Raw food and shameless sweets

I visited a raw food potluck last night here in Philadelphia. It was quite interesting and all the food was really good. I get the feeling that most raw food consists of some type of mush. I know it doesn't have to be that way, as I have encountered at some fine raw food restaurants, but I do feel there's a lack of textures. Not to offend any raw foodies out there, that's just my opinion, take it or leave it. I also won the door prize which was a DVD called "Living on live Food", once I watch it, I'll have to report on that. So, I thought I would try my luck at using my old fashioned dehydrator for the first time yesterday. I made raw stuffed mushrooms:

I even stuck little sprouts of oregano in each mushroom and finished the plate off with a ring of organic lemon wedges, YUM. They were pretty tasty. If you're interested, here's the recipe I used:

RAW Stuffed Mushrooms

20 baby portobello mushroom caps
1/2 white onion
2 cloves garlic
1 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup basil
1 TBS lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3 TBS olive oil
1 tomato (de-seeded, I used yellow)

Wipe mushrooms clean and de-stem, but save stems for later use. In your food processor, pulse the onion, garlic, pine nuts, basil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil until nice and mushy. Remove and put into a mixing bowl. Pulse the tomato a couple of times until it is cut into small pieces, be careful not to puree it. Add to mush and mix. Stuff mixture into each baby mushroom cap and dehydrate for 4-6 hours. That it!

When I got home I decided to engage in some experimental baking. I was in the mood for a chocolate cupcake with frosting that wouldn't be too sweet and wouldn't contain added fat. So here's what I came up with and they certainly satisfied my sweet tooth:


Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

For the cake:

1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 C sugar
1/2 TSP salt
1 TSP baking soda
1/4 TSP cayenne pepper
1/4 C cocoa
1 1/2 TSP vanilla
1/3 C unsweetened apple sauce
1 TBS white vinegar
1 C water

Preheat over to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, cayenne, and cocoa. In a separate bowl, mix the vanilla, apple sauce, vinegar and water. Add wet to dry and mix until smooth. Pour into muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes.

-for a moister texture, replace the apple sauce with canola oil

For the frosting:

3/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup agave nectar
2 TBS cocoa
2 TBS soy milk

In a food processor, start by grinding the cashews until fine and crumbly. Then drizzle in the agave nectar until the mixture forms a ball. Add the cocoa and soy milk and there you have it! A frosting that doesn't involve sugar and earth balance!