Need a show-stopper dessert this Christmas? Look no further. It’s rich, yet won’t sit heavily. It’s delicately flavoured but not sickly sweet. And best of all? It’s frozen. Making it the perfect cool finish to a hot Aussie summer BBQ. You might also volunteer to make this for the family get-together this Christmas, as there is no baking/hot ovens required!
INGREDIENTS
BASE:
See the without-a-doubt bar … this is your tart crust!
FILLING:
- 1 cup cashews, soaked in water overnight
- ¼ cup soy/non-dairy “milk”¹
- 250g punnet fresh strawberries
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons 100% pure maple syrup (total 120g)
- 125g 70% cocoa dark chocolate
- 1 Tbsp cocoa/cacao powder²
- 1 tablespoon almond nut butter (or any 100% nut butter you have on hand)
- 2 tablespoons butter or coconut oil³
- 2 teaspoons ginger powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 pinches coarse sea salt
METHOD
BASE:
As for the instructions in the without-a-doubt slice, but press into a spring-form tin rather than the brownie tray. The W-A-D slice makes a huge batch though – so when making this dessert I use what I need for the desired thickness base I’m after, and the rest I put half-fill a brownie tray for the W-A-D slice alone (which is definitely an everyday eating choice!) Note that the numbers at the bottom of this page are for the FULL recipe – so assuming you have a very thick base!
FILLING:
- Drain the soaked cashews and add them to a high-powered blender with the milk, maple syrup and strawberries. Blend till smooth – be patient – this can take a while!
- Next add all your remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the chocolate, and blend again until smooth.
- Now melt your chocolate using the double saucepan method, or in a microwave-proof bowl. Add this to your mix once fully melted then give it another solid blend to make sure all ingredients are combined.
- Pour this mixture over the base and set in the freezer.
- Decorate with as many berries as you can gather to serve, or store in the freezer. Remove from the freezer 15mins before you want to serve up 🙂
RECIPE NOTES
¹ My current personal favourite is VitaSoy’s Protein Plus – note – they don’t add any protein to this – it is simply the whole soy beans, water and salt/calcium and no added sugar, which is why the protein content is “higher”. It’s simply that it’s not being displaced per volume with an added sugar.
² Cocoa powder vs cacao powder – what is the difference? Read here Or if you want the short answer – neither is better/healthier than the other. One is a heck of a lot cheaper though (which for me, equals more training kit)
³ Coconut oil – ordinarily I’m not using this regularly as it’s not got the health properties that extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) does. It is saturated as all get-out, and when used in excess will have the same effect as other saturated fat in your diet (think excess salami or hot chips → those aren’t longevity promoting foods). However, for culinary purposes, at times you require certain properties from a food. There is no way EVOO has the firm texture property of coconut oil, so when you are trying to make a solid topping, EVOO just won’t work. This recipe is one of those times where you need a firm ingredient. Which we’re okay with, because it’s not as though this recipe is a daily staple – a little of these things now and again is not a problem (just like a few hot chips or slices of salami now and again is completely fine and will not kill you!) All that said, my next batch I will make with EVOO to see if the chocolate is enough to hold it together!
