Chocolate Date Fudge

Hell yeah, two recipes in one day!

In the last entry I was discussing how the local music scene has become one of the things that I love the most about the Yukon. I want to briefly discuss another: the dinner party. This is a common feature to the lives of many Yukoners throughout all months of the year. However, this seems to be a particularly frequent event between the months of November and February when it can often be dark, overcast, bitterly cold, or some unfortunate combination of the three. It was my turn to host tonight, something that I think is going to become a regular event for Sunday evenings at my place. It was great! I made pizza! Gluten/yeast-free pizza with goat cheese (expect this post in the coming days). My intention was to make this particular dessert tonight, but alas, I ended up having a movie date with Amanda, a dinner guest, and there was just no time.

This particular dinner was just a wee one for a few good friends. Beer was absent (always unfortunate). I'm always impressed with people who are able to throw dinner parties for dozens of people, cooking and decorating entirely on their own and somehow managing to foot the entire f-cking bill. What I think needs to happen shortly, however, is the dinner murder-mystery party. I love these. I had these annually when I was living in Calgary, and they were a great time! I always used to get the difficult costumes - the Italian Ballet prodigy... the blinged-out Sheik... the Swiss banker, complete with leiderhosen and a feathered cap. For those of you who live in the Yukon, how would this NOT be a staple here!? It's... well, perfect.

Anyway, eat some fudge.


Chocolate Date Fudge

1 cup raw cashew flour
1 1/2 cups fresh dates - pitted and chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried cranberries
2 cups coconut - finely shredded
1/2 cup raw cocoa powder


1. You know the drill. Grind enough raw cashews to amount to 1 cup of cashew flour, and place the flour into a food processor.

2. Add the chopped up dates and cranberries, and pulse until well blended into a paste. If you don't have a food processor, but you do have a blender or MagicBulletMachineOfDreams, then just use that in small portions so as not to burn out your motor. If you have none of the above, you can blend the lot with your hands, just cut up the cranberries very finely before mixing.

3. Once the cashew-date-cranberry mixture is a uniform paste, place it into a mixing bowl and add the coconut and cocoa powder. Use your hands to squish it all together into chocolately goodness.

4. In a loaf pan, squish the mixture down hard into the bottom of the pan. Flatten the top out with the back of a wooden spoon or spatula.

5. Chill for 2-3 hours. Consume.


I think that this would be recipe number 3 in a row that has been raw, vegan and everything-free. I'm on a real raw-food kick. I don't know why. I think I just like the challenge of making raw alternatives to food that I really love. Maybe I'm just pretentious? I would rather let myself believe that I'm just being helpful! Hurray!

Alright kidlets, the weekend is drawing to a close and after a successful dinner party this evening, I'm about ready to hang out with my doggy, watch some Battlestar, eat some fudge and fantasize about mountain biking in Morocco in shorts, because it would be 34 degrees. I remember a time when my feet were warm.