We are moving in a few weeks so I have taken it upon myself to use up as many ingredients from my pantry , fridge or freezer as I can. I had quite a lot of mandarin cardamom granola left over (you can find the recipe for it here https://talidavoinea.au/mandarin-cardamon-muesli/ ) so I decided to use it up in some raw cakes. I’d done this before with my orange granola so I mostly stuck to the same type of recipe but tried to add some more mandarin vibes. I used these giant Sumo Mandarins as they are quite flavourful and give off a fair amount of juice. Overall the cakes have quite a mild taste and are perfectly creamy and indulgent. I added some chocolate sauce on top for extra chocolate as the filling is very mild. You guys know that this time of year I’m always trying to figure out creative ways to use up mandarins and I think this recipe does it really well!
I know it’s not one of my easier recipes since I’m asking you to make granola in order to make these cakes but you can use any granola you have on hand and just mix in some baked mandarin peel cut up into little strips to your granola and it gives off a very strong citrus flavour . It should work for any granola provided the flavours don’t clash . The recipe is vegan, gluten free (if you use gluten free granola) and refined sugar free. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
| Mostly Raw Chocolate Mandarin Cakes | Print |
- BASE:
- 1 cup pre-made mandarin flavoured granola*
- ¼ cup pitted dates
- 1 TBSP coconut oil
- ¼ cup shredded coconut
- FILLING:
- 2 cups raw cashews ( soaked for 3-4 hours or overnight)
- 4 TBSP maple syrup
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup melted cacao butter
- ¼ cup cacao powder
- ¼ cup mandarin juice
- CHOCOLATE SAUCE:
- 2 TBSP cacao powder
- 2 TBSP melted coconut oil
- 2 TBSP maple syrup
- 1 TBSP almond butter
- drop of vanilla extract
- For the base: process ingredients in food processor until sticky and crumbly. If too wet, add more shredded coconut.
- Press into the base of lightly greased large muffin tins. Or use baking paper to help remove cakes later
- For the filling: melt down your cacao butter over low heat and set aside
- Place the cashews, maple syrup, vanilla, cacao powder and mandarin juice and in a high speed blender and blend until as smooth as possible
- Slowly add in your melted cacao butter and blend again until smooth and creamy
- Pour the filling over the based and smooth out the top with a spoon. I like to tap or shake the tin gently to get a perfectly smooth surface.
- Set in the freezer for 2- 4 hours or overnight.
- For the chocolate sauce simply mix together in a small bowl until smooth and pour over cakes before serving.
- Allow to thaw slightly before serving. Garnish with chocolate sauce, mandarin pieces and raspberries
- *any oat based granola will work, to add mandarin flavour simply add some grated or sliced mandarin peel and bake for 20 mins. See my description for link to the granola recipe I used.
