Glamingtons – aka raw lamingtons

This recipe came about on Australia day – lamingtons are obviously an Australian staple and favourite for such occasions. My friend Dean has sever celiacs disease. It’s so bad that one crumb of gluten can put him in bed for days. So when he and his wife Katie invited us all over for Australian day, I thought it would be both un-Australian and a shame not to include lamingtons.  Glamingtons were born.

Fast forward many months later, my partner and I have just come back from a week long trip back home to New Zealand. Our good friend and neighbour Emily came over every day to not only feed, but keep my kittens company. Kittens are very emotional creatures and need people to sit and watch Master Chef with them. It would be neglectful not to.

Because she is also one of the most glamorous people I know, I thought Glamingtons would be a fitting way to thank her. Similar to Dean, she is fructose intolerant. This means she can not eat a lot of raw baking due to the dried fruit, agave or honey contents without terrible stomach pains. Thankfully, this recipe can be both Emily and Dean friendly!

Made from almonds, coconut, maple syrup, cacao, cashews and raspberries, this treat is sweet but high in beneficial antioxidants and nutrients. Almonds are fantastic for the skin due to their monounsaturated fats. Cacao is chocolate in its rawest form which means its nutrients haven’t been destroyed by the heating process. Obviously they’re named because they’re so healthy that when you eat them, you become much more glamorous!

Being raw, they are much easier to make than traditional lamingtons – no need to worry about making a fluffy sponge, you can not mess this up!

Glamingtons
Ingredients:
For the raw sponge cake:
2 cups shredded coconut
1⁄3 cup raw cold pressed coconut oil, in liquid form
1 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
pinch of himalayan salt

For the raw chocolate ganache/icing:
2/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup raw cacao powder
1/3 cup raw cold pressed coconut oil, in liquid form
1/8 tsp plus a pinch himalayan salt

For rolling:
1-2 cups shredded coconut

For the raw thickened cashew cream:
1 cup cashews, soaked overnight
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2-3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons raw cold pressed coconut oil, in liquid form

To serve:
1 punnet fresh raspberries
Ground vanilla (either in powder form or in a grinder)

Directions:
Raw sponge:

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1. Put the shredded coconut into the food processor and process until it is flour like.
2. Put the rest of the sponge ingredients into the food processor and process until everything is sticky and combined together.
3. Press into a square container, I used a 150x150cm Sistema container. If you use a bigger one, the sponge won’t be as high.
4. Refrigerate for at least half an hour.

Raw chocolate ganache/icing:

1. In the pot you melted the coconut oil, whisk all the ganache ingredients together. Keep in the pot.

Raw thickened cashew cream:

1. Put cashew nuts and maple syrup into the blender, starting with 1/2 a cup of the water, begin the blend everything together. You want to use as little water as possible, but make it as smooth and creamy as possible.
2. Continue to blend, stopping to scrap down the sides until smooth, creamy and thick.
3. Add the coconut oil and blend another 5 seconds until it has just combined – do not over blend.

To assemble:

1. Remove the raw sponge from the container by giving the sides a bit of a wiggle until it loosens and slips out – similar to how you would get ice out.
2. With a shape knife, cut the sponge into neat squares – if you use the same container at me I quartered it horizontally. On the 2 outer ends, I cut off the rounded ends then divided the remainder into 3. Feel free to eat the off cuts! The two inner bits, I divided into 4.
3. Put the shredded coconut for rolling onto a plate.
4. Working quickly, cover each square into the chocolate ganache, then roll in the shredded coconut. If the ganache starts to harden before you have finished covering, reheat it so it melts.
5. Using a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner cut off, pipe a small dollop of raw cashew cream onto  each of the squares.
6. Crack/sprinkle over the ground vanilla.
7. Top each glamington with a fresh raspberry.

Any left over raw chocolate ganache can be spooned into silicon ice trays. Once set, carefully turn them out and top with shredded coconut for a easy homemade chocolate.