GF Raw Vegan Chocolate Kumquat Special Occasion Cake

I'm crazy about using essential oils in my cuisine. You get flavor, health benefits, convenience, and a better deal when you use essential oils. Make anything from bespoke cocktails, to scrumptious salad dressings, to AMAZING rubs and marinades and sauces for the grill. Pure essential oils make delicious companions and enhance the flavor profiles of your frozen desserts, icings, cakes, chocolates, and custards.

Create something extra special for Father's Day and graduation season. This recipe is adapted from our doTERRA family in Australia. You could substitute kumquat oil with wild orange oil or even peppermint if that suits your palate better. This recipe serves 8-10.

Ingredients

Base:

1 cup almonds

¾ cup dates

¼ cup hemp seeds

2 tbsp cacao powder

1 tbsp coconut oil

Chocolate Layer:

1 cup cashews (soaked for 3-4 hours or overnight)

4 tbsp maple syrup

1 cup cacao butter

2 tbsp almond milk

¼ cup cacao powder

Orange Layer:

2 cups cashews (soaked for 3-4 hours or overnight)

3 tbsp maple syrup

1 can coconut milk with cream

Juice 1 orange

2 tbsp Coconut oil

6 drops Kumquat essential oil ( or 6 wild orange or 4 peppermint)

To finish: ⅓ cup cacao butter + 1 tbsp cacao powder.

Instructions

For the base, break down the almonds in a food process or until they are a fine crumb. Add the rest of the base ingredients and blitz again until they are crumbly and sticky. Press down evenly onto the base of a cake tin and set aside. For the chocolate layer, melt the cacao butter. Add all of the rest of the ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Pour in the melted cacao butter and blend until smooth. Pour the mix over the base and place in the freezer to harden. In the meantime, make the orange layer. For the orange layer, add all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Add ⅓ cup orange juice. Once the chocolate layer has hardened slightly, (it doesn’t need to be fully set) pour over the orange layer and smooth out as best as possible. Place in the fridge to set. Melt remaining cacao butter. Pour half on the Orange layer. Mix cacao powder in remaining cacao butter. Pour on top in rough striped and then smooth out to create marbling effect. Place in fridge to fully set for about 4 hours or overnight. Place in the fridge to fully set for about 4 hours or overnight. Decorate with sliced citrus or cacao nibs and enjoy.

Until next time!