We ADORE Two Raw Sisters and their mission to make healthier food uncomplicated and less intimidating (click here for more vegan recipes!) but you don’t have to be plant-based, gluten-free or vegan to enjoy their delicious recipes that aim to get as much goodness into your food as possible. And that includes Two Raw Sisters desserts!
If you’re keen to expand your dessert repertoire with some different options on old classics – or if you’re looking for a perfect Christmas dessert – scroll down for recipes from their new book Simple Fancy!
Carrot Cake
Our grandad loved this carrot cake and it would always be the cake we’d bake for his birthday. It’s spiced with cinnamon and ginger, laden with carrot, walnuts and dried fruit then lathered with cream cheese icing. This recipe is for you Grandad, we love and miss you so much.
SERVES 8
PREP TIME 20 mins
COOK TIME 40–50 mins
SET TIME 1 hour
FRIDGE LIFE 5 days
Dry Ingredients:
21⁄4 cups wholemeal spelt flour
1⁄2 cup coconut sugar
3⁄4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
1⁄2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice
pinch of sea salt
Wet Ingredients:
2 carrots, grated
3⁄4 cup light-flavoured oil
2 bananas, mashed
1⁄4 cup plant-based or dairy milk
juice of 1⁄2 orange
Cream Cheese Icing:
1 cup cashews
2⁄3 cup plant-based or dairy milk
5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1⁄4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
zest of 1⁄2 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
pinch of sea salt
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a 20 cm (8 in) cake tin.
Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and the wet ingredients in another bowl.
Mix the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40–50 minutes. Once cooked, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely.
For the Cream Cheese Icing, place all the ingredients in a blender and blend until super creamy and smooth. Place the icing in a bowl and put in the freezer to chill and firm up, for about an hour.
When the cake has cooled completely and the icing has firmed up, whisk up the icing, then spread evenly over the cake. Sprinkle over some toasted coconut flakes and pumpkin seeds, before serving.
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Black Forest Cake
This cake ticks all the boxes and is one of the must makes in this cookbook, especially when served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
SERVES 10–12
PREP TIME 30 mins
COOK TIME 40–50 mins
SET TIME 2 hours
FRIDGE LIFE 5 days
Dry Ingredients:
3 cups oat flour
1 cup coconut sugar
1 cup cacao powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of sea salt
Wet Ingredients:
1⁄4 cup pure maple syrup
11⁄2 cups plant-based or dairy milk
1⁄2 cup light-flavoured oil
3⁄4 cup plain plant-based or dairy yoghurt
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 cup pitted cherries or raspberries, frozen or fresh
Chocolate Buttercream:
100 g (31⁄2 oz) dark chocolate
1⁄4 cup coconut oil
1⁄4 cup pure maple syrup
flesh of 2 avocados
To Serve:
2 recipes of Fruit Jam made using cherries or raspberries (see below)
1⁄2 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen
30 g (1 oz) dark chocolate, shaved or roughly chopped
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a 23 cm (9 in) cake tin.
Sift all the dry ingredients into a bowl. Place all the wet ingredients in a second bowl and whisk until well combined.
Slowly add the wet ingredients except the cherries or raspberries to the dry ingredients, stirring until you have a smooth batter.
Pour the cake batter into the prepared cake tin and dot the 1 cup of cherries or raspberries on the top of the cake. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely. (If you need to speed up this process, take the cake out of the tin and place it on a plate in the freezer.)
For the Chocolate Buttercream, roughly chop the dark chocolate. Add the chopped chocolate and coconut oil into a heatproof bowl and melt over a double boiler or in the microwave. Place the melted chocolate mixture in a blender with the remaining buttercream ingredients. Blend until smooth. Pour the buttercream into a bowl and place in the freezer to thicken. This will take about 2 hours.
When the cake has cooled and the buttercream is set, use an offset spatula or the back of a spoon to spread the buttercream evenly over the cake. Dollop the Fruit Jam onto the buttercream and spread out. Dot over the raspberries and sprinkle over the shaved chocolate.
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Deconstructed Berry Trifle
To be honest with you the only reason this is deconstructed is because we could never get the layering of the trifle right because we don’t own a trifle dish. After four goes at it, we thought some of you might be in the same boat, so here is what we like to call a ‘dessert salad’. Layered just like one of our salads but instead of vegetables, grains and dressings it’s vanilla sponge, whipped cream, custard, jam and berries.
SERVES 6–8
PREP TIME 40 mins
COOK TIME 30 mins
FRIDGE LIFE 2 days
Vanilla Sponge:
11⁄2 cups almond meal
1⁄2 cup buckwheat flour
3⁄4 cup coconut sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 cup plain plant-based or dairy yoghurt
1⁄2 cup light-flavoured oil
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
pinch of sea salt
Vanilla Whipped Cream:
1 x 400 ml (14 fl oz) can coconut whipping cream, chilled overnight
1⁄4 cup plain plant-based or dairy yoghurt
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or extract
1 tablespoon pure maple syrup
To Assemble:
3 recipes of Fruit Jam made using raspberries and strawberries (see below)
1 recipe Vanilla Custard (see below)
2 cups fresh berries
small handful of mint leaves
Method:
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Grease a 20 cm (8 in) cake tin. For the Vanilla Sponge, place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until well combined. Pour into the prepared tin and bake for 30 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. Set aside to cool completely.
For the Vanilla Whipped Cream, spoon the coconut whipping cream into a stand mixer with the whisk attachment (or use a hand beater). Beat for about 60 seconds to form a fluffy but dense cream. Add the remaining ingredients and beat for another 30–60 seconds. Chill until ready to assemble.
To assemble, cut the Vanilla Sponge into 3–4 cm (11⁄4–11⁄2 in) chunks, take the Vanilla Whipped Cream out of the fridge and have your Fruit Jam, Vanilla Custard and berries ready to go.
Randomly place the Vanilla Sponge chunks around a flat serving plate. Spoon Fruit Jam onto each chunk, followed by Vanilla Custard and half of the berries. Randomly dollop over spoonfuls of Vanilla Whipped Cream, and sprinkle over the remaining berries and mint. This can sit in the fridge for up to 4 hours before serving. Leftovers will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Fruit Jam
We’ve always turned our noses up at making our own jam because we assumed it was a very long process and used loads of sugar. This version is quite the opposite, it is ready in 15 minutes and only has a few dashes of maple syrup. Some fruit has a higher water content than others so if your jam isn’t thickening, remove some of the excess liquid.
MAKES 1⁄2 cup
PREP TIME 5 mins
COOK TIME 15–25 mins
FRIDGE LIFE 2 weeks
1 heaped cup fruit, fresh or frozen
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
juice of 1⁄2 lemon
Place everything in a small pot and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a strong simmer and cook for 15–25 minutes, stirring occasionally so nothing burns on the bottom of the pan. If your jam isn’t thickening, remove some of the excess liquid.
Once thick, remove from the heat and allow to cool fully. The Fruit Jam will keep in an airtight container or jar in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Vanilla Custard
Cornstarch has become our new best friend after writing this cookbook. When creating desserts, we always try to minimise our usage of expensive ingredients such as nuts and coconut oil. Cornstarch is something we’re sure most of you will have sitting in your pantry right now and it works great as a thickening agent. So enjoy this delicious plant-based custard using no nuts or wacky ingredients. We like to use oat milk for a natural, sweet taste.
MAKES 11⁄2 cups
PREP TIME 5 mins
COOK TIME 5 mins
FRIDGE LIFE 7 days
2 cups plant-based or dairy milk
1⁄2 cup cornstarch
2 tablespoons raw sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or extract
pinch of sea salt
Place the ingredients in a small pot over a medium heat. Stir constantly while heating as the custard can easily burn on the bottom of the pan. When it starts to thicken (about 2–3 minutes) remove from the heat and whisk until thick.
Leftovers will keep in an airtight container or jar in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Extracted from Simple Fancy: Inviting recipes for all eaters and occasions by the Two Raw Sisters. Photography © Kate Battersby and Margo Flanagan. RRP$45.00. Published by Allen & Unwin NZ.
