Raw raspberry and chocolate slice

I’m feeling more then a little sad that I’ve just finished off our stash of this creamy raw raspberry and chocolate slice- one of the things I love about raw/no-bake cakes is that you can store them in the freezer and it seems to make the stash last so much longer, especially because its hidden from all those little peeping eyes that seem to spot cake in the fridge from a mile away.

Our raw raspberry and chocolate slice is similar to our very popular no bake creamy vanilla cacao slice. It’s been one of our most re-made recipes on Instagram and we always get such wonderful feedback. Plus, it is a personal fav.

This slice has a creamy no-bake cashew raspberry centre, sandwiched between a cacao biscuit base and a homemade chocolate. Yes please!

WHAT YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE OUR RAW RASPBERRY AND CHOCOLATE SLICE

• Raw cacao powder or cocoa
• Pecans (we use activated)
• Coconut flour
• Medjool dates
• Salt
• Raw cashews or macadamia
• Raspberries
• Coconut oil
• Cacao butter
• Coconut cream
• Lemon juice
• Rice malt syrup or pure maple syrup
• Pure vanilla extract

WHAT ARE ACTIVATED NUTS?

We use activated nuts to turn this raw slice into a living dessert. Activating is simply the process of soaking nuts or seeds in salt water, leaving them to soak for an amount of time (it changes depending on what your soaking) and then putting them in the dehydrator.

Nuts and seeds are a wonderfully nutrient dense snack, but they can be hard to digest. The process of activating helps to break down naturally occurring anti-nutrients, such as phytates and phytic acids. Phytates bind to nutrients such as iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium and phosphate, therefore making them less available for our bodies to absorb.

This means the body requires less energy to break down the nut and gain all the nutrients and benefits, as well as being easier on the digestive system, especially for people suffering from gastrointestinal issues.

For a more details on activation please check out our creamy roasted almond butter post!

HERE IS HOW YOU WILL MAKE OUR RAW RASPBERRY and chocolate SLICE

Are you new to making raw slices? Perhaps this is your first ever one- if so, gosh, welcome to the wonderful world of no-bake cakes! One thing we love about no-bake cakes is they’re pretty hard to stuff up. Truly, they are. Baking on the other hand, that’s much more of a science, but raw cakes generally turn out well regardless of if you make a mistake, unless somethings gone horribly wrong (or if you crazy on the coconut oil- gross). Here’s how its done-

1. Soak your cashews in water 4 hours beforehand. Line a 15-20cm (6.5-8 inch) cake tin with baking paper, or use a silicone one.
2. Add everything except the dates to a food processor. Pulse until very small crumbs have formed then add dates and pulse until the mix starts to clump together (if this doesn’t happen, add more dates). Press base into the base of the tin, not pressing down too hard (as this compacts the filling, and alters the texture of the base). You want everything to stick, but not become too dense. Set aside. TIP: make sure you have removed ALL dates pits as they are a quick way to destroy your processor blade!
3.  Make the raspberry filling. Melt coconut oil and cacao butter in a heatproof bowl over a pot of just simmering water. Cacao butter is very sensitive to heat, so ensure your bowl is not touching the water. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside to cool. TIP: If you want to keep the dessert truely raw, use a candy thermometer to ensure the temperature stays below 46 C. 
4. Meanwhile, add remaining filling ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until very smooth. With the blender running, stream in the melted coconut oil and cacao butter and continue to blend for 1 minute then pour onto your base and set in the freezer for 1 hour. TIP: if you live in a hot climate, you can just all the ingredients can be blended together at once. Streaming in the fats is particularly important if its cold. 
5. Make the chocolate topping. Melt coconut oil in a heatproof bowl over a pot of just simmering water. Once liquid, add remaining ingredients then whisk together until smooth. Pour final later onto cake, and reset in freezer.

PLEASE NOTE* We use activated pecans in this recipe but understand they are very expensive in Australia. While pecans are our favourite choice in this recipe, a more cost effective option wold be to sub for walnuts or cashews. See the recipe below for full details. You can of course use un-activated nuts too.

How to store your slice

This slice is fridge and freezer friendly- just ensure it is kept in an air tight container. In the fridge it will last up to 5 days, and it will last many months in the fridge. If you live in a cold climate, you can keep it at room temperature for an hour or two, but do not leave it outside of the fridge it the weather is hot- it will become a soft mess in no time at all.

SOME OTHER RAW RECIPES YOU MIGHT LIKE TO TRY

*No-bake silky smooth cacao and vanilla bean slice 

*Blueberry and vanilla bean ice cream

*Creamy 5 ingredient chocolate ice cream

*No bake pecan brownies with almond butter frosting 

*Creamy roasted activated almond butter

We hope you like this raw raspberry and chocolate slice as much as we do! We love hearing your feedback, so if you try this recipe please leave a review or a comment at the bottom of the page. Have a great day.

Raw raspberry and chocolate slice

★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews

• Author: Jade Woodd
• Prep Time: 30
• Cook Time: 1.5hrs setting time
• Total Time: 2hrs + 4hrs soaking time
• Yield: 9-12 1x
• Category: Desserts
• Method: Raw
• Cuisine: American

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Description

A creamy, no bake vegan dessert that combines the classic flavours of chocolate, vanilla and raspberries to create an easy grain free, gluten free and dairy free cake. Freezer friendly.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

Base

• 1/2 cup activated pecans* (see notes)
• 1 Tbsp coconut flour
• 1/4 cup raw cacao powder* (see notes)
• Pinch good-quality salt
• 6+ Soft Medjool dates, pitted (* see notes)

Creamy raspberry filling

• 1 cup raw cashews, soaked 4 hours
• 1/2 cup raspberries (* see notes)
• 1/2 cup full-fat coconut cream
• 1 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/3 cup rice malt syrup * (see notes)
• 30g cacao butter, melted
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil

Chocolate topping

• 2 Tbsp raw cacao powder * (see notes)
• 4 tsp rice malt syrup * (see notes)
• 4 tsp full-fat coconut cream
• 4 tsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

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Instructions

Make the Base

1. Set aside a small square/rectangle cake tin- ours was 15cm (6.5 inch) squared, but a slightly smaller/larger tin will work fine. Line with baking paper unless it is a silicone one. 

2. Add all the base ingredients except the dates to a food processor. Pulse until very small crumbs have formed then add dates and pulse until the mix starts to clump together (if this doesn’t happen, add more dates). Press base into the base of the tin, not pressing down too hard (as this compacts the filling, and alters the texture of the base). 

Make the raspberry layer

3. Gently melt coconut oil and cacao butter in a heatproof bowl over a pot of just simmering water. It is important that the bowl does not touch the water underneath, as cacao butter is very sensitive to heat. Once melted, remove from heat and set aside to cool for 2-3 minutes.
Meanwhile, add remaining filling ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until very smooth. With the blender still running, stream in the cooled oil and cacao butter and blend for a further 1 minute. Pour onto your base and set in the freezer for 1 hour.

Make the chocolate layer

4. Melt coconut oil in a heatproof bowl over a pot of just-simmering water. Once liquified remove from the heat add remaining ingredients and whisk together until smooth. Pour final later onto cake, and set in fridge for 10 minutes. 

To serve

Remove the slice from the fridge. Leave it to defrost for 15 minutes before slicing, or preferably overnight in the fridge (as this will prevent water beading).

To slice

Fill a large heat proof cup with boiling water. Take a large, sharp knife and sit it in the hot water for 15 seconds, then quickly dry the knife and make your first cut. Wipe the knife clean, and repeat. If you are not fussy on how the slices look you can skip the hot water and simply use a sharp knife.

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Notes

*We’ve used activated pecans for this recipe but we totally understand they’re very expensive. You can sub out for walnuts if you like.

* Raw cacao powder can be substituted for carob powder or cocoa. We prefer Dutch-pressed cocoa.

* Medjool dates are our favourite as they are juicy and flavoursome. If you have dried dates you will need to rehydrate them first. To do this, soak in hot water for 5 minutes, then squeeze out extra water before using. It is likely you will need 8-12 dried dates, so we recommend starting with 6, and adding more as needed.

* If you are using frozen raspberries please allow them to completely defrost first.

* Rice malt syrup is easily exchanged with your preferred sweetener. Our recommendation is pure maple syrup, however you could use coconut nectar or agave, or honey if you are not vegan.