No baking necessary for this ultimate cacao and raspberry cake

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• Preparation time:

• Cooking time:

Ingredients

800 g medjool dates, pitted
400 g (3⅓ cups) hazelnuts
120 g (1 cup) cacao powder
100 g (1 cup) pecans, toasted and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
500 g (4 cups) fresh raspberries
edible flower petals (optional)
Creamy chocolate icing
4 ripe avocados
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons coconut cream, chilled until solid
200 g (1¾ cups) cacao powder
1 vanilla pod, split and scraped

Method

Line a 22 cm springform cake tin with baking paper.

Place the dates and hazelnuts in a bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to soak for 30 minutes.

Once soaked, drain the dates and hazelnuts and place in a food processor with the cacao powder. Blitz until very smooth, then transfer to the prepared cake tin. Stir in the toasted pecans, cinnamon and the majority of the raspberries, reserving a few for decorating the top. Chill in the fridge for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, for the icing, blend all the ingredients in a food processor until smooth and creamy. Set aside in the fridge to keep firm.

Once chilled, take the cake out of the fridge and remove it from the tin. Coat all over with the icing and decorate with the remaining raspberries. You can sprinkle over some edible flower petals too, if you like. Enjoy this cake fresh from the fridge to keep the icing nice and firm!

Recipe extracted from Eat Clean by Luke Hines (Plum, $39.99)

Notes