Fantasizing about Blue Almond Iced Tea. I’ve got the clitoria flower! It’s a dried product mainly used in Thailand for making tea and coloring blue rice. It’s the only natural genuine blue food coloring. Blue berries being discarted as too purple and algae as too greenish blue. Clitoria flower is blue as in blue. I realize the Blue Almond Iced Tea has got to wait. It’s time for Sea Water Petits Ronds, delightful desserts where I got the clitoria flower for in the first place. And yes the name clitoria comes from where you think it comes from. No wonder they not only turn my raw cakes magnificent blue but also, let’s call it sexy.
The recipe reminds me of one of the most complicated dessert recipes I have ever made. I was only in my early twenties, following precisely the directions as prescribed and pictured in the recipe book Desserts from the Time Life cookery book series. God they were ahead of their time with the step by step visual instructions. I’ve been brought up with Time Life, I realize now. The recipe was for the authentic British trifle, champagne syllabub included. It took several days to make it. I never felt as proud as I did when it all came out exactly like the pictures.
The recipe for Sea Water Petits Ronds is as complicated and lengthy as the trifle I made 25 years ago, much less traditional; other side of the culinary universe actually. It involves no cooking, no diary, no animal products at all, no refined sugar, no gluten and no artificial flavoring nor coloring. I wonder how we ended up being so discriminative in the kitchen. Is it all because of our precious health and that of our planet? Or do humans in general like to be difficult? I don’t know. I do know I get excited by the thought of creamy, smashing blue, sweet and slightly salty, raw, plant based, guilt free, individual cakes that remind me of feeling blue or make me long for a beach in Boracay, Philippines.
Sea Water Petits Ronds
Day 1 morning
Step 1.
2 cups raw almonds, roughly chopped
2 cups water
Soak for 4 hours at least
Day 1 evening
Step 2.
after 4 hours, discard almond water and divide almonds evenly over oven tray lined with baking sheet
Set the oven to 45 C
Hydrate overnight, at least 12 hours
This process is called activating. Nuts are nice when roasted. But then they’re no longer raw and according to some, have lost some of their nutrious properties. Dehydrating them in a temperature under 48 C keeps them ‘raw’ (enzymes don’t die) and makes them slightly crunchy
Step 3.
Take 1 cup dried chickpeas and 3 cups water
Soak overnight
Step 4.
cut 12 rounds of baking sheet in exactly the shape of muffin tray bottoms only
cut 12 strips of baking sheet 3 cm wide, 12 cm long
Align muffin tray with the strips, 1 per hole and rounds on top of it. Make sure either side of the strips stick out from the holes
The crust will be pressed on top of the strip and the round. This is to make sure you can take the individual cakes once they’re done out of the tray without using a knife or having to damage the shape
Day 2 morning
Step 5.
Drain chickpeas, transfer to a pot, add twice the quantity of water and bring to the boil.
Simmer for 2 hours or until chickpeas are done
Step 6.
Drain chickpeas, saving the cooking liquid
Store cooked chickpeas to be used in another recipe
Bring cooking liquid back to boil adding a tbsp of dried clitoria flower / pea flower tea, turning it blue
Let the blue aqua fava (literally meaning, bean water) cool down completely
Step 7.
Grind 1 cup of the almonds in coffee grinder or heavy duty food processor into almond butter
It will first crumbe, hence turn into meal, keep on grinding, pauze every now and then to give appliance a break and not overheating it, keep on going until a clump is formed. Keep on going and it will turn into butter
Step 8.
Make crust by combining 1 cup regular pitted dates, roughly chopped, 1 cup medjool dates, roughly chopped, the other 1 cup of activated almonds, chopped finely. Form 12 balls the size of a ping pong ball, rolling between the palms of your hands
Step 9.
Firmly press balls into discs in bottoms of the muffin tray. Place tray in fridge until further notice
Day 2 evening
Step 10.
1 cup pea flower / clitoria flower blue aqua fava
1 cup activated almond butter
1 cup cream of coconut
1/2 cup brown rice malt sirup.
Mix blue aqua fava with handmixer on high speed for 3-5 minutes until stiff peaks are formed resembling egg white merengue
Step 11.
Make the Salty Sea water cake mixture
Mix in a separate bowl almond butter and cream of coconut, add rice malt sirup. Slowly fold stiffened aqua fava through almond butter mixture, in three badges. Once mixed, make sure to use it right away
Step 12.
Take the muffin tray from the fridge and fill up the individual holes with the Salty Sea water cake mixture. Place in freezer. Freeze overnight.
Day 3 anytime
Step 13.
To serve the cakes, dip the whole tray with it’s bottom in water (fill a shallow oven tray with just a few centimeter of luke warm water and place the muffin tray in there for 15 seconds). Pull at the baking sheet strips to gently lift the cakes one by one. Peel off the baking sheet rounds from the bottoms of the crust, can be tricky, be patient and careful.
Step 14.
Sprinkle the cakes with grapefruit zest and serve with sweet or sweetened fruit. I’d opt for grapefruit sweetened with maple sirup or ripe mango.
Congratulations guys. You’ve made it. Recipe for blue almond milk iced tea is next. Will be part of the KiSS series: Keep It Stupid and Simple, again. Pfffft!
Mise en place
2 cups raw deskinned almonds, coarsely chopped
1 cup dried chick peas
Baking sheet
Scissors
Muffin tray
1 tbsp Pea flower tea / dried clitoria flower
Coffee grinder or heavy duty food processor (1000 Watt min)
1 cup regular pitted dates, chopped
1 cup medjool dates, depitted and chopped
Handheld mixer or Kitchenaid
1 cup cream of coconut
1/2 cup brown rice malt sirup
Zest of 1 grapefruit
2 cups of grapefruit particles sweetened with maple sirup or brown rice malt sirup / ripe mango
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