Coconut & Sultana Rice Pudding

Everyone loves a good pudding as the ultimate comfort food and this one isn't too sweet to feel the guilts about nomming it down for dessert or a snack or any time you feel like delicious coconut-y, sultana-y rice-y goodness. Adapted to have sultanas instead of added sugar, from this Quirky Cooking Thermomix recipe: http://www.quirkycooking.com.au/2011/05/creamy-coconut-vanilla-rice-pudding , we cook it like so...

Ingredients

1. 1 whole vanilla bean, snipped in pieces or 1 tspn vanilla extract
2. 200g arborio rice (or 250g if you like it thicker)
3. 400g organic coconut cream
4. 60g sultanas 
5. 600g water

Method

1. Combine all ingredients in thermomix. Cook for 20 minutes at 90 degrees, reverse, speed 1 1/2. (If you're using vanilla bean, grind it up for 1 minute on speed 9 prior to adding all other ingredients).
2. The rice pudding will still be quite runny - don't worry, it thickens after a few minutes. You can pour it straight into a serving dish (a Thermoserver is ideal) and leave it for 5 minutes before serving, and it will be perfect.

Raw Lemon & Date Slice

I LOVE lemon slice! It's one of my all time favourites. If I'm ever in a cafe and feeling the need to elevate my coffee experience to amazing (or even mediocre), lemon slice is the first thing I look for.

A couple of months ago, driving back to Perth from Pemberton, we were pretty desperate for a good coffee. Being full time soy drinkers now finding good coffee can be a struggle because there are some hideous soy milks out there. We urbanspooned for the best coffee in the Bridgetown-Donnybrook-Balingup area and set off in the promise of an organic place. This cafe turned out to be closed so we ended up getting coffee from the first place we found in Balingup that was open. It turned out to make a damn good coffee and had excellent soy milk. They also had lemon slice! The biggest lemon slice I'd ever seen, took us about half an hour to eat and it was amazing! It was also my very last non vegan lemon slice.

It's funny how there are just some things that make becoming a full time vegan harder than others. Lemon slice, oddly, is probably the main thing I have craved since making the decision to completely give up animal products six weeks ago. To satisfy my cravings I had to come up with a vegan lemon slice and concocted this raw version as a healthy alternative. I have to say it's pretty damn good too :) Dani says it's the best EVER and that it'll make me world famous, though that may be a biased opinion!

Ingredients 

Base

• 1.5 Cups dates 
• 1 Cup cashews 
• 1 Cup raw almonds 
• 1 Tbsp Coconut butter 
• 0.5 Whole Lemon juice and rind 
• 0.5 Cup dried, unsweetened coconut 
• 1 Tbsp chia seeds (optional)
• 2 Tbsp water 

Topping

• 1 Cup of cashews (soaked in water for an hour and drained) 
• 1 Tbsp raw agave nectar 
• 0.5 Whole Lemon juice1/4 Whole Lemon rind 
• 1 TBS Coconut butter 

Directions 

1. Pre-soak cashews for an hour before starting.
2. Place cashews and almonds in food processor and process until they become small and crumbly (thermomix 8 for 3 secs). 
3. Add dates and process again until the mixture sticks together and the dates are well processed (thermomix 8 for 6 secs). Add the remaining base ingredients and process again until the mixture is well combined (thermomix 8 for 8 secs). Stop processing before it gets too soft and sticky. 
4. Press the base mixture down firmly into a cake or brownie pan. 
5. For the topping put all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth and creamy. You may need to stop frequently and scrap down from the sides.
6. Spread topping over the base and refrigerate until firm (about 1hour).

Raw Vegan Chocolate Brownie

INGREDIENTS

Base

• 1 C raw almonds(or sub walnuts)
• 1/2 C unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 C packed dates
• 1/2 C unsweetened cacao powder
• 2 TBS water
• dash vanilla

Icing

• 3/4 C raw cashews (soaked for 2 hours and drained)
• 2 TBS raw cacao powder
• 2 TBS maple syrup
• dash vanilla
• water to add for consistency

METHOD

Base
Line a loaf pan with baking paper for easy removal and set aside.  Add the almonds and coconut to the food processor and process until no large pieces of almond remain.  Pour the almonds into a bowl and set aside.

Place the dates and water into the food processor and process until the dates are broken up and come together in a “dough” that looks almost like a paste.  Add the almonds and coconut and the cocoa powder, salt and vanilla and pulse until combined.  Don’t over mix, but be sure that everything is completely combined.

Place the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and press down firmly.

Icing
Food process cashews until fine. Add other ingredients and continue process until smooth adding a little water if needed to achieve the right consistency. Spread over base.

Pull the brownies out of pan and place on a cutting board and slice into 60 bite sized brownies. Store in an airtight container on the counter or in the fridge for up to a couple weeks.

References
http://fooddoodles.com/2012/05/16/raw-vegan-coconut-brownies/