sweets in the raw
Warwick’s La Jolla-Cookbook Signing
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Strawberry Lemonade Popsicles
With all of my favorite fruits in season and the sunny San Diego weather to inspire me, I’ve decided to make some incredible Popsicles for you to make and enjoy!
Now, my 3 1/2 year old nephew loves sweets (what young child doesn’t?!), but he’s learned that at Auntie Laura’s house, they’re always allowed! His favorite dessert to see in my freezer…Popsicles! So in making these recipes, I really wanted to make sure they were child-friendly as well.
For the perfect icy summer treat, I made three flavors – Peaches and Cream, Blackberry Melon, and my nephew’s personal favorite, Strawberry Lemonade! He loved that flavor so much, he has yet to try the other two. (I had my husband and twin try the other two… Just to make sure they were up to par!)
If you can imagine a 3 year old raving about a completely natural, refined sugar-free Popsicle, and letting me know he was going to bring these to his friends… well, that’s music to my ears. 🙂
To know that I can make this little guy just as happy with out giving him something that will send him on a sugar high or have any negative side effects is priceless! Now you and you family can enjoy this delicious summer time treat too!
Ingredients
- 2 cups strawberries (hulled)
- 1 lemon (juiced)
- 1 tbsp date paste
- 1 cup strawberries (sliced)
Servings: popsicles
Instructions
- Place all ingredients (except for sliced strawberries) in blender and blend until smooth. Divide the sliced strawberries into popsicle molds. Pour popsicle filling into molds. Freeze for 2-4 hours.
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Chocolate Truffles
Chocolate Fudge
Easy No Bake Nectarine Cobbler
This may not be a big shocker, but I really like fruit. Like if I had to pick one food group to eat for the rest of my life, fruit would be it!! I love everything about fruit — its natural sweetness, its juiciness… I mean, what’s not to love?! Now if I had to pick a favorite fruit, that’d be a bit harder…
Anyways, about two weeks ago, I finally had time to go to a local produce store in San Diego that I had been meaning to go to for months now. It’s called Specialty Produce and I’d heard amazing things about it. They supply the produce to local restaurants in San Diego and even better, they only sell food from California, meaning this produce is crazy fresh!
When I arrived, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect as it is not your typical grocery store. It is this massive warehouse, nothing very special to look at, but what it lacks in appearance, it makes up for in quality! My first goal — go directly to the cooler. Why? Well, because I saw that they promoted purple raspberries, and there was no way I was going to leave this place without trying one! But, when I got there, I saw sooo much more!
If you were to ask my husband about this trip, he’d say I was like a little kid in a candy store! There was so much fruit, and some that I had never even seen before! Lucky for me, the nicest guy working there clearly saw I was excited, possibly even overwhelmed honestly, and came to the rescue. He started off my fruit exploration experience by asking what I enjoy the most, and then took it one step further and asked if I preferred tart versus sweet fruit. Because I couldn’t narrow it down, he let me sample all the different varieties of fruits (who knew there were so many differing flavors?!), but I was unaware he was saving the best for last! We starting off with fruits a little more tart, like the purple raspberries and bush berries, then moved onto fruits a little sweeter, such as the blueberries, strawberries and peaches. But that last fruit… white nectarines. I mean, I love nectarines, but on my list of favorite fruits, it’s just average. Until he sliced me a piece. Now, if you can imagine fireworks going off in your mouth from a pure sweet bliss, that is exactly what was happening to me! I knew right then and there I was going to buy a ton of these bad boys and whip up a special dessert!
And there you have it — the White Nectarine Cobbler. Now it is time to go enjoy my new favorite dessert, before my husband finishes it all! 🙂
I LOVE this time of the year! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and stone fruits are finally in season! This is the perfect time of year to enjoy peaches, nectarines, plum, apricots and cherries. My favorite part of this season is making an already amazing fruit even better by jazzing it up with other whole and healthy ingredients. This week I was inspired to to make a white nectarine cobbler!
| Servings | Prep Time |
| 6 servings | 10 minutes |
| Passive Time |
| 3 hours let set in fridge |
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I LOVE this time of the year! The sun is shining, the birds are chirping and stone fruits are finally in season! This is the perfect time of year to enjoy peaches, nectarines, plum, apricots and cherries. My favorite part of this season is making an already amazing fruit even better by jazzing it up with other whole and healthy ingredients. This week I was inspired to to make a white nectarine cobbler!
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Ingredients
Fruit Base
- 6 white nectarines peeled
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp coconut oil refined
- 1 tsp lemon juiced
Servings: servings
Instructions
Fruit Base
- Peel ripe nectarines and cut into slices. Sprinkle with vanilla lemon juice, coconut oil and cinnamon. Gently mix by hand and place in to 8x8 pan.
Crumble
- Place pecans, dates, salt and cinnamon into food processor and blend for 1 minutes. Sprinkle over Fruit Filling.
Recipe Notes
To find the perfect nectarine:
1. Look for a medium-sized fruit. Gigantic nectarines will be a little grainy or mealy, and the really small ones tend to be tart and generally picked before fully ripening.
2. Look for a soft, sweet-smelling fruit. Buy them when they are still somewhat firm (not rock hard), but almost a little soft to the touch. This will ensure that they will be ready in one to two days if left out on your counter. Now, you may look a little silly, but smell your fruit! It should have a light, sweet fragrance.
3. Ask some in produce or at the farmer’s market to try a sample. Not only will it guarantee you a great batch, but the people working may teach you even more tricks to ensuring a great fruit every time!
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Sweets in the Raw Pre-Release Book Signing
I am still coming down from all the love last week! Last saturday, I had my first Book Signing Event as an extra special thank you to all of the people who inspired me to create my new book Sweets In The Raw:Naturally Healthy Desserts. About 3 years ago, I would make healthy vegan desserts for my clients at Marquis Pilates & Fitness at our annual holiday parties. They continued to ask me for the recipes and would hire me to make desserts for their parties. A year later, I had the crazy idea of putting a book together just for them, but, somewhere along the way, it got sooo much bigger than that! As I posted pictures on my Facebook and Instagram, I started gaining some attention. I realized that there was nothing out there like what I was trying to create! That was when I decided that if I was gonna do this, I should do it BIG! I wanted the whole world to be able to have access to healthy desserts. And that is exactly what I am working on!
Last saturday, I am so blessed to say I had so much love and support. Of course I had all of my friends from the studio come, but I was so surprised and excited to also see people that I hadn’t seen in over 4-6 years! I had old colleagues, crossfit buddies and massage clients show their love and check out what this Naturally Healthy Desserts journey was all about! To say it all went well would be an understatement. We even ran out of desserts, it was so busy!
But, there is even better news! Although I was originally told that I could only sell advanced copies of my book at this one time event, there have been so many requests for my book that I have been given the green light to sell additional pre-released copies between now and July 31st! Yes, that’s right! If you wanted to get a pre-release copy of the book but couldn’t make it to the book signing, it isn’t too late! Just click this link to order.
My journey has just begun! September 1st will be my BIG official national release! In the meantime I will need your help to share this book and message of real #naturallyhealthy desserts with the world. Please feel free to share pictures of the delicious desserts you are making and share your favorite recipes with your friends! Thank you again everybody!
PS: Be on the lookout for the Strawberry Cheesecake Tutorial video next friday on my youtube channel.
ADVANCED BOOK SIGNING OF SWEETS IN THE RAW: NATURALLY HEALTHY DESSERT COOKBOOK!
The day is almost here, the day of my very first book signing. Two years ago, when I first decided I was going to create a healthy dessert cookbook without refined sugars, I had no idea the journey it would take me on. My goal at the time was pretty simple: create a couple dozen healthy and delicious dessert alternatives for my friends, family and clients and put it into a cute cookbook… Easy enough, right?
In the industry of healthy and fitness, there is a lot of time and energy put into the next big fad and way too much time spent telling everyone what they can’t have and very little on what you can have. After taking the time to learn and understand what highly processed foods and sugars do to the body, I began some R&D into the healthiest desserts I knew of at the time — vegan desserts. Unfortunately, I found that many of these desserts were using highly processed ingredients. I then turned to raw desserts and, although the basic concept was amazing — simple, no baking required, all whole ingredients — they still weren’t actually healthy. Most of recipes I found were loaded with so much refined sugar (the kind that makes your blood sugar go sky high) that it completely cancelled out the benefits of the whole foods they were being paired with! Lucky for me, I came across a few bloggers, chefs and cooks who showed me how to use whole ingredients in a new way! People like: Susan Powers of rawmazing.com, Angela Liddon of ohsheglows.com, Megan Gilmore of detoxinista.com, Heather Pace of sweetlyraw.com, Laura-Jane The Rawtarian at therawtarian.com and Ella Leché of pureella.com. Now all of these beautiful ladies don’t necessarily just make desserts or exclusively use unrefined ingredients. But, thanks to them, I was truly inspired to start using natural sugars in completely new ways. After learning that skill, the recipe crafting process came quite easily, after all, I did grow up in a kitchen with a mom making homemade desserts on the daily! Months of playing in the kitchen and 46 recipes later, I now have what is the very first raw, vegan family & kid-friendly dessert cookbook made with no refined sugars or processed ingredients – Sweets In The Raw: Naturally Healthy Desserts!
So what can you expect in this book? Simple, beautiful, easy-to-make desserts with fresh whole ingredients. The recipe chapters are organized by dessert type so there is a chapter for: Bars, Bites & Cookies, Cakes & Tarts, Candies, Fudge & Truffles and Frozen Treats, Ice Cream & Sorbets so that when your sweet tooth hits, you can easily find a recipe to satisfy it. There are even handy icons at the top of every recipe page to let you know exactly how long each recipe should take with a Soak Time, Prep Time and Freeze Time symbol. I have even added a whole section about the most important things to know about eating healthy sugars so that you have less confusion with this sweet and sticky subject.
To think that this Saturday I will be hosting my very first book signing for the people who inspired it all is so surreal! I have been able to accomplish so much in such a short period of time, all thanks to your love and support! I hope that this book not only gives you delicious recipes (Strawberry Cheesecake and Raspberry Sorbet are my favorites!), but also gives you some inspiration to play around in your own kitchen.
To get your hands on this Pre-Release, be sure to RSVP to the event. If you are unable to make it this time around, the book will be nationally released in September, and you can expect a large book tour when it comes. Thank you for all the help during this journey!
Vegan Chocolate Milk
Is there a single kid out there who didn’t want to upgrade their traditional school milk for chocolate milk? If you weren’t deemed lactose intolerant, milk was probably a staple in your childhood diet. For most of us, it was milk in our breakfast cereal, a carton with our school lunch and finally, a big glass of milk with dinner. Unfortunately for me, I have been lactose intolerant for as long as I can remember. And I am not the only one. About 1/3 of Americans are as well. In addition, milk has been in the hot seat the past few years with questions about how healthy it really is. So what is a health-conscious girl like me supposed to do? Create something that tastes even better of course, with no gray areas! That’s right — Chocolate Milk is getting a Naturally Healthy makeover!
Now, I created this chocolate milk recipe for my little 3 year old nephew. My twin sister and brother-in-law are trying very hard to ensure that he eats healthy, but in a world where every restaurant wants to serve your kid juice or chocolate milk, it can be hard. They win some battles and lose others, but now, he can have “chocolate milk” whenever he comes to visit Auntie Laura! Plus, I added a little touch of yacon syrup to the recipe. So, not only is he getting something delicious with no refined sugar or fake ingredients, but he is also getting some prebiotics which are great for his tummy and mine, too!
*This recipe was originally featured on Blendtec 4/20/16. http://www.blendtec.com/recipes/vegan-chocolate-milk
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup raw cashews soaked for 2 hours
- 3 cups water
- 5 medjool dates pitted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp vanilla bean powder optional
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- dash salt
- 2 1/2 tbsp cacao powder
- 1 tbsp yacon syrup
Servings: servings
Instructions
- Place all ingredients (excluding yacon syrup) in a blender and blend for 2 minutes. Add yacon and pulse 2-4 times until well blended. Serve and enjoy immediately of seal in an airtight mason jar in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.
Recipe Notes
Helpful Hint: If you don't accidentally drink all of the chocolate milk as soon as you finish it, note that it is completely normal for the milk to separate slightly. Simply shake before serving.
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Espresso Truffles
Just the thought of espresso and chocolate puts a smile on my face! Now that I have merged them both into a truffle…watch out world! It is the perfect treat to complement a cup of coffee for breakfast or to satisfy your sweet tooth at the end of a long day!
Ingredients
TRUFFLE BASE
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1 tsp organic ground coffee
- 1 cup cacao powder
- 1/8 tsp cinnamon
- 12 medjool dates
- 3 tbsp cold brew coffee
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 medium avocado ripe
CHOCOLATE
- 1/4 cup refined coconut oil melted
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp yacon syrup
- 1/4 cup cacao powder
Servings: truffles
Instructions
TRUFFLE DIRECTIONS
- Process all dry ingredients together until flour-like in consistency in the food processor. Add pitted dates and process until the mixture is an even, crumbly consistency. Add the remaining ingredients and process until the dough turns into ball. Roll the dough into 1 inch balls, place on plate and put into the refrigerator while making the chocolate coating.
CHOCOLATE DIRECTIONS
- Mix all wet ingredients together in a small mixing bowl. Add cacao powder and whisk until well blended. Dip truffles base into the chocolate with a fork and place onto cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes, serve and enjoy. Extras can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Recipe Notes
Helpful Hint: I used to top these delicious balls of yumminess with a whole coffee bean, but I found people were trying to eat them. I now garnish the truffles with ground coffee and then sprinkle coffee beans on the plate for presentation.
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