FUNctional Food

Check out this cake!

I've been thinking for a while about what I'd like to call the Fun Principle. So often this whole raw-health-nutrition scene gets so serious. And yeah, on one level it IS incredibly serious. We've talking about our health here, and as the old saying goes, what have we got if we haven't got our health? So eating the optimal diet is most definitely a worthy goal that ought to be among our highest priorities.

But at the same time, we have to lighten up. I don't necessarily mean by compromising and eating less healthy foods, though there are times when that might be a worthy decision if it supports your social life and lessens stress - but that's not what I'm talking about right now. What I'm talking about is looking at food from the pleasure angle. The Yum Factor. The joyful, blissful, pure enjoyment of really amazing food that makes us feel great and buzz with happiness. The kind of food that makes us want to shout because it tastes so good and is so freakin' full of nutrition you can feel your cells dancing. This is happy food! And it ought to be celebrated.

Hence the celebratory cake above. This is Hi-Cake: full of raw cacao, lucuma and nuts, and topped with a rich raw chocolaty icing made of avocado! I made this cake in honor of my brother, Alex, traveling almost as far as one can possibly go around this little earth of ours to visit me in Australia. After spending 30 hours in transit, doesn't he deserve a joyful cake? I thought so. And what is more joyful than chocolate cake - what, that is, other than raw chocolate cake full of bliss chemicals and heaps of vitamins and minerals.

The recipe comes from one of my heroes: Kate Magic Wood. Her middle name is Magic! How cool is that? Kate is a super raw foods educator, writer and entrepreneur who lives in the UK and operates the funky website Raw Living. But it's not just her passion for raw and superfoods that I dig about Kate. It's her holistic view of things. The way she really gets that the whole point behind this whole nutrition thing is to allow people to fully realize themselves and reach their highest potential, and to provide a basis for the flowering of humanity - the real revolution. And her website is pink and purple - I dig that too. Her superfood recipes are so innovative and have such a sense of FUN flowing right off the page. If only I were in the UK to try some of her food. For now I will have to settle for deriving creative inspiration - like this amazing cake. I added the goji berry spirals because they just seemed to be in the spirit of Kate! I also subbed cashews for brazil nuts and used honey instead of agave - about half as much as called for. Divine.

Look, nutrition is a serious matter. But at the same time it's a laughing matter! Because joy is the true path to vibrant physical, mental and emotional health. So here's to utmost nutrition, unspeakable pleasure, and true creativity, which ultimately are all one and the same. Talk about having our cake and eating it too!

Hi-Cake

by Kate Wood

(published at Raw Living)

Time needed: 30 mins, 3 hours setting time
Equipment needed: blender
Makes 8 large slices

By popular demand, here is a raw chocolate cake recipe for you, so you can see what all the fuss is about. These cakes are so nutrient-dense, one slice is a meal in itself, packed with vitamins, minerals, proteins and healthy fats. Easy to make, and even easier to eat! Remember the Hi-bar? The first raw chocolate bar to be sold in the UK (and beyond!), made with cacao nibs and brazil nuts, this is the Hi-bar in a Cake.

Cake:

• 250 g cacao nibs
• 250 g brazil nuts
• 250 g lucuma
• 6 tbsp agave nectar
• 150 ml water

Icing:

• 2 avocadoes
• 30 g raw chocolate powder
• 2 tbsp agave nectar
• 60 ml water

Decoration:

• 2 tbsp goji berries
• 2 tbsp dried cranberries

Grind up the nibs and nuts separately in a high power blender or coffee grinder. Transfer to a mixing bowl with the lucuma and agave. With your hands, mix the all the ingredients so you have an even powder. Add the water gradually, kneading the mixture into a ball with your hands. It should end up as a fairly thick dough-like consistency. Press into a springform cake tin, and leave in the fridge to set for a few hours.

To make the icing, put the avocado flesh in the blender along with the chocolate powder, agave and water. If you haven't got chocolate powder, you can substitute carob or mesquite. Blend until you have a thick cream. Once your cake is set, you can remove it from the cake tin, and spoon the icing evenly over the top and the sides. Decorate with dried goji berries and cranberries sprinkled over the top. Uneaten cake can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two weeks