Instead of working behind the camera like I usually am, earlier this week I was in front of my favourite photographer’s lens working in a beautiful kitchen with a handful of recipes from my book. We were shooting some kitchen scene and outdoor photos to sprinkle in my cookbook. Our landlord was gracious enough to lend us her beautiful kitchen for the day so I was surrounded by gorgeous white cabinets, stainless steel, and a walk-in pantry. I had to pick my jaw off the floor when I walked in. What a dream!
Our wedding photographer, Dave Biesse, happened to be visiting family in Ontario this month and by a stroke of luck he was available to do the shoot at the last minute. Reuniting with him just shy of 5 years since our wedding and engagement shoot was a real treat. Dave is so warm, creative, and fun to work with. Not to mention, that Australian accent can make anyone feel at ease! Dave and Charlotte now live in Australia year-round so we don’t get to catch up nearly enough, but they will always be dear to us.
It’s been pretty chaotic around here, but exciting too. We stayed up into the wee hours of the morning for a couple nights preparing recipes, making lists, packing props, and making last minute grocery stores trips. Some recipes had to be made the morning of the shoot, so I was up super early prepping recipes and praying to the culinary gods that the food would stay fresh! Two packed coolers, 4 containers with props/appliances, a handful of freshly ironed clothing, one packed car, and a few butterflies for good measure.
A couple friends suggested that I hire someone to do my hair and make-up so I wouldn’t have to worry about it during the shoot. It sounded like a good plan, but after getting a trial done last week I ended up looking like I was going to meet the Queen. hah. I didn’t even recognize myself in the mirror. Not ideal. I don’t normally do dark eyes or maroon lipstick and I rarely curl my entire head of hair. Eric looked at me with a bit of horror on his face when he saw the finished look. It was priceless. In the end, I opted to do my own usual hair and make-up and I felt much more comfortable. Maybe it wasn’t super glam, but I felt like myself (on a good day, I suppose) which is all that matters.
I planned on taking lots of behind the scenes shots to show you, but unfortunately I didn’t have many spare moments during the day so I only snapped a couple.
Here is a picture of our landlord’s kitchen. Hello, dream boat!
This is a tiny glimpse of the chaos that took over shortly after we arrived in the AM. The entire family room was packed with our stuff. Each time we did a new shot/angle, we had to move everything around the kitchen and then set up the new recipe. The hardest part was not being able to eat all the food though!
When all was said and done, it felt like the day after a wedding. All this build up and then in the blink of an eye, it was over. Still, it’s nice to get back to everyday life where I’m free to get chocolate stains on my clothing and kale in my teeth.
My Aunt Elizabeth made this raw chocolate fudge for our big family get together last week and it was a huge hit. Us ladies were all begging for the recipe which she adapted from the Company’s Coming Superfoods cookbook. This version below is an adaptation of both the original and Elizabeth’s version, swapping ingredients as I saw fit and cutting down the portion in half since it made so much.
Even though this doesn’t have the texture of traditional fudge (it’s more like raw chocolate and smooth as silk), no one seemed to complain! It softens at room temperature (and melts in your mouth), so serve it straight from the freezer and chill leftovers as soon as possible. If you are a raw food purist and want a completely raw fudge use raw cacao powder and agave in place of the cocoa powder and maple syrup. Either way, it’s downright seductive.
Featuring all new, protein-packed salads, hearty toppers, flavour boosters, and dressings you'll want to drink, my new cookbook will transform the way you think about salads. Oh, and be sure to flip to the back for a surprise dessert chapter!
Seductive Raw Chocolate Walnut Fudge
Yield
24 Small Squares
Prep time
Cook time
0 minutes
Chill time
60
Total time
My Aunt Elizabeth made this raw chocolate fudge for our big family get together last week and it disappeared incredibly fast. Us ladies were all begging for the recipe which she adapted from the Company’s Coming Superfoods cookbook. This version below is an adaptation of both the original and Elizabeth’s version, swapping ingredients as I saw fit and cutting down the portion in half since it made so much. Even though this doesn’t have the texture of traditional fudge (it’s more like raw chocolate), no one seemed to complain. It softens at room temperature (and melts in your mouth!), so serve it straight from the freezer and chill leftovers as soon as possible. If you are a raw food purist and want a completely raw fudge use raw cacao powder and agave in place of the cocoa powder and maple syrup. Either way, it’s downright seductive.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup virgin coconut oil
- 1/4 cup raw almond butter (or nut butter of choice)
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder (or raw cacao powder)
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (or other liquid sweetener)
- 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
- pinch fine grain sea salt, to taste
- 3/4 cup raw walnuts, roughly chopped
Directions
- With electric beaters, beat together the coconut oil and almond butter.
- Sift in the cocoa powder and beat again until combined.
- Pour in the maple syrup, vanilla, and salt and beat until smooth.
- Stir in the walnuts.
- Line a loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper. Scoop the chocolate mixture into the pan and spread out until even. I took another handful of walnuts, broke them up, and sprinkled over the top of the fudge for extra crunch and good looks.
- Freeze for about 1 hour, or until solid. Slice into small squares and prepare to be seduced.
Nutrition Information
(click to expand)Note: I added a tablespoon of raw cacao nibs into my batch, but next time I will leave them out as I thought they were too crunchy in this fudge.
Oh my! I have a weakness for raw chocolate desserts. I’ll have to make these like NOW.
Oh my freaking goodness those look SO GOOD =D Thanks for sharing the recipe!
And yea… I want that kitchen. Man – so gorgeous & spacious!
I think I would do the same thing with hair and makeup… my hair is never done up so I couldn’t see myself getting it done for something like that, it wouldn’t feel right & I bet you look great =)
Oh my gosh, I am so excited to make these since I know for sure I have all the ingredients in my kitchen cupboards! Do you think it would be okay to go old school and mix by hand though? Our mixer is sadly broken.
Yea I’m sure that is fine :) enjoy!
Hi Angela,
I’m a long-time follower of your blog (for a few years now) and I just wanted to say how excited I am for the cookbook to come out. It looks like you’re hard at work on the best part of cookbooks–pictures!–and I can’t wait to see it in stores.
And as usual, your recipe looks amazing :)
Hey Margaret, That makes me so happy to hear you are excited – thank you! :)
Angela,
This sounds amazing. I’m sure my family will love this. Do you think this would work with cashews or macadamias instead of walnuts? I’m allergic to walnuts and almonds. I’m wondering what type of nut butter would be best as a substitution and what type of chopped nuts? Thanks!
Hey Kathy, I think hazelnuts would be killer in this, as would pecans or macadamias like you suggested. For the nut butter, I would think peanut butter would be great (if you can eat it, that is) as would sunflower seed butter. Hope this helps! Let me know what you end up trying if you make it.
Hi Angela – this looks SO scrumptious and i’m bookmarking it to try it later this week. Just to clarify, you pour the mixture into a LOAF pan, not a square 8×8 or 9×9 pan? Thanks !!
Hey Cathy, Yes a loaf pan is what I used although a square pan would be fine too, the fudge would just be much thinner. enjoy!
I’m going to make this tonight! Thank you!
This was great! I omitted the walnuts, since I’m not a fan of whole nuts in food. But it turned out wonderfully. We had some company over and made this for dessert.
After it’s frozen, should I refrigerate it to keep it over, or freeze it again?
So glad it worked out for you Brandon :) You can keep it in the fridge or freezer – your call! Enjoy the leftovers
Caggie Dunlop tweeted one of your recipes! Thought you’d be interested: https://twitter.com/Caggie_Dunlop
That’s so fun! Thanks for letting me know :)
Haha, I have a chef kitchen you would probably drool over, but I am moving house! I am going to miss it so bad.
It’s funny what you said about the Australian accent because I am Australian! Glad you like it! (didn’t know I had an accent:)
Love your blog, can’t wait for your cookbook!
This recipe looks divine. Thanks for sharing!
This fudge is by far the best I’ve ever had. I love the flavour combination of the chocolate, coconut oil, and nut butter. My boyfriend is also a huge fan, thank you for this recipe!
Just made these. Life-changing.
Hi Angela!!!
I’m so excited to try and make this fudge, after watching Forks over Knives, I have been switching my family and I to eating more plant based foods and we’re even going to do a plant based 8 week challenge which my mom is really skeptical about but I’m so excited of all the recipes “she said” I can teach her how to make!!! YAY!! But the reason I’m commenting is because I am 16, in high school and I have a few questions. I am starting XC this year at my school, because last year during a hard time in my life (depression, anxiety, social problems, etc.) I started running. I did about 4 miles every single weekend and I felt vibrant and happy so I thought I would try and join my cross country team. I was curious of what you would reccomend I eat pre race and post race? Most of the things like gels and jelly beans and bars and gatorade aren’t tasty to me and they are definitely not plant based and healthy. Also my team is having a potluck and since I’m a new member I thought I would make some food (also they won’t have anything vegan/plantbased) so I was wondering what you would reccomend to make that people might be intrigued to try! Thanks and even if you are too busy to answer I hope you keep on with the AWESOME posts on this blog!!! Thanks!!
Love,
Casey
Hey Casey, Thanks for your lovely comment! For a potluck, I would recommend a portable salad, such as my Back on Track wheatberry salad, Adzuki bean and quinoa Tabbouleh salad with a twist, or cumin lime back bean quinoa salad. They transport well. You can find my salad recipes here: http://ohsheglows.com/recipage/?search_term=salad&ui=133&c=1
As for pre workout, generally unrefined carbs are best – it really depends on the person what works so you might have to experiment to find what your stomach can handle and how long you should eat before. I find a large banana and a tiny bit of almond butter is good before a light to moderate workout. Some people like toast and banana with nut butter. I generally save smoothies for post-workouts and I load them up with protein like hemp and chia seeds and occasionally plant-based protein powder too (such as Sunwarrior raw) for recovery. Hope this helps!
Angela, this was gorgeous. I made this over the weekend for a picnic (mostly to impress somebody) and they were truly, absolutely amazing – slightly melted by the time we arrived (we travelled about an hour), but still great! Really, really impressed. I’m not yet vegan but successful experiments such as these are so inspiring! Please keep sharing.
Hi Ashley, so glad it worked out for you! Thanks for letting me know.
Wow… these look amazing. A girl can never have too much chocolate!!!
Thanks for the delicious looking recipe! Do you think I could substitute tahini for the nut butter?
I love how I almost always have the ingredients to your recipes in my kitchen already! This is definitely going on the list of things to make this weekend.
What a gorgeous kitchen! I hope she makes good use of it. I always chuckle at beautiful kitchens whose owners don’t even like cooking, with jealousy. It makes me so excited for your cookbook, too! Thanks for sharing the details and process with us.
OMGOODNESS! As soon as i read this recipe I ran straight into the kitchen to make it. All I have to say is wow! I did everything the recipe called for and I just popped them in the freezer so i haven’t tried the finished product yet but the batter taste fantastic! Thank you so much for another wonderful recipe Angela!
Oh wow, this looks amazing!