Mini Raw Raspberry Filled Heart Cakes
Mind you, I don't claim that the ones I made are authentic at all, because Little Debbie does not make strawberry filled vanilla cake ones glazed with chocolate, but hey, this is my version! I was quite excited about how these turned out too!
Mini Raw Raspberry Filled Heart Cakes
Makes 12
Batter:
2 cups raw sprouted buckwheat flour, sprouted oat flour or sprouted quinoa flour
2 cups ground flaxseed
2 1/2 cups finely shredded dried coconut
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup young coconut meat*
1 cup soft medjool dates, pitted (soaked in filtered water for 30 minutes if not soft, then drained)
1/2 cup raw coconut nectar
1 1/2 cups raw coconut milk
Filling:
2 cups young coconut meat**
1/4 cup coconut water
3 Tbsp raw coconut nectar or agave nectar
1/4 tsp sea salt
seeds of one vanilla bean, or 1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups fresh organic strawberries
1 small chunk red beet
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp raw coconut butter, warmed to liquid
1 1/2 cups melted raw chocolate
Combine quinoa flour, flaxseed, coconut flour, sea salt, in a large bowl and whisk together until and set aside. To a food processor, add the dates, vanilla, coconut and coconut milk, and nectar to the processor and process until pretty smooth. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until smooth with a sturdy spoon (wooden works well) and well incorporated (the batter will be stiff, so you might want to use your stand mixer if you have one (if your batter is too stiff, add a little more coconut milk until it is the consistency of soft dough. Sometimes young coconuts vary in dryness so you may need a little more if that is the case). Scrape onto a lined dehydrator sheet, and spread out to a rectangle about 1 1/2-2 inches thick. Dry for about 18-20 hours (until dry but still a little moist), then remove from the dehydrator, and use a heart shaped cookie cutter (oiled with coconut oil so it does not stick) to cut into hearts (you can discard the scraps or enjoy eating them). Cut them in half horizontally so you have a top and a bottom for each, and set aside.
Meanwhile, to make the filling, combine all ingredients but the coconut butter in a food processor and process until smooth. With the motor running, add the coconut butter and process a minute more. Pour the cream into a bowl and let sit in the freezer for about half an hour to 45 minutes or so until the consistency of stiff whipped cream. Spread the cream over the bottom half of half the hearts about 1/2 inch thick, top with the top heart halves (smoothing anything that may ooze out the sides) and freeze until very cold, about an hour or more.
Melt the raw chocolate in a bowl, and set a sheet of foil out. Using a fork to hold the cakes one at a time, spoon the chocolate over them, letting it run down the sides and smoothing it with a knife in your other hand (yes, this is a bit tricky, I am not going to lie). Set the glazed hearts on the foil as you finish them. When the chocolate is hardened, use some of the remaining chocolate in the bowl to drizzle over the hearts as decoration. Let harden and enjoy! Store in the fridge.
*If you do not have access to young coconut meat, for in the batter, you can substitute 1 cup finely shredded dried coconut plus 1/2 cup coconut water or filtered water for it.
**If you do not have access to young coconut meat, for the frosting, you can substitute 2 cups raw cashews soaked for 4 hours and drained if you do not mind the recipe not being nut free.