We have several reasons to celebrate today.
Number one. We started Green Kitchen Stories for exactly one year ago! It has been an unbelievable year, during which we have learned to know food loving people from all around the world. We are so incredibly grateful for all your cheering e-mails, tweets and comments. And even though we don’t answer all of you (shame on us), we read every single comment (more than once), and almost all the time they make us soooo happy (sometimes – very rarely – they make us a little bit sad and confused). So keep letting us know what you think about our recipes and stories and we will keep sharing healthy treats and vegetarian dinners.
Number two. Today is the first day on David’s paternity leave. And in less than two days we start our around the world trip! It’s such a perfect timing since Elsa becomes happier and funnier for every day that goes by. She is the kind of baby that never wants to sit where we put her, she always tries to stand up and look around, so we are quite certain that she will enjoy traveling.
Number three. We have decided where to go after 2 ½ months in USA. It’s pretty exciting. We just bought tickets to Beijing, Vietnam and Thailand!
It seems like we deserve a cake today, right?
Since we are leaving, our kitchen cabinets look pretty empty. We did find a bag of pumpkin seeds and a couple of dates, and that was all we needed to make these super easy mini cakes. We also made two different mousses and topped them with a fig. You could have any kind of filling on these, and since the cakes are quite sweet you don’t even have to add sugar to it.
Pumpkin Seed Cakes
Makes 8 mini cakes
1 cup pumpkin seeds
8 fresh dates
Divide the pumpkin seeds into three equal piles. Add the first pile into a blender and blend for 20 seconds. Add the dates and the second pile of the pumpkin seeds and blend until it becomes a sticky dough. You might need to help the blender by stirring around with a spoon. It gets easily stuck to the blender. Add the rest of the pumpkin seeds and blend for a short while, the point is to get a crunchy structure with seeds in diefferent sizes. Make 8 small balls with your hands and press them until they are 1/2 inch thick and 3 inch wide. Put in the fridge while making the mousses.
Raw Chocolate Mousse
1 avocado
1 ripe banana
3 tbsp raw cacao powder
1 tbsp raw cacao nibs
1 tbsp blueberries
Mix all the ingredients in a blender for about 45 seconds.
Lime Yoghurt Mousse
½ cup quark (or greek yoghurt that you’ve strained through a coffee filter for 30 minutes)
½ lime, juice
½ vanilla bean
Put the yoghurt in a bowl and whisk in lime and vanilla.
2 fresh figs for decoration, cut in boats.
Arrange the 8 mini cakes on a plate, put a dollop of mousse on each of them and decorate with a fig. Serve cold.