Raw Chocolate, banana, walnut and coconut make such a sweet melody of flavours. Do not be afraid of the amount of salt, it really is key to the recipe. As with a lot of raw recipes it takes a little planning but then it is quite simple to bring it all together. You need to soak the cashews and apricots over night so that they will blend easily. I was lazy almost every evening so I actually did this over three days!

I really want to start mastering the art of stevia use. When I first got into vegan baking stevia was not available in Ireland, due to a very weird ban! I actually bought it Berlin on a college trip! It was a disaster, I used far too much. I learnt my lesson so feel safe to trust the amounts I have used here.

You will need a blender- hand-held will do. A loaf tin, I used silicon, if using an actual tin one make sure to line it with paper so it is easy to take out.

No Bake Salted Chocolate Banana Loaf

Fudgey Apricot Almond Layer

• Seven Un-sulphered Apricots soaked over night (use to less for a dryer texture)
• Zest of a unwaxed orange
• Two dessert spoons of tahini raw if preferred
• Half a dessertspoonful of organic coconut oil
• Four or five drops of a liquid stevia
• One and a third cups of organic ground almonds, grind yourself for a raw version
• One and a half dessert spoons of raw cacao powder
• An eight of a teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt or sea salt

Method:  You will need to get the blender out at this point. I have an immersion hand-held blender and it does okay but if you have a jug better it will come together even better.

Smush your tahini, coconut oil, stevia and orange zest together. Chop your soaked apricots and add to the tahini mix. Now blend them a bit. In another bowl put your dry ingredients together i.e. ground almonds, salt and cacao. Add half to your wet mix and blend again. Add the other half. It is a bit dry for my blender at this point so I mix the second half through. Now press into your lined or silicon loaf tin and pop into the fridge.

Banana Cashew Coconut Layer

• Half a cup of chopped cashews soaked over night. (make sure they are covered by the water as they will swell )
• Two ripe bananas very well mashed
• Two drops of stevia
• One dessertspoonful of pure maple syrup
• A teaspoon of vanilla powder/ two pods/ tsp of vanilla bean paste*
• A third of a cup of desiccated coconut, roughly ground raw flakes for a raw version
• Keep a rounded dessertspoonful of the coconut back for sprinkling

Method: Mash mash mash your bananas, add the vanilla, stevia, maple syrup  and mash again! Now add the cashews. Using your blender and blend! Spread this on top of the fudgey layer. Cover and pop back into the fridge.

Toasted Walnuts and Raw Chocolate Salted Layer

• Eighteen walnuts chopped (allowing two for tasting to see if toasted)
• A quarter teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt or good sea salt
• ————————————————————–
• A third of a cup of cacao paste chopped
• Just under a third of a cup of cacao butter chopped
• One and a half spoons of organic coconut oil
• Five dessert spoons of rice syrup
• Two dessert spoons of maple syrup
• Half a teaspoon of vanilla powder/ one pod/ paste
• An eight of a teaspoon of Himalayan pink salt of good sea salt

Method: You will need two saucepans. Pick one to put hot water so you can melt your chocolate over it in a perspex bowl. Put it on a medium heat so the water simmer. Insure the water is not touching the bottom of the bowl or it will be too hot. Put your cacao paste, butter and coconut oil into melt.

When your cacao-y mix is melted add the syrups and mix through. Add in the vanilla and salt next. Take off the heat. Leaving it off the heat for a bit before warming it up again helps the cacao butter crystals align and makes for a better chocolate. They say ten minutes but it was more like six or seven when I did it this time.

Meanwhile put another saucepan on a medium high heat and start toasting your walnuts with the salt. They are done when they change colour a little, they inside become a little more yellow. Be careful not to overdo them, hence the tasting!

I picked my salty walnuts out and sprinkled them over the banana layer. I wanted some of the salt but not all, which is why I didn’t just pour them over it.

Put your chocolate back on the hit and give it a stir. It will become lovely and shiny after a minute or two. Using an oven glove or towel grab your bowl and pour the chocolate over the walnut layer.

 

Leave for a few seconds. Bang it flat on the table/ counter once or twice to leave air bubbles out. Now put in the fridge to set. I left mine for an hour and a half, but I imagine it would be ready after an hour. I think that after twenty minutes it would be worth taking it out and scoring the top where you plan to cut slices. I will do this next time to make it easier to cut.

It is fudgey, gooey, crunchy ,sweet and salty taste experience. I had mine with Irish salt caramel vegan ice- cream. Sooo good. It is super filling with all the almonds and walnuts so a little goes a long way!

I recommend storing it in the fridge so the banana gooey layer does not melt, though it is cold enough here enough that it would be fine! e.g. see below…

O and this…

Anyhooooow let me know if you try it out! Xs Aissa