Raw Chocolate Orange Fudge

VEGAN | GLUTEN-FREE | DAIRY-FREE

Makes 20 5cm x 5cm squares

Susie, aka ‘Gourmet Glow’, has as bit of a sweet tooth, yet she hates processed food and refined fats and sugars. So she’s put together her own healthy sweet treats, including this delicious raw chocolate orange fudge. Yes, you’ve still go to watch out for the sugar and fat content even if it is all natural but as with everything, moderation is key. Best of all with this recipe, there’s no baking at all; all you need is a blender!

You know when you just want something ‘naughty’, something really indulgent, but all that comes to mind are treats full of refined fats and sugars. Healthy eating tastes, well, healthy, right? This is where my crusade begins. Heathy eating CAN be delicious, indulgent AND nutritious. I constantly research ways to present beautiful, tasty food that presses all the buttons health wise, hopefully my ideas will inspire you to just tweak a few things with your life. It doesn’t have to be drastic, just better choices here and there and if you’re like me, your palette will actually change and your body will crave the nutrients its needs.

My biggest struggle has been to combine taste and texture. Many of my recipes are raw, vegan, gluten and dairy free which poses huge problems when trying to create tasty, indulgent treats. I won’t lie, you do need a couple of gadgets to help, but honestly, if you’re serious they will become an invaluable part of everyday life. I recommend a good high speed blender first and foremost. This will be your best friend for everything from smoothies, to soups to mincing your own proteins down to making nut butter and fudge. Second, I invested £49.99 on Amazon on a dehydrator and I’ve never looked back. It offers a whole new world of textures and intense flavours to raw ‘uncooking’!

Here is the first of many recipes which I hope will inspire you just to experiment for yourself, if anything the satisfaction of creating something delicious and nutritious will be enough in itself, if not, you still get to lick the bowl! If you like, you can play around to suit your tastes but stick to the basic concept.

Ingredients

• 300g raisins
• 4-5 medjool dates (the big fat gooey ones)
• 100g sunflower seeds
• 50g cashews
• 100g walnuts
• 50g almonds
• 4 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 1tsp organic orange essence
• 1/2 cup raw cacao powder
• Pinch Himalayan Sea Salt

Method

1. Soak the nuts and seeds for 3 hours in cold water. Towards the end of soaking time, soak the fruits in just-boiled water for 10 minutes.
2. Drain the nuts and blend for 30 seconds until finely chopped. Add the drained dried fruit and the rest of the ingredients and blend for 2 minutes until completely smooth (or if you prefer a chunky texture stop earlier, just be sure the coconut oil is evenly dispersed).
3. Add a pinch of Himalayan pink salt both for flavour and its alkalising qualities and mix well. 
4. Spread to a thickness of 2 cm in a tin greased lightly with coconut oil. Freeze for 1 hour until set and cut into squares.

The fudge will keep for a few days in the fridge and two months in the freezer. It doesn’t even need defrosting!