Recipe: Durian Chocolate Mousse Cake, Raw Vegan Style

picture coutesy of Sunny Raw Kitchen

Edit: This recipe was brought to my attention again when I received an email from Joz, a friend of Carmella’s who helped create this masterpiece and who lives in my hometown in Oregon. She saw an article about us in our local paper, The Mail Tribune, and sent me a link to the recipe. I’d already posted it in our durian recipe index, but was thrilled to hear from her! In light of this chance cyber meeting, I thought it was worth re-posting this recipe. It is really, really good.  The combination of durian and chocolate is a great way to sabotage any ascetic New Year’s Resolution without feeling any real guilt. Durian is, after all, a fruit.

Carmella of the Sunny Raw Kitchen really has a way with raw cakes. When I first starting experimenting with the raw food diet, one of the most difficult parts was recreating familiar textures and shapes in my food. I wanted to eat things that looked similar and felt similar in the mouth to foods that I was accustomed to eating. For the first year of my transition, I depended on the Sunny Raw Kitchen for recipes and ideas.

At that point in my life, I’d never tasted durian. This cake was a completely new taste experience! It turns out that chocolate and durian go really well together. The chocolate mousse part of this cake is particularly divine – avocados make the perfect base for a deeply rich, smooth dessert.

picture from the Sunny Raw Kitchen

Ingredients:
Recipe courtesy of The Sunny Raw Kitchen

Chocolate Brownie Layer

• 1 1/2 cups walnuts
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons raw cacao or carob powder
• 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons soft dates
• Pinch sea salt (optional)

Durian Cheesecake Layer

• 2 cups durian flesh
• 1 1/2 cups cashews, finely ground
• 1/2 cup raw honey or agave nectar
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• Pinch sea salt
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbs melted coconut oil
• 1 1/2 tbs lecithin powder

Chocolate Mousse

• 2 medium or 3 small ripe avocados
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup cacao powder
• 1 tbs carob powder
• 1/4 cup raw honey or agave nectar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla paste or 2 tsp vanilla extract
• Pinch sea salt
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbs melted  coconut oil
• 1 tbs  lecithin powder