Raw Caramel Bites with Sea Salt (gluten-free, sugar-free)
It’s been a wonderful year 2015, full of achievements and unforgettable memories for the Vegi Tales project. I am very grateful to have met such inspiring people and being able to share my food creations with them is priceless. 🙂 Thank you all from the heart!
As a celebration of an amazing last year and just before a special full moon Christmas, I decided to organize a “Vegan Canapés” event together with my dear friends and great vegan chefs, Kuteer & Aga.
SUNday December 20th and 21 degrees in Ibiza was the perfect day! <3
Our vegan canapés buffet united flavours and spices from around the world, with dishes inspired from Europe, Asia and Africa: 3 appetizers, 3 main courses and 3 desserts, each themed by a different country.
It’s almost always the case that the special treat of the meal comes at the end. This time all desserts were prepared raw vegan and came out incredibly tasty.
Kuteer made his lovely Tiramisu, Aga prepared her Superfood dessert with Pinneaple & Chia and I decided to go for my Raw Vegan Caramel Bites with Sea Salt. <3
The Caramel Bites can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months and you will always have an incredible dessert to surprise your guests with or to simply treat yourself. 🙂
For all the guests that attended the event and everyone else reading my post, I promised to post the recipe, so here it goes..
- 1 cup raw walnuts/ other nuts (soaked)
- 1/8 tsp sea salt
- 2 cups dates or raisins
- 1-2 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 cup raw cashews (soaked)
- 400 ml coconut cream
- 2-3 tbsp agave syrup
- 2 cups medjool dates
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1/8 tsp fleur de sel
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup agave syrup
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
- 1 tbsp vanilla powder
- dash of flour de sel
- In order to make the crust base place all your ingredients in a food processor (or a high speed blender) and mix until you have a paste with a quite sticky consistency. Cover the bottom of an 8x8 pan with cling film (cling wrap) and make sure that 10cm or so is draping over the edges. Start shaping the crust base as an even layer onto the cling film over the pan bottom and leave it to rest in the fridge while preparing the next layer.
- To make the caramel layer you will need to use a food processor (or a high speed blender), adding the cashews first and using coconut milk as required to achieve a really smooth and creamy texture. Once that's done add the rest of the ingredients and mix well again. Your caramel layer is now finished, so take your pan out of the fridge and carefully pour the filling on top of the first base layer until you have a nice even 2nd layer. Before adding the 3rd and final layer you need to leave the pan in the freezer for about 4-6 hours to rest until it's hard when touching but NOT frozen.
- For the top layer first melt the coconut oil using a bain marie / dehydrator or oven below 50 °C (to keep it raw) and keep it at a warm temperature of between 24 - 30 °C (to keep it liquid) adding slowly agave syrup and cacao, then salt and vanilla while stirring constantly. Your final top layer mix is ready now. Check if your first 2 layers have achieved the right consistency in the freezer, remember that the layers should be cold and firm, but not frozen. Be careful and quick when adding the top layer mix onto the caramel layer, as it hardens off very fast. Then put the pan with the 3 layers in the fridge to rest for another 10 minutes before cutting and serving. The cling film draping over the edges should allow you to easily lift and get your mix out of the pan. I chose to cut my Caramel Bites in 25 little squares, but just do it how it pleases you. Enjoy!
- A little tip to cutting the dessert: place the cake upside down and start by cutting trough the bottom layer first, using a very sharp chef knife. Otherwise, when cutting through the chocolate layer first, it might break.
- Bare in mind that using fresh organic products is the best choice and it elevates your dishes to another level.
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