

The many shapes of the cakes

In all my recipes, unless otherwise specified, I use a cake tin measuring 23 cm in diameter. You can use both smaller and larger shapes, round and square. Small shapes give high cakes, while large shapes give low cakes. I like to double the recipes sometimes to get an extra plentiful cake. The cakes taste good anyway.

I also like to roll balls of cake base, and then roll them in everything from chopped nuts to coconut pulp colored in berry powder. The possibilities for making several layers and structures in the cakes are also many – use your imagination!

Soaking

As a seed waits to wake up, seeds, nuts and almonds come to life when they come in contact with water. When asleep, the superpowers are not as potent. They only begin to germinate and bloom when activated. When a almond is soaked, it absorbs the water and swells. After a night soaking, the water looks rather brown, and then it is a good idea to rinse the nuts a couple of times. Now they are activated and far more easily digestible and stomach-friendly. Seeds and nuts have different needs, and some pass through the intestine more easily than others. Almonds preferably need one night to wake up, while cashews are fluffy and soft after a few hours in water. Seeds only need a few hours in water before they become easier to work with for both the machine and the stomach. Soaking also has the advantage that the consistency of both pesto, cake filling and cream cheese becomes more airy. In other words, it´s essential for the filling in cakes and other flexible mixtures that the nuts and seeds have been soaked before use.

In cake bases and granola, the opposite is desired. Then we will have crunching resistance in every bit. The nuts should still preferably be activated before we eat them. Then they are soaked as usual, but germination stops when they are dried in the drying oven. They are still activated, but not moist enough to continue growing. Chia seeds and buckwheat are two of the seeds that tend to develop a small tail when they are soaked long enough. Then they become all the more nutritious, but it might be a little weird to serve a cake with a bottom that blooms? Well, you can try and see!

Consistency

Consistency is also important for the taste. Be careful when mixing everything in the machine, and check how the consistency develops. Run to everything has the same temperature and is well mixed, so that the ingredients have not separated. Then it will be experienced as if the cake contains small crystals. Since I use a lot of fat in the cakes, this is extra important. If frozen berries are mixed with coconut oil, everything hardens in a short time. You need a strong machine to soak it all up again, and it takes a few minutes before everything that has separated is smooth and fine. In other words, it is a good idea to let all the ingredients reach room temperature before mixing them.

The homemade goodies work just as well as a light snack in the freezer, like a wedding cake. If the cake is to stay on a cake table for several hours, it needs a little extra support to stay up. Add a few more tablespoons of coconut oil or cocoa butter to the filling. Cashews are one of several ingredients that make the consistency firm, airy and like a cheesecake. If you want to make a fuller cake with more nuts, these can replace some of the coconut oil or cocoa butter.