A refreshing slice for a hot day

Last year our local newspaper published a series of recipes by a young local mum from Marinya Cottage Kitchen. Her goal is to make nutritious yet appetising food for her family and I found some of her recipes quite appealing especially a simple to make slice topped with frozen berries which is an ideal dessert to serve on those hot and humid days like we have been having lately.

 I had bought some frozen berries for the slice a few weeks ago but didn't get around to making it until today and was surprised to find how easy it was to put together as there is no baking. I noticed that the recipe varies slightly in the newspaper from what it is on the website but I used the latter mostly and replaced the cashews with macadamia nuts as when I went to the pantry to get the cashews someone had eaten them hadn't they? I wonder who that was!

                          

Well, seeing as there were no cashews and I had to replace them with macadamia nuts there was a job ahead of me to crack enough for the recipe so, armed with a cup of coffee and my trusty nutcracker, I set myself up on the front verandah and watched the approaching storm while I got cracking. :-)

I've mentioned this before but this nutcracker is just so great to use and was worth every dollar spent on it. We had broken so many smaller nutcrackers before buying this one.  There were quite a few nuts that were very small and I guess the cockatoos had knocked them off the tree before they had grown to a decent size.

That done it was time to get the food processor out and make the base which went into the fridge. Then the topping with raw cacao was blended together and spread on the base followed by the frozen berries. It was certainly unusual to be putting frozen berries on top of a slice but it was quite yummy and very refreshing on such a hot day.

If you would like to make the slice here is the recipe from the Marinya Cottage Kitchen.

Raw Energy Slice with chocolate and Berries (Raw, vegan)

Base

1 cup cashews or sunflower and pumpkin seeds can be used for a nut-free version. (I used macadamia nuts).
1 cup dates pre-soaked for a few minutes in hot water
1/2 cup coconut
1 tablespoon maple syrup
3 tablespoons coconut oil

Chocolate top

2 tablespoons raw cocao
4 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Berry top

A mixture of frozen or fresh berries

Line a small flan dish or loaf pan with baking paper. Place all of the base ingredients in the food processor and blend until well combined. Press into tray and place in the fridge while you prepare the chocolate.

To make the chocolate, blend all of the ingredients together. Spread chocolate on top of slice and top with berries. If your coconut oil is in a liquid form, you may need to place it in the fridge for a few minutes to thicken before spreading on slice. 

 

This is the version published in our local newspaper.

Raw Choc-Berry Slice

Base

2 cups Cashew or Macadamia nuts (sunflower and pumpkin seeds can be used for a nut-free version)
1 cup Dates presoaked for a few minutes in warm water
1 cup desiccated coconut
¼ cup coconut oil

Chocolate top 

2 tablespoons Raw Cocao
4 tablespoons Coconut Oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup

Berry top

A mixture of frozen or fresh berries

Instructions

Line a small flan dish or loaf pan with baking paper.
Place all of the base ingredients in the food processor and blend until well combined.
Press into tray and place in the fridge while you prepare the chocolate.To make the chocolate, blend all of the ingredients together.
Spread chocolate on top of slice and top with berries. If your coconut oil is in a liquid form, you may need to place it in the fridge for a few minutes to thicken before spreading on slice.
Top with frozen berries, slice and serve.

As you can see the amounts of nuts and coconut vary in both recipes. If you would like some more really healthy recipes then check out the Marinya Cottage Kitchen. There are some great recipes there that I want to try out. If you are a Facebook fan their Facebook page seems to be kept more up to date and you can check that out here. I don't go on Facebook but can read a few bits and pieces on that page without joining up.

The recipe was given the tick of approval in this household. Let me know if you try it out.