A Cake for Your Valentine: Two-Way(s)

Wink, wink...

For Valentine's Day, my roomies and I held a lil' pre-Vday Sunday brunch which was themed "No Boys Allowed."  Therefore, we took the opportunity to roll out of bed and eat as many sweets and drink as much exotic tea as possible without the insecurities of prowling man eyes.  And a feast, it was.

Though many dairy and icing-laden cakes and cookies were present, I still repped the veg baking world by making a delicious Strawberry Cream Cheeze Cake with Chocolate Ganache.

But the richest dessert, I saved for my valentine: a TOTALLY Raw White Chocolate Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart!  After searching for recipe among recipe, I settled on this raw gem, because it was comprised of some of the most voluptuous aphrodisiacs knows to man.

Soaked almonds made the yellow (surprisingly buttery-looking) crust.  Almonds supply a generous dose of Vitamin E, which obviously "moisturizes" the skin... every part of the skin (more winks.)  The omega-fatty acids and oils that are good for a total-body complexion are also full of antioxidants which reverse free-radical damage.  Because of all the "total body workouts" going down on V-day, almonds are good to eat after this sensual activity.  Why?  Because over-working your body actually causes it to release a greater amount of these toxic free-radicals.  This doesn't mean to stop "working out," however, eating almonds will help ease the stress on the bod that otherwise would take longer to neutralize and repair on it's own.  And after being soaked, the nutrients in nuts are increased, further stimulating, well,... further stimulating "stimulation."

Now raspberries; just look at a raspberry sometime and tell me it doesn't have a sexy shape.  Besides the lustful plumpness and soft ridges of raspberries, they provide tons of Vitamin C and antioxidants that are sure to get your body lively and ready for action.

Finally, we've got chocolate.  Everybody knows chocolate is the #1 aphrodisiac (Sidenote: A recent poll revealed that most women prefer eating chocolate to having sex.) but in it's rawest form, it is quite dangerous.  Raw Cocao (not cocoa) Powder is the most concentrated source of both fire-igniting passion as well as antioxidants known to mankind.  Today, it is sold for a very high price at health food stores and Wholefoods.  Many people take it as a supplement, not just as a dessert.  But since the Mayans discovered this mystical bean, the harvesting of cocao has been used to enticed and delight people all over the planet.  However, it you don't want to get caught groping a random person and/or animal, you should probably wait to consume it until you're with someone you'd like to get down and dirty with.

Here are recipes for the cakes.  For the Strawberry Cake, I totally made up the recipe based on ingredients I had.  But the raw aphrodisiac tart was found at Rawmazing.com.  Look Below for more info.

 Strawberry Cream Cheeze Cake with Chocolate Ganache

 Materials: Cake pan (preferably heart-shaped)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease pan with vegan margarine or canola oil spray.

 Ingredients for cake:
4 cups flour
2 1/2 cups raw sugar
tablespoon baking powder
teaspoon vanilla extract
shake of salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil
1 overly ripe (brown-spotted) banana, mashed
1/4 cup strawberry preserves (try to get corn or high fructose syrup-free)

Garnishes:
Rawmazing's Raw Chocolate Ganache
thinly sliced strawberries
slivered almonds

Pour half of batter into cake pan.  Bake for 25 minutes, or until fork can be inserted and come out clean. Pop cake out of tin and onto cooling rack after about 15 minutes.  Then pour in rest of batter and repeat.

After half an hour of cooling, cut thin layer off top of cake to make perfectly level.  Spread about 2-3 tablespoons of Tofutti Cream Cheese evenly over layer.  Then top with about 2-3 tablespoons of strawberry preserves.  Layer very thinly sliced strawberries in single-file row over preserve/tofu cream cheese layers.


After second cake pops out, let cool for same amounts of time and slice thin layer off top to make perfectly level.  Coat bottom (uncut) side 2-3 more tablespoons of toffuti and preserves, then gently place on top of strawberry-coated layer, creating a goowgeouus filling.  Then, coat entire top of cake with raw chocolate ganache.


Layer freakishly thin slices of strawberries on top of ganache in any pattern you desire.  It is best to thinly cut the same-sized strawberries and exclusively use the middle 3 layers so that they are all equally-shaped.  Then coat any exposed chocolate ganache with slivered almonds.  Refrigerate for a few hours before serving.  Share with your lady friends!

Now to turn you and your lover into sex Gods/Godesses:

White Chocolate Dark Chocolate Raspberry Tart
Recipe can be found at Rawmazing's incredible website, created by Susan Powers, raw foodie and chef.  Millions of surprisingly decadent raw recipes can be found.  Make sure to use her recipe for Raw Chocolate Ganache before going to any other chocolate ganache recipe; it is beyond delish.

More love than usual,
xoxo,
Jane