Help with Raw Chocolate Ganache from Raw Food Real World

[spiralgirl]

Hi,

My birthday is coming up and I want my sister to make me the Chocolate Ganache Torte from Raw Food Real Food. The crust calls for 1/2 cup of maple syrup powder in the recipe.

Any ideas for a substitute for this? I don't have a Vitamix or I thought of drying dates and crushing them up somehow. There is already almond meal in that portion of the recipe so trying to think of what I could try instead since it's a dry measurement.

Anyone have any ideas? :confused:

[subbacultcha]

Well the ideal thing would be to dehydrate maple syrup and pulverize it...tada, you have maple syrup powder. But not raw...

Maybe if you made thick date paste and dehydrated it, then pulverized it that would work.

[kristi7mark]

Maybe you could dry dates and then powder them in a coffee grinder?

My friend made this recipe and it was super awesome! She did use the maple syrup powder, she orders it from Frontier.

[eachpeachpearplum]

Yes I make this and use dehydrated cane sugar called Sucanat. Here is a site.

http://www.wholesomesweeteners.com/brands/wholesome/Wholesome_Sweeteners_Fair_Trade_Organic_Sucanat.ht ml

I have dried date sugaer but the brand I have is really not very sweet at all!

I also sub Agave for in place of the Maple.

Another item I use is the Omega Nutrition cocnut oil. Why this one? Because they produce TWO kinds. The Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and the Organic Coconut Oil. The difference is that the non-virgin oil has NO COCONUT TASTE!!! www.omeganutrition.com

I actually have one of these tortes in my freezer at the moment! The recipe makes a dark chocolate torte. However if you prefer a lighter flavour I recommend adding a handful of cashews to the crust and a 1/4 - 1/2c. of almond butter to the torte batter however you will need to bump up the coconut oil by 1/2c. so it holds it's shape!

Cheers,

EPPP

[earth_sista]

Yes I make this and use dehydrated cane sugar called Sucanat. Here is a site.

http://www.wholesomesweeteners.com/brands/wholesome/Wholesome_Sweeteners_Fair_Trade_Organic_Sucanat.ht ml

I have dried date sugaer but the brand I have is really not very sweet at all!

I also sub Agave for in place of the Maple.

Another item I use is the Omega Nutrition cocnut oil. Why this one? Because they produce TWO kinds. The Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil and the Organic Coconut Oil. The difference is that the non-virgin oil has NO COCONUT TASTE!!! www.omeganutrition.com

I actually have one of these tortes in my freezer at the moment! The recipe makes a dark chocolate torte. However if you prefer a lighter flavour I recommend adding a handful of cashews to the crust and a 1/4 - 1/2c. of almond butter to the torte batter however you will need to bump up the coconut oil by 1/2c. so it holds it's shape!

Cheers,

EPPP

is sucanat raw?

[spiralgirl]

Thanks for everyone's great ideas. I'm trying to dehydrate maple syrup as I've never done it before. I use maple syrup so that's fine. If that doesn't work I'll try the thick date paste dehydrated.

[eachpeachpearplum]

Thanks for everyone's great ideas. I'm trying to dehydrate maple syrup as I've never done it before. I use maple syrup so that's fine. If that doesn't work I'll try the thick date paste dehydrated.

Yes you do want a dry sweetner as the crust is actually crunchy and a liquid or soft sweetner will result in a soft crust - although still very tasty!

[eachpeachpearplum]

is sucanat raw?

Unfortuanatly not. I would consider it a trade with maple. I use it exclusivly in this one recipe as a DRY sweetner is key. Here are some details:

. . . .Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic Sucanat® , which stands for Sugar Cane Natural, is made by simply crushing the sugar cane, extracting the juice and heating it in a large vat. Once the juice is reduced to a rich, dark syrup, it is hand-paddled. Hand paddling cools and dries the syrup, creating the dry porous granules we call Sucanat. And that is it, nothing added and nothing taken out! A simple idea, really.

The Fair Trade label guarantees the consumer a fair price is paid directly to the farmer for the sugar cane they grow. This means they can compete with factory farms whilst protecting sustainable farming practices. It also means they can enjoy higher living standards and develop thriving communities.

Wholesome Sweeteners Fair Trade Organic SUCANAT is made from 100% certified organic sugar cane grown in Costa Rica. The SUCANAT is brown in color and has a distinct natural molasses flavor that enhances many foods. It can be substituted for sugar in any recipe and it is especially good in chocolate-based recipes, for baking and for BBQ sauces and marinades. It is an excellent source of iron, calcium, vitamin B6, potassium and chromium, which helps balance blood sugar.

It is available in convenient re-sealable stand-up pouches in one and two pound sizes. Our Organic SUCANAT is also available in French-Canadian bilingual packaging.

What is the difference between Sucanat and Evaporated Cane Juice?

Both type of sugar begin the same way ... within 24 hours of harvesting, cut sugar cane is crushed to extract the juice, water is added, the syrup is clarified and concentrated through heat and then dehydrated to make Sucanat or crystallized to produce Evaporated Cane Juice.

Sucanat (dehydrated cane juice) is produced from a pure cane sugar juice stream, which naturally contains about 13% molasses and 87% sugar. Through dehydration and aeration, as opposed to evaporation, a granular, dry, free-flowing form of this juice is produced which contains all this natural present molasses.

Evaporated Cane Juice is produced not by dehydration and granulation, but by evaporation and crystallization. The act of crystallization separates the majority of molasses. This is unavoidable as the creation of a sucrose crystal is a very pure entity which retains a little molasses inside, but mostly the molasses coats to the outside of the crystal giving natural color and flavor, but far less concentration than that found in Sucanat. The product is therefore much lighter in color and flavor and better for more sensitive applications where a molasses flavor is undesirable. As compared to the 13% of molasses present in Sucanat, Evaporated Cane Juice has a range of 0.2%-2% molasses.

Cheers,

EPPP

[spiralgirl]

eachpeachpearplum,

You said you also sub agave in place of the maple. Do you dehydrate the agave and put that in instead of the dry maple syrup powder?

[sweetpea76]

I've tried to dry agave before in hopes of making powdered sugar, but it never dried to more than a thick liquid for me....

However, if you have " Eating without Heating" the Boutenkos have a recipe for "powdered sugar" where they take 20 lbs ( I know a lot, but you can scale down) of jicama, slice very thin w/ a mandolin dehydrate and then pulvarize in a vitamix. They have a picture of the finished product in their book & it really looks like powdered sugar.

I tried this once, but I have a crappy dehydrator and it didn't dry the jicama well and I couldn't get it to grind, but if you have better equipment maybe.....

Just a thought :)

[tanishamarshall]

I didn't make the crust but the chocolate is to die for.... OMG it's like real chocolate.