A long time ago, I used to be the kind of person that would make zines on a Thursday night (instead of drink Negronis and watch Adventure Time and look for ways to make cheap cuts of meat resplendent, herbal, and delectable… ah aging). I made zines about myself, mostly, with all the semi-decent poetry, navel gazing and room-wide collage operations THAT involved, and I would direct you to the place to buy them but I cancelled my Etsy account. C’est la vie, n’est pas?
Hee hee french. Anyway… my most popular creation, and for good reason, was the 100% angst free collectione of absolutely original vegan recipes I managed to get myself to write down over the years – Snickety Snack, in dancing monocolour. It comes with a picture of a cat-girl playing a harp, and a curried apricot & almond dressing, and some lavender brownies and my sister’s Guaranteed-T0-Make-You-Fail-A-Drug-Test poppyseed loaded quinoa salad of magical proportions.
Also, my favourite original recipe ever: my raw rosewater cheesecake.
ta da
I even work at a raw food kitchen right now and I haven’t seen any dessert to rival this. It’s not too expensive to make if you have a good source for nuts and coconut oil. And it’s freaking, flying pink. You owe it to yourself to try and make it for some most special occasion, for a special person if possible. I’m including the recipe here in this post, but before that I’m going to divulge the reason for this post in the first place:
I have quit the Etsy business and have no interest in incremental zine sales, as marginally lucrative as that is. And so, with fond adieu, I am GIVING AWAY the last 7 copies of my zine to the first 7 commenters on this post. Just send your mailing address to elzranger@gmail.com and I’ll hook you up with the goodstuff. I might even be inspired to make a new, fully omnivorous cookzine of my favourite dessert creations. You heard it here first, lovely peeps.
Right, recipes ho….
Raw Rosewater Cheesecake with Chocolate Orange Pistachio Crust
For the Cream:
- 2 cups raw cashews, soaked for a few hours in water
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup agave nectar
- 6 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 rose essence
- 1/8 tsp salt
- generous pinch of ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp fresh beet juice (for what-making the pink-for)
For the Crust:
- 1/2 cup raw shelled pistachios
- 1/2 cup raw almonds
- 1/4 cup pitted dates
- 3 tbsp raw cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 3 tbsp orange juice
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the Topping:
- roses/rose petals
- fresh cut figs
- chopped pistachio nuts
PUTTING IT TOGETHER
1. Grind up the pistachios and almonds in a food processor until they resemble coarse crumbs, then transfer that to a bowl
2. Process the dates until they form a smooth paste, then add that to the nut mixture with the rest of the crust ingredients and knead until it forms a malleable dough. Press that into a springform cheesecake pan or pie plate and freeze while you make the cream.
3. Drain the cashews, then add all of the rest of the cream ingredients in a blender and blend until thick and very, very smooth. Pour over the chilled crust and freeze for at least 5-6 hours.
4. Decorate beautifully and serve cold.
♥♥
I remember that cake! Awesome!
Ahem. Also, ME ME
(email to follow)
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dude! ham pie sandwiches! and I remember *you*. Yep, 1 zine coming right up!
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i would love one! emailing you now.
xo
kittee
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also, rosewater is one of my favorites and since cane sugar is making me feel so badly these days, i can’t wait to make this.
xo
kittee
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Thank you so much for the zine! I remember your old blog, what a surprise! Would you like a copy of my Ethiopian zine?
xo
kittee
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Kittee, I would adore such a thing! Of course I would, I think I’ve been wanting your zine since way way back when you first put it together. I’ve got like zero experience with Ethiopean food, but I know that’s going to change soon, and I have a bag of split mung that I’m totally setting aside. <3
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could you pretty please email me your addy to kittee68 at gmail dot com.
i’m going to the PO wed!
xo
kittee
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Looks gorgeous! How does it smell? Like rose? I would love a vegan recipe zine for other creative recipes.
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it smelled like that special kind of rich that blended cashews makes (not necessarily like cashew, but warm and nutty), with a hint of rose yes. And, I’d be happy to send you a zine, just send me your mailing address to my email and will do. :)
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I’d be interested.
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excellent, send your mailing addy to underwatercigarettes@gmail.com and I’ll have one in the mail for you, post-haste.
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it says 1/4 rose essence. but 1/4 a what? teaspoon? tablespoon? cup?
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definitely just a 1/4 tsp, but change it to your taste (I would only use a 1/4 cup in a sexy bath :P)
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this looks beautiful. Thank you for sharing your recipes. :)
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Would love to make this – can you clarify how big a cup is?
Thanks!
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That would be a standard imperial measure – 1 cup is 250 ml of water, 130 grams of flour, 2 sticks of butter, etc. The weight will change based on the ingredients, but the cup “measure” is the same, and easily found in a 99 cent store or something like that.
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