As a request from a friend that I’d once made this as a birthday cake for... this recipe has been a Caroline ‘special’ since my days living in New Zealand...

This started out as a tray bake that I would cut into slices and take to my lululemon team for some mid shift energy... turned into a cake I’d sell out of on the Saturday Thornton Market and has now evolved into some what of a celebration cake I make for times when I know it’s going to be utterly enjoyed!

The beauty of this recipe is that it:
A) Tastes absolutely delicious.
B) Can be cut up, frozen and eaten in beautifully ice cream like desserts.
C) Keeps for up to a week in the fridge!

Ingredients

Base Layer

• 200g dried medjool dates (pitted, soaked and chopped)
• 200g mixed nuts
• 100ml coconut oil (melted)
• 2 heaped tbsp cacao powder

Caramel Layer

• 100g cashews (soaked for 1 hour in water)
• 250g nut butter - this one is best as peanut!
• 1 tsp liquid balance
• 100g medjool dates (chopped, pitted and soaked in warm water)
• 100ml coconut oil (melted)
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 4 pinches of pink himalayan salt
• A few drops of any dairy free milk if needed

Top Layer

• 100ml coconut oil (melted)
• 100g dark chocolate. We love Lindt excellence 70% cocoa chocolate bar (melted)
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• Handful of hazelnuts (mix of whole and chopped)

Decoration (optional)

• 3 tbsp peanut butter (to drizzle)

Method

Base Layer

Blitz all the base layer ingredients together in a powerful food processor until they resemble breadcrumb texture. Press into the bottom of a 20cm springform cake tin and place in the freezer.

Caramel Layer

Wash and dry the bowl of the food processor. Then add cooled melted coconut oil, soaked cashews and the rest of the caramel layer ingredients to the food processor and blitz. Spoon the mixture onto the base layer and return to the freezer.

Top Layer

Melt the coconut oil and maple syrup in a pan on a low heat and stir in the cacao powder or if using a bar of chocolate just melt until it's dissolved to create a rich chocolate sauce. Sprinkle chopped and whole hazelnuts onto the cake and pour the chocolate over them. The cake should set quite quickly as it will be still be cold from being in the freezer.

I like to decorate mine by drizzling melted nut butter on top. Store in the freezer and move to the fridge for 1-2 hours allowing the cake to soften before serving.