It’s been five days since my toddler has taken a nap which means I am completely behind any online work that I had to do including writing up my blog posts. As a consequence, the description to this post is going to be really short kiss because I have no time and I’m trying to fit this in somehow while he’s awake.
This has been one of my most favourite dessert I’ve made lately. It’s got a very distinctly different taste and it reminds me of a traditional Italian dessert from a cafe while on an Italian holiday. I personally tried to avoid caffeine as much as possible so I have used decaf instant coffee granules in this recipe. Decaf coffee has the tendency to be a little processed but lately, they’re a great technique for decaffeinated coffee that isn’t loaded with chemicals. Personally this time I wasn’t able to find a great quality decaf so I just use what I could find and I could totally tell the difference. Of course, if you are okay with having normal coffee just use your favourite and it will work fine. I also love using decaf because I can give it to my toddler without having to worry.
The other thing I wanted to mention is that lately, I’ve been using skinless and lightly roasted hazelnuts for my recipes. I get them in bulk like that from Costco when I visit Melbourne and they make such an amazing difference for deserts. The hazelnut flavor come through so much more and they last a lot longer without getting rancid. If you can I highly recommend finding hazelnuts that are pre-roasted. If not it might be worth the effort of roasting them for 10 minutes or so in the oven to bring the flavour out more. It really makes all the difference. Hazelnuts are very dry compared to most other nuts so it can take quite a while in the food processor to get the bass nice and sticky. The bass does turn out a little crumbly but it should pack together nicely and hold it’s shape. If not just add some more water or a little coconut oil.
As usual, it’s desert is refined sugar-free dairy-free and gluten-free. This one is so so good that I was unwilling to share it with friends. I just kept it in my freezer and pulled out a slice for an after dinner treat. Hope you enjoy the recipe!
| Vegan Hazelnut Mocha Slice - Refined Sugar Free | Print |
- BASE:
- 1½ cup lightly roasted hazelnuts
- 1 cup pitted dates
- 1 TBSP maple syrup
- 2 TBSP cacao powder
- FILLING:
- 2 cups cashews ( soaked for 3-4 hours or overnight)
- ½ cup cacao butter
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 TBSP organic decaf instant coffee granules
- ¼ cup almond or hazelnut milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- extra cacao powder for dusting
- For the base: add hazelnuts to a food processor and process until well broken down. All remaining base ingredients and process again until sticky.
- Press down the base evenly to the bottom of a lined square baking tin and set aside
- For the filling: meltdown cacao butter over low heat until liquid.
- Add all the filling ingredients to a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. I generally add the cacao butter last so that it doesn't solidify.
- Pour filling evenly over the base and smooth with a spatula.
- Place in freezer to set for 3-4 hours
- Allow to thaw slightly and cut into slices, dust with extra cacao powder and decorate with hazelnuts or coffee beans if desired.
