Raw Feijoa Kiwifruit Cake, an Autumn recipe free from dairy, gluten and refined sugars. Sweet and creamy with a lemon tang.
Before we get into today's beautiful Raw Feijoa Kiwifruit Cake, I have a confession to make: I am currently suffering from a chronic case of perfectionism. And until I can work through it and move past it, all I can do is lay it on the table and say I’m stuck in a sticky web of my own doing. You see, I’ve been trying to get my new website live, for oh, six months now. To be fair, I’ve been incredibly busy – work, study, setting up a business, you know, life.
But that should only account for a few months’ worth of my delayed launch. The rest? It’s my over critical mind! I am totally aware that in my need for things to be ‘just so’ – I am in fact crippling myself from publishing it and letting you guys enjoy the new look and offering! It’s absolute craziness! Can anyone else relate to perfectionism? I saw a great quote recently – ‘perfectionism is self-abuse of the highest order.’ Does that resonate? It does for me.
I frequently do the following:
- over analyse till the cows come home
- aim for the best possible result and feel miffed if it doesn’t turn out that way
- spend a ridiculous amount of time finessing the details of the thing – I mean – seriously – when I step back and scald myself at being so silly, I ask myself – is anyone else going to notice this small detail other than me?!
- second guess myself time and again (should I word my introduction like this? Or like this? No the first one, yes, that’s awesome. ***One coffee break later*** Damn it, let’s start again, I don’t like either. What was I thinking).
- miss my deadlines due to the simple fact that I haven’t gotten it quite how I wanted it
- fall onto my bed in the evening thinking ‘phew! What a day! All that chase-my-tail thinking was hard work!’ It’s exhausting stuff!
And here’s the double whammy.
I’m a Virgo. And if you don’t know, us Virgos are incredibly special people. Interestingly, the intestines are ruled by Virgo – and the intestines, just like us Virgos, are great at working, processing, analysing and separating. We’re also ruled by the planet Mercury – the planet of communication, the mind, and thoughts. Is there any hope for those of us with perfectionist tendencies who have the double-whammy of being the hard-working, critical Virgo?!
Of course there is. Part of it is just bringing this into your awareness so that you can work on it. Phew. So, I’m not claiming to have got there yet, but just wanted to put it out there. Because perfectionist tendencies pave the way to stress and digestive issues (being so ‘up tight’, not letting go, over processing things) and need to be unravelled and replaced with self love.
As an aside – I’ve noticed in my coaching practice that often digestive disturbances tend to be present in those incredible individuals with the A type personality and aforementioned perfectionist streak…
So: I here by solemnly swear to launch this website sooner rather than later in spite of my self-critical nature. It is beautiful. And it is enough. You will bloody love it. Please hold me to this. Comment on my facebook page if time lapses and you see nada. Help a sister out.
I can genuinely see that this pattern isn’t serving me and I have some creative, soft and loving ways in mind to help release it and move forward. As I said earlier, I’m sure that even just bringing this into your awareness means you’re half way there. You know what, if I can get over perfectionism – then anyone can!
In the meantime, I have been procasta-baking this week. Admittedly because I couldn’t find the right words for a page on my new site so I went to kitchen to mull things over. Silly I know, but guess what, you get to enjoy a very yummy recipe now.
I wanted to make a cake for Mother’s Day to share. So I made one. And it was yummy but I had a brainwave after the fact to make a new one using lovely autumn fruit – because – feijoas – yum (hard to find in Australia by the way – usually the more speciality fruit stores have them). So I went and made a second one (see what I did there? More absurd perfectionism creating more work for myself – two cakes! Two!!).
So, please admire the first, Raw Snicker’s Cake below. It’s really quite lovely (and I’ll share it sometime soon).
Today however, you have a beautiful Raw Feijoa Kiwifruit Cake, with coconut, lemon and lucuma, sweetened with organic rice malt syrup.
Hope you enjoy it, and have a really special day with your mama’s tomorrow.
Love, your Virgo friend.
Lx
📖Recipe
Raw Feijoa Kiwi Cake
Ingredients
Base:
- 1 cup almonds
- 1 cup coconut flakes
- 10 Medjool dates pitted (about 170g)
- 3 tablespoons almond butter I use home made, which has less salt and a milder taste
- Zest of one lemon
- ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt
Cream Filling:
- 2 cups raw cashews, soaked in water for 2+ hours (the longer you soak, the creamier the texture - up to 8 is good)
- 1 cup nut milk
- ¾ cup coconut cream
- ½ cup rice malt syrup
- ¼ cup coconut butter softened
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 2 tablespoons vanilla extract
- ¼ cup lucuma powder
- 6 feijoas
- Zest of one lemon
Feijoa + Kiwi Jam:
- 2 kiwifruit peeled
- 2 feijoas
- Juice of ½ a lemon
- 1 tablespoon 100% pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons chia seeds
- ¼ cup coconut flakes
Instructions
Base:
- In a food processor, blitz almonds till crumbly, then add all other ingredients and blend till the mixture holds together when you press it.
- Line the bottom of a 9 inch spring form cake tin with baking paper, then pat the mixture down evenly and set aside.
Cream filling:
- Depending on your blender, this mixture may be best halved and done in two batches.
- Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender till smooth.
- Divide the mixture into two equal portions, pour one portion over the base of the cake tin and set in the freezer.
- Store the other half of the mixture in the fridge till you are ready to use it, you may like to re-blend it again for use.
Feijoa + Kiwi Jam:
- In a food processor, quickly pulse all ingredients except the coconut flakes.
- Fold the coconut flakes through last, and leave the mixture to set for a few minutes.
- Assembly:
- One the first cream layer has set, spread the feijoa + kiwi jam evenly over the surface.
- Re-blend the second portion of the cream filling if you need to, and pour over the top.
- Decorate with a sprinkle of coconut flakes and sliced kiwifruit. Set in the freezer, let thaw a little before serving and keep in the fridge.
Nutrition
If you make and enjoy this recipe, please leave a rating!
I’d love you to follow me on Instagram,
tag me @ascensionkitchen so I can see your creations!
Natalie Harper
This cake was divine! I liked making it but I really loved eating it.
Tricky gathering all the correct ingredients, however. I had to substitute rice malt syrup with watered honey and lucuma powder for coconut flour but the results were the same, I like to think.
Natalie Harper
You can get it at most health stores. Natures superfoods online is the best I believe. But I had neither the time or patience to order it so I used coconut flour instead.
Ascension Kitchen
Thank you Kristen 🙂
Ascension Kitchen
Hi Tara, yes you are so right - it ultimately always comes down to fear doesn't it - and I can so relate to those expectations - I'm working towards freedom from all of this, small steps but so far so good, thanks for sharing x
Enid Gacitua Thomann
Where can we find lucuma powder??
Rick Cullen
My mom was a Virgo, and it's prominent in my chart too. While afflicted by you're-not-doing-it-right-itis, I stifle that as best I can, do my reasonable best, and let it go. Well, as often as I can. Remember that you are a worthwhile person, deserving of love and esteem, even when things get messed up.