Valentine’s Day Raw Raspberry Cakes

Soak the almonds and cashews for the base and, separately, the cashews for the filling in water for at least 4 hours or overnight. Rinse the nuts and drain.

For the base, coarsely chop the soaked nuts in a blender with the dates. Season the mixture with salt.

Press the mixture into the cups of a Maku muffin tin and place in the refrigerator.

In the meantime, prepare the filling. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with the tip of the knife. Place the vanilla seeds, the soaked cashews, banana, maple syrup, lemon juice, coconut milk and salt in the blender and purée until smooth and creamy. Stir in the coconut oil.

Pour about 2/3 of the filling into the cups, leaving room for a layer of raspberry cream, which is made by blending the raspberries into the remaining filling until smooth and pink. Spoon the cream into the cups. Place the tin into the refrigerator or freezer to set.

The mini cakes should be chilled for at least 4 hours. If taking the tin out of the freezer, let the cakes thaw at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before serving.

You can garnish the cakes any way you like. For the optional topping, whip the cream and stir in the vanilla sugar. Pipe over the cakes and garnish with a few raspberries.