Multigrain Pear Ginger Cakes with Macadamia Whipped Cream

Today, we have a hearty recipe for you. We've been enjoying these cakes all throughout the winter. They work equally well as dessert, breakfast, or sometimes even a whole meal. The warm, satisfying flavours have kept us feeling cozy throughout the winter and we continue coming back to these cakes all the way into spring.

Oh spring, we are so excited to welcome it. I know that it hasn't exactly stepped in yet up North, but it's coming! Here in Florida it's warm, very much so. We've been frequenting the beach, and although the water is still a bit too chilly for my liking, Paloma runs right in. A brave soul.

Back to the food, my husband fell in love with the cakes and always asks about a new batch while still in the process of finishing a current one. In fact, the whole family loves these round treats, everyone except Paloma. I'm beginning to think that it's the ginger that bothers her, although she likes all other spices. I'm sure one day she'll come around.

Lately, we've been getting lots of questions regarding substitutes for sprouted oat flour. We use it in many recipes and it tastes heavenly, but the allergy to oats is a concern to many. I've been trying to come up with a tasty alternative and finally decided to try sprouted quinoa, the star of vegan and gluten free culinary worlds.

The dough with quinoa and buckwheat did taste a little stronger, a bit more sprouted. But when the flavours of fresh ginger, agave soaked pears, vanilla, and lemon combine and integrate into the crust, the result is just lovely.

And if you want to add a touch of decadence, top the cakes with a perfectly smooth and indulgent macadamia whipped cream and enjoy.

Pear Ginger Cakes

Multigrain Crust
1 cup each sprouted quinoa, buckwheat, and oat flours
2/3 cup maple syrup powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup cocoa butter - gently melted on a double boiler
1/2 cup date paste
2-3 tablespoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
less than 1/4 cup purified water

We used the same technique to make the quinoa and buckwheat flours as we did for our oat flour here.
In a large bowl, sift together the flours, maple syrup powder, and nutmeg. Add the cocoa butter and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients. Add the liquid to the flour mixture and combine well.

Place the dough on a Teflex sheet, cover with parchment paper, and using a rolling pin, roll evenly to about 1/4" thickness. Cut out round-shaped cakes about 4 1/2" in diameter, reform the remaining dough and cut out again until all is used. Dehydrate for 2-3 hours at 115F. Flip and continue to dehydrate on the mesh screen only for another 6 to 8 hours.

Sweet Pear Topping
3-4 Red Bartlet or any other type of pears - thinly sliced
raw agave syrup or other preferred sweetener - enough to cover the pear slices
seeds of 1 vanilla been
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
juice of 1/2 lemon, OR to taste

Combine your sweetener with the seeds of vanilla been, ginger and lemon juice. Pour over pear slices and let soak for an hour.

Assembly
Spread any raw preserve or fruit puree on the cakes. We used our prune-apricot puree. Arrange the pear slices in a spiral on top. Dehydrate for 8 hours or overnight. The cakes hold very well when refrigerated in an air tight container.

Macadamia Whipped Cream

(optional and adapted from The Raw 50)

1 cup macadamia nuts - soaked for 8-10 hours and dehydrated at 115F for 12 hours
1/2 cup water of fresh young Thai coconut
5 pitted dates - soaked for 2 hours and drained
1 tablespoon coconut butter

Blend all the ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth. Chill in the refrigerator for at least an hour before serving.

Juicing

We don't usually write much about the health benefits and vitamin contents of the food on this blog. By now, everyone is tired of hearing about whole, fresh food in comparison to anything processed. These things have been said countless times before, and I have to admit that I was hesitant to write this post, which involves tales of health, interwoven with those of food. Golubka is, after all, a place for sharing tasty recipes and pretty photographs. It is about inspiration in the kitchen and an optimistic approach to food. It is most definitely not for preaching about health, as everyone has a different tactic, their own ways that work personally for them. However, I decided that the outcome of this story is promising, full of hope, and something I would love to share.

Up until recently, we have been confident that one's lifestyle is an absolute indicator of their health. A couple of months ago, though, we discovered that there are situations, in which a diet of vibrant food and a healthy dose of weekly exercise may not be enough to sustain health. I'm talking about a genetic deficiency, which recently turned up in my husband's family and affected its every member.

Alpha 1 Antitrypsin deficiency. Never heard of it? Neither did we, it is extremely rare and not much is known about it. Basically, this deficiency means that one's body cannot produce a certain protein, which leaves some organs unprotected. Especially the lungs.

After getting tested, my husband found out that his lung capacity had gone down significantly. We were faced with the choice between putting him on serious medication or taking a chance and trying to further optimize his health without the "help" of inhalers and injections.

Because the inherited disorder is largely unexplored, the treatment is limited and was never proven to be effective or safe. There are many people who, based on their condition, don't have a choice and have to follow doctor's orders. In our case though, I believed that we still had an option, as my husband never had any symptoms.

As it often happens when it comes to medical issues, we went in opposite directions. He started the prescribed treatment, while I read up on the disorder, and researched ways to improve his lung capacity and overall immunity.

But it wasn't my persuasive ability that made my husband stop the treatment after a couple of weeks. In the period of time between learning about his deficiency and finally quitting the medication, he went from being a young, healthy, sport-oriented, and happy man to a groggy insomniac with constant headaches, a foggy mind, and permanent bags under his eyes. Turns out that his doctor forgot to mention one of the most common side effects of the medication - sleep disruption. Instead, he prescribed more medication - sleeping pills - which never worked, but completed the poor guy's misery. After hitting rock bottom, my exhausted husband stopped taking all medication and went with a different program.

How true it is that negative events can provide a proper push towards something positive and new. Through my research, I learned about Alexandra Strelnikova's amazing breathing exercises, which we now practice on a daily basis. They do great things for our energy level, and keep my husband's lungs in shape. We renewed our daily yoga routine, which we usually do after putting Paloma to sleep. We found an amazing, open minded doctor, who utilizes many traditional and modern wellness techniques along with more conventional medicine.

As for our diet, the most important thing we've done is put our juicer back to work. I'm not sure why I've neglected it for so long, as having a glass of fresh juice every morning is the best possible way to start a day. We've definitely felt an improvement in the way we feel and look after starting to juice daily. Not to mention all the fun I've had with creating new veggie to fruit formulas. My favourite is an emerald-coloured juice with all kinds of leafy greens, cucumbers, apples, citrus and ginger. It's got a nice bite and wakes us right up. We also love the combination of beat and pineapple or tangerine juice, and, of course, the classic carrot, apple, and ginger. We continue drinking green smoothies, Paloma's favourite, along with more indulgent ones like Bunny Spice and Nick's #7.

I've been working on keeping our diet delicious and exciting, even though we've been trying to eat less and healthier than ever. Lately, we can't get enough of green mix salads with local fruit, hemp seeds, and a drizzle of truffle oil.

I've started buying whole cases of young Thai coconuts. After a long work day, opening a bunch of them takes away some stress and frustration. The coconut water often replaces lunch, while the meat goes into all kinds of tasty dishes.

Two months of the Life Force machine (one of the wonders in our new doctor's office), extensive breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, homeopathic remedies, juices, fasting, and a serene ski vacation in Utah - and I have my husband back. Finally, we beat it. He is sleeping again and coming back to his true self.

Every day, we work very hard on increasing his lung capacity without the dreaded steroids. The true test will take place in April. That is when his appointment with his pulmonologist is scheduled. We are full of hope.

For now, here is our favourite green juice. I don't measure the ingredients precisely, and it will still be very good with small deviations in proportion. Please share any of your favourite juice or smoothie combinations, we look forward to hearing from you.

Emerald Juice

1 very large bunch of celery
1 large bunch of cilantro or parsley or both
4-5 small to medium apples
2-3 grapefruits
1-2 handfuls of any green leafy vegetables
1-2 cucumbers
a piece of fresh ginger root - to taste

Juice, pour into an airtight jar or bottle, and keep refrigerated. Enjoy throughout the day.

Sun Dried Tomato, Basil, and Olive Tart

Before falling in love with raw food, I went through a vegetarian phase, which lasted for several years. My kitchen shelves are still stocked with lots of inspiring cookbooks from that time. One of my favourites was New Vegetarian Food by Christine McFadden. It had a number of smart, tasty recipes that I kept coming back to, and this tart is a tribute to one of them. A sun dried tomato, basil and olive tart.

Let me just say that the recipes for both the original and raw variety of this tart are very close to my heart.

The former reminds me of the time when I just became interested in whole foods. It brings me back to those first few exciting years in the kitchen, when I discovered that nourishing food is also versatile and delicious.

The latter is a source of personal culinary achievement. I love it when a recipe that I've been daydreaming about comes together just the way I imagined. This raw tart tastes almost exactly like the original, or maybe even a bit better.

Of course, the original recipe calls for ricotta and parmesan cheeses, eggs and butter. After some brainstorming and careful estimations, I came up with this little tribute, and we loved it on the first try. It's wonderfully creamy, with a subtly spiced crust, and bits of basil, sun-dried tomatoes and black Cerignola olives spread all throughout.

Luckily, it's the season of fragrant, local & organic tomatoes here in Florida - just in time to garnish and bring some sweetness to the plate.

I made several tarts of different sizes, as I usually do with any kinds of tarts, pies, or quiches. There were individual, baby ones for Paloma and for bringing to lunch at work, and bigger ones for the whole family. I also discovered that the tart holds very well in the refrigerator for several days, unlike many other raw dishes. In fact, it becomes even better after it sits and all the flavours become integrated.

I enjoyed this recipe so much, that I decided to make it for a catering project for my friend's birthday. I served our orange-cinammon crepes, falafel, and this tart. Feeding people is one of my favourite things in the whole world, and I waited anxiously for their reaction. It was exciting to hear that everything was received with plenty of "mmmm - ing."

Paloma and her papa like to eat dinner on the beach, after their evening walk. My husband has mentioned that this dish tastes even better outside.

At home, though, as I witnessed, Paloma was crazy mostly about the crust. I watched her carefully bite around the whole diameter to get the crunchy bits. She's a funny one.

Sun Dried Tomato, Basil and Olive Tart

(Makes approximately two circular 9" tarts and three 4" tarts)

Crust

2 1/2 cups almonds - soaked overnight

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 cup ground golden flax seeds

1 teaspoon sea salt

2-3 tablespoons purified water

5 tablespoons za'atar spice

Mix all the crust ingredients in a food processor until smooth, adding more water if needed. Press the dough into your tart shells, preferably with removable bottoms. Distribute the dough evenly against the sides and bottom of the shell. Place the tart shell(s) in the dehydrator for 4-5 hours. Gently remove the shell from the mold, and put it back onto a screen-lined dehydrator tray. Dehydrate for another 8-10 hours until completely dry and crispy.

Filling
2 cups meat of fresh young Thai coconut

1 cup water of fresh young Thai coconut
3/4 cup coconut oil - gently warmed in warm water or the dehydrator to soften
1/4 cup Irish moss - washed thoroughly and soaked in hot water for at least 10 minutes
1 cup each raw macadamia and raw cashew nuts - soaked for 2-4 hours
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1-2 teaspoons salt
about 6 tablespoons purified water
1 cup of chopped olives of your favourite kind (may I suggest Cerignola olives that come with pits and taste velvety)
1 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes (this time I made an exception and used tomatoes preserved in olive oil instead of the dry variety)
1 packed cup fresh basil leaves - or more to taste
fresh red and yellow tomatoes for garnishing - optional

In a high speed blender, combine the coconut meat, water and oil with the Irish moss until very smooth.
In a food processor, mix together the nuts, lemon juice, yeast, salt and water until well combined and fluffy like ricotta cheese. Add the basil leaves and pulse briefly.
In a large mixing bowl, gently fold the coconut mixture into the nut "ricotta", followed by the chopped sun-dried tomatoes and olives.

Pour the filling into the crusts. Dehydrate at 115F for 6 hours, then refrigerate overnight.

Optionally, slice fresh tomatoes thinly and dehydrate on Teflex-lined dehydrator trays just to dry the surface. Garnish the tarts, placing the tomatoes dry side down for the last 1-2 hours of tart dehydration.