Raw Lemon Poppyseed Streusel Cakelettes

 

My First ever experience creating raw food was a citrus poppyseed cheesecake last summer.  It was amazing...so good that it had me thinking about venturing more into the world of raw food.  Little did I know that I would get hooked.  That citrus poppyseed combination was so delicious to me at the time, even though it was summer and lemons are at their peak during the opposite time of the year.  Which had me thinking last week...why don't I make something lemon poppyseed again?  To this day I still am daydreaming about how delicious that first raw cheesecake I had made was. 

 

 

I thought about making another one, but I decided to go a little different route this time with the lemon poppyseed.  Instead of a cheesecake, little mini cakelettes.  The cake was wonderful, sweet and tart with lemon, rich with almond and coconut.  I love the combination of lemon and coconut. I thought about frosting them, but instead decided on streusel. 

 

 

I am in love with streusel, and I thought, it would be so heavenly with the sweet cake, especially if I sandwiched some gooey lemon caramel in between the two.  About 4 bites of heaven they were!  Bringing back the memory of my first raw food making experience.  Now I am thinking I need to play with lemon more!

Raw Lemon Poppyseed Streusel Cakelettes
Makes 6

Cake:
2 1/2 cups raw almond meal

2 1/2 cups dried shredded unsweetened coconut

1 cup sprouted buckwheat flour or additional coconut

2 Tbsp lemon zest

1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup raw coconut nectar
2  small organic apples, very finely chopped
1/4 cup black poppyseeds

Raw Caramel:
8 medjool dates, pitted
1 Tbsp coconut butter
1/2 Tbsp raw coconut oil, warmed to liquid
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp raw coconut nectar, or raw agave nectar
3 Tbsp lemon juice
filtered water as needed

Streusel:
1/3 cup shredded, dried coconut
1/3 cup raw almond meal (or almond pulp that has been dried)
1/4 cup large flake dried coconut
a pinch of sea salt
3-4 Tbsp raw coconut nectar, or raw agave nectar

For the cake, combine the almond meal, coconut buckwheat flour, and sea salt in the food processor and process until finely ground like flour. Add the lemon juice and zest, vanilla, coconut nectar, and apples and process until smooth. Stir in poppyseeds until evenly blended.  Spread batter out into a square about 2 inches tall on a lined dehydrator sheet. Dehydrate at 115 for about 12 hours, then remove and use a round cookie cutter to cut out 6 circles. Place back in the dehydrator and continue to dehydrate until dry, but still moist in the center like cake about 2-3 more hours.

For the caramel, combine all ingredients in the food processor until very smooth (adding a Tbsp or two of water if too thick).  Spread the caramel over the cakes in 1/4 inch thick layer.

For the crumble, place the ingredients in the food processor and pluse until it starts to stick together in clumps.  Sprinkle the streusel over each cakelette, pressing down slightly to adhere it to the cakes.  Serve!