
From The Asian Reporter, V19, #20 (May 26, 2009), page 13.
Kiss your oven goodbye for a summer of delicious raw desserts
Ani’s Raw Food Desserts
By Ani Phyo
De Capo Press, 2009
Paperback, 199 pages, $17.95
By Pamela Ellgen
My idea of a good dessert is a homemade chocolate cake with a pound of
butter, eggs, brown sugar, and the best melted chocolate on the market,
dense enough that even frosting seems unnecessary. However, I recently moved
into an apartment with an oven that heats to only one temperature: fiery
hot. So, I resigned myself to a summer sans baking.
Days after moving in, I stumbled across Ani Phyo’s new book, Ani’s Raw
Food Desserts. You can imagine my skepticism given my aforementioned
love for baking with butter. But, I’m happy to say, Phyo not only answered
my oven woes, but also opened my palate to the glorious world of raw food.
Best of all, her concoctions satisfied my sweet tooth. Goodbye chocolate
cake. Hello Mango Sorbet-Macaroon Tartlets, Pecan Pie Cookies, and Mini
Chocolate Lava Cakes.
Although Phyo’s delicious treats and stunning photos are incentive enough
to follow her lead in the kitchen, she lays the groundwork for her recipes
with a myriad of reasons for raw, vegan living.
"You’ll feel stronger, healthier, and more vibrant on the inside. Radiant
health, clear skin, shiny hair, and a powerful, lean, and beautiful body is
what shows up on the outside," she says.
She had me at Mayan Crunch Truffle Balls, but the health benefits were a
bonus I didn’t expect from a book of desserts. And it gets better; raw,
vegan living dramatically lessens one’s carbon footprint.
Nevertheless, my prejudice for baked goods survived throughout the
grocery store as I shopped for agave nectar, cacao powder, and raw cashews.
And as I formed the last of Phyo’s Pecan Pie Cookies, I worried I might be
accused of false advertising when I asked my toddler, "Do you want a
cookie?"
I held my breath as I handed him the moist cake. He gobbled up two of
them before dinner was over. And, thanks to Phyo’s recipes being chock full
of fruit and nuts and forgoing gluten, dairy, and refined sugar, I didn’t
even feel guilty! Pecans, dates, cinnamon, and orange juice — what could be
healthier?
So, did the cookies pass the taste tests of anyone outside a high chair?
Yes. With help from my spouse, I ate almost half of the recipe before
covering and storing them in the refrigerator. Aside from being simple and
absolutely delicious, the cookies took me less than 10 minutes to make and
tasted even better than the inordinately expensive energy bars I’ve been
buying for years.
After the cookies, I moved on to a slightly more complicated recipe,
Mango Sorbet-Macaroon Tartlets. I say "complicated" only in comparison to
her other simple, straightforward fare. Phyo says simplicity came as a
response to limited time, but it allowed her to discover the power of using
fewer ingredients and letting each unique flavor really come through.
The tartlets were a perfect balance of sweet and savory with a crust of
ground cashews, agave nectar, and shredded coconut and a mango sorbet
filling. However, mine would have been better if I had more than a
hand-me-down food processor and pulsed the crust mixture to a finer grain.
Ani’s Raw Food Desserts is a knockout. It’s proof you can have your
cake and eat it too: sweet treats, a slimmer waistline, and a healthier
planet. And, I didn’t miss my oven for a moment.
Ani Phyo will talk about Ani’s Raw Food Desserts at Powell’s City
of Books, located at 1005 West Burnside Street in Portland, on Sunday, May
31 at 7:30pm. To learn more, call (503) 228-4651 or visit <www.powells.com>.
* * *
Pecan Pie Cookies
1 cup pecans
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon orange oil or orange juice
1 cup pitted Medjool dates
Combine the pecans, cinnamon, and orange oil in the food processor and
pulse into small chunks. Add the dates and process until mixed well. Scoop
the dough by 1½ tablespoons onto a sheet tray lined with parchment, and
flatten into cookies.
Will keep for a week in the fridge or several weeks in the freezer (thaw
before eating). Makes 10 cookies.
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