Maple Coffee Ice Cream Cake with Candied Pecans

[JoyceH]

Spring in Vermont means maple sugar season and lots of fresh maple syrup! Having purchased 2 gallons of grade A maple syrup from our neighbors down the road, I wanted to experiment with a maple dessert this past Saturday. I was aiming for a maple flavored cheesecake or a cake that tasted like local maple fudge. However, when we tried the cake on Saturday night, we discovered that it tasted more like a very sweet, yet mild tasting coffee ice cream. Remember eating coffee ice cream as a kid? So although my cake didn’t achieve the main goal in mind, I was left with a pleasant surprise! Here's the recipe:

Maple Coffee Ice Cream Cake with Candied Pecans

Use a 9 inch spring form pan

Candied Pecan Crust

* 2 1/2 cups of pecans
* 1/2 cup of dates, chopped and soaked for 20-30 minutes
* 1 1/2 tablespoons of maple syrup
* 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup extract (I use Frontier brand)
* 2 dashes of cinnamon
* 1 heaping tablespoon of coconut oil (not melted)

Process the pecans in the food processor until they have formed crumbs. Add the remaining ingredients and process until well incorporated. This should make a nice moist and sweet crust.

Lightly grease the spring form pan with coconut oil. Then press the crust into the pan. Place crust in freezer while making the filling.

I like to start melting the cacao butter used in the filling while I make the crust. Using the dehydrator works like a charm!

Filling

* 3 cups of soaked cashew pieces (a little more than 2 1/2 cups dry)
* 2 cups of homemade almond milk, lightly sweetened with maple syrup
* 1 cup of pure maple syrup
* 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
* 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
* 2 1/2 teaspoons of maple syrup extract
* 3 1/2 teaspoons of granulated maple sugar
* 3 tablespoons of organic soy lecithin
* 3/4 cup of melted cacao butter

Using a Vitamix, blend all the ingredients except the lecithin and melted cacao butter until smooth. Then add the lecithin and melted cacao butter and blend again until smooth. Pour on top of the crust and place in freezer for 6-7 hours. The batter is very thin and will need time to set up in the freezer. After 3+ hours, place the candied pecans on top of cake in a decorative manner. Once completely frozen, take the cake out of the freezer and remove the sides of the spring form pan. Place cake in the fridge

Candied pecans

* about 24 pecan pieces (pick out the best looking ones)
* 1/2 cup of maple syrup
* 2-3 teaspoons of granulated maple sugar
* couple dashes of cinnamon

In a small bowl, mix up everything except the pecans. Coat the pecans with the mixture and place on teleflex sheets. Dehydrate over night. In the morning, turn pecans over and dehydrate a few more hours. Use them to decorate the cake when it’s firm enough.

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I also made a maple cream recipe from Raw Food Real World. And finally I made Carmella's whipped cream recipe. Both were delicious! All details and more information has been posted on my blog tonight. My dessert photo album has also been updated and the photos are much bigger.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jholsten/RawVeganDessertsByJoyceHolsten#

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[Colorawdo girl]

woweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[raweater]

That looks good, but in case you didn't know maple syrup is cooked at very high temperatures for hours in order to boil off enough water content to concentrate it 40 times and is pretty much as bad as other refined sugars which are proven to be more dangerous than smoking. I would only make this recipe very rarely as it's far from healthy with that much cooked sugar in it.

[lavendarJ]

Wow Joyce, it's so pretty... What a treat for the eyes
(fasting right now and sometimes i just have to see what people are preparing to feast with my eyes):)

[spicyfull]

Thanks for Sharing and bringing Lavendar out.

[RawKnitster]

All I can say is WOW!!

[Moretta]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm looks devine.

[JoyceH]

That looks good, but in case you didn't know maple syrup is cooked at very high temperatures for hours in order to boil off enough water content to concentrate it 40 times and is pretty much as bad as other refined sugars which are proven to be more dangerous than smoking. I would only make this recipe very rarely as it's far from healthy with that much cooked sugar in it.

I do know that maple syrup is not raw, just like many ingredients used in raw desserts and gourmet entrees. I live a half mile up the road from a sugar house and buy my maple syrup from these neighbors. So I am well aware of the sugaring process.

I love maple syrup and find that it doesn't effect me in any negative ways when I use it in my desserts (or drink right out of the bottle..hehe ;)) . I personally find it nourishing and supposedly it does have B vitamins. I love how it's organic and comes directly from the maple trees that dot the road I run along. Nothing is added to the sap! I love how it's such an important Vermont tradition and I love to support this local sweetener and way of life in Vermont. (how's that for a carbon foot print. I do have a tiny, very expensive bottle of raw yacon syrup that probably traveled thousands of miles to make it to my kitchen in Vermont)

Now white sugar kills me! :rolleyes: Well, not really but it does make me super nauseous along with giving me digestive issues and pimples on my face. Even before going raw, I've always had to be very careful with white sugar. It treats me badly and I now have to avoid it almost completely which is just fine with me. Maple, agave, dates are all sugars too but they seem to treat me very kindly (thank goodness!)

I think we are all different and one size does not fit all. I eat foods and ingredients that make me feel good. If something doesn't work for me, than I avoid it. With soooooooo much conflicting and confusing information out there regarding food, I just go with how my body reacts to different foods and ingredients. If maple syrup doesn't work for someone, than I'd say avoid it. But we are all different, so see what works for you personally.

To everyone else - thanks for the kind words and encouragement :D

Cheers!

[JoyceH]

And for a little fun,

Matthew Kenney discusses 20 reasons to appreciate making maple syrup. I like the photos! :)

http://matthewkenneylifestyle.com/

[rawwannabie]

Wow! That looks delish! I have some maple syrup from my recent visit to a local sugar shack in Western Mass. Can't wait to try this recipe:)

Leah

[JoyceH]

Here's an article discussing the health benefits of maple syurp :)

http://www.articlebiz.com/article/330770-1-health-benefits-of-maple-tree-and-syrup/

[Veganforlife]

Holy MAMA! Shouldn't have EVEN opened this thread! YOWZERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[T-Bird]

I do know that maple syrup is not raw, just like many ingredients used in raw desserts and gourmet entrees. I live a half mile up the road from a sugar house and buy my maple syrup from these neighbors. So I am well aware of the sugaring process.


Anyway your neighbors would sell a keg or two of raw maple sap????

I might drive up to you lot from chicago to get a hold of that! lol!

I tried planting a maple tree in my yard - critters found the bark too tasty:mad:

[HolyGuacamole]

Wow!~~~~~~~

[janetc]

I do know that maple syrup is not raw, just like many ingredients used in raw desserts and gourmet entrees. I live a half mile up the road from a sugar house and buy my maple syrup from these neighbors. So I am well aware of the sugaring process.

I love maple syrup and find that it doesn't effect me in any negative ways when I use it in my desserts (or drink right out of the bottle..hehe ;)) . I personally find it nourishing and supposedly it does have B vitamins. I love how it's organic and comes directly from the maple trees that dot the road I run along. Nothing is added to the sap! I love how it's such an important Vermont tradition and I love to support this local sweetener and way of life in Vermont. (how's that for a carbon foot print. I do have a tiny, very expensive bottle of raw yacon syrup that probably traveled thousands of miles to make it to my kitchen in Vermont)

Now white sugar kills me! :rolleyes: Well, not really but it does make me super nauseous along with giving me digestive issues and pimples on my face. Even before going raw, I've always had to be very careful with white sugar. It treats me badly and I now have to avoid it almost completely which is just fine with me. Maple, agave, dates are all sugars too but they seem to treat me very kindly (thank goodness!)

I think we are all different and one size does not fit all. I eat foods and ingredients that make me feel good. If something doesn't work for me, than I avoid it. With soooooooo much conflicting and confusing information out there regarding food, I just go with how my body reacts to different foods and ingredients. If maple syrup doesn't work for someone, than I'd say avoid it. But we are all different, so see what works for you personally.

To everyone else - thanks for the kind words and encouragement :D

Cheers!

What she said! Vive la difference! (Texas French!)

[raweater]

I know there's lots of conflicting information on foods but you need to look at the source of the study, for example a study done on sugar made by the sugar industry will of course be biased and worthless. Likewise studies done by the health care system are always biased towards what makes people sick so they have as many sick people as possible to exploit. That's why the health care system says we need meat and dairy and that raw food is dangerous and should not be eaten.

The unbiased information on cooked sugars is clear though, all studies show it dramatically increases the occurence of cancer, diabetes, heart disease and other diseases. Just a few spoonfuls a day has been shown to double the occurence of cancer. Raw sugars like dates, honey and agave are far less damaging and satisfy your hunger so you eat less oif it, cooked sugars increase your hunger making you eat more and more. Also seeing how your body reacts isn't always a correct indicator, I can only assume cocaine and tylenol must make people feel great, that in no way means they are good for you. Also the diseases that sugar causes come after eating sugar for 5, 10 or 25 years, they do not happen over the short term. Cooked sugar is also made in a very similar way to cocaine and is even more addictive than cocaine, which is why I think a few people are so opposed that I tell the truth about cooked sugar because they are physically addicted to it and can't stop themselves. I also know we use other cooked things in raw recipes like nutritional yeast or soy sauce, but those do not cause fatal diseases like cooked sugar.

I got a message from one member saying she didn't like my warnings about cooked sugar but I get far more messages from people that appreciate my warnings. I know some people on this and/or other raw forums kept suffering from their diseases on a supposedly raw diet, when I asked what they were eating they were eating maple syrup and so called "raw" cane sugar (which is boiled at high temperatures despite being called "raw"), within days of stopping the maple syrup and cooked sugar their disease dissapeared, so this is important information and there are raw alternatives to cooked sugar so I see no reason to put this deadly poison in a raw recipe, it completely defeats the purpose.

[JoyceH]

raweater, if you'd like to debate maple syrup, please start a new thread or send me a private message. If you don't like maple syrup or using it that's fine as I know it's now truly raw,(not sure why you checked out my recipe since it had maple in the heading). I see you used honey in one of your recipes you posted. I have a lot to say about raw honey and don't personally find it healthy. It has a very high glycemic index and treats my body the exact same way as white sugar. If someone uses honey in a recipe, that's fine. I just substitute with another sweetener and refrain from lecturing anyone on their choices.

If I see an ingredient on someone's recipe I don't like, I'm not going to state how unhealthy their creation is and that you shouldn't eat it often. I spent a lot of time making this cake and a lot of time posting and sharing it with everyone.

This is all I'm going to say on my post regarding this matter. If you wish to continue this dialogue, please send me a private message. I'm very disappointed I'm having to defend maple syrup on my recipe thread where I worked so hard so share with everyone.

ps - I use pure maple syrup all the time and I would consider myself to be in perfect health. And I love seeing old Vermonters in their 80s and 90s who make this pure maple syrup who also seem so hardy and in good health. I don't bother with studies anymore. I just go by what I see, witness and experience and how things make me feel. Again one size doesn't fit all. And I certainly wouldn't call pure Vermont Maple syrup a 'deadly poison'. That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while. So go ahead PM me if you desire.

[Myca]

I got a rush of Joy just looking at that photo.
Thank you for improving my day!!

[janetc]

I think it all comes down to how you feel - maybe it doesn't work out for raweater but it works perfectly well for someone else.

I'd hate to think we were all "Stepford" raw fooders. I embrace differences in every aspect of life. How boring it would be to have the same attitudes about everything. How smug that would make us, eh?

I love maple syrup too! I've never had raw honey, but I hear bees get hurt in the process so I'm not much into inflicting pain on animals... I really ought to start experimenting with sweeteners.

I personally don't eat sweets for the health of it. I know exactly why I eat them. But that's me...