Raw Chai Mocha Cream Cake (Cappuccino Cream Pie)
A no-bake layered cake: a date-nut crust, a silky espresso-and-chai-spiced filling with a malty, butterscotch-caramel depth from lucuma and mesquite, a cloud of vanilla coconut cream, and a glossy chocolate ganache
Yield: One 8-inch cake, 12–16 slices · Active: 45 min · Total: 7–9 hours, mostly freezing (overnight is easiest) · Year-round (made from pantry staples) · Best eaten: midday or early afternoon (the espresso and chocolate both contain caffeine)
Ingredients
Crust
2 cups cashews
1 cup macadamia nuts or walnuts
1½ cups pitted Medjool dates, roughly chopped
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Coconut oil, for greasing the pan
Chai cappuccino filling
2 cups cashews (soaked 4–6 hours, or 1 hour in hot water, then drained)
2 ripe avocados
¾ cup nut milk (cashew, almond, or coconut)
1 cup freshly brewed espresso, cooled to room temperature (or 1 cup nut milk plus a few drops of Medicine Flower coffee extract)
½–¾ cup raw honey or maple syrup, to taste
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (or the seeds of 1 vanilla bean)
2 pinches Baja Gold sea salt
1 cup melted cacao butter (chop it and set the bowl in a larger bowl of hot water until melted)
2 tbsp sunflower lecithin (optional, for an extra-silky texture)
2½ tsp grass-fed gelatin (optional, for a firmer set and cleaner slices)
Chai spices: 1 tsp ground cardamom, 1 tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon, ½ tsp ground ginger, and ½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbsp mesquite powder, for a malty, caramel-like note
1 tbsp lucuma powder, for a maple-butterscotch sweetness
(If you use coffee extract instead of real espresso, the filling will look a little green from the avocados.)
Vanilla cream layer
½ cup cashews, soaked and drained
1½ cups full-fat coconut cream
¼ cup maple syrup
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp melted cacao butter (this helps the layer set firm)
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
Chocolate ganache
3 oz (about ½ cup) 100% cacao chocolate, finely chopped, or 100% cacao chips (or raw cacao paste, for a fully raw cake)
¼ cup full-fat coconut cream
1 tbsp coconut oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
Pinch of Baja Gold sea salt
To decorate: a light dusting of finely ground espresso and cacao powder, whole roasted coffee beans, and a pinch of cinnamon
Instructions
Make the crust
Grind the nuts. Place the nuts in a food processor and pulse to a fine crumb.
Add the rest. Add the remaining ingredients and process until the dates are broken down into small pieces and the mix sticks together well when pressed between your fingers. (If your dates are dry, soak them in warm water for 10 minutes and drain well first.)
Press. Grease an 8-inch springform pan with coconut oil and line the bottom with parchment, then press the crust evenly onto the bottom and sides.
Make the filling
Bloom the gelatin (if using). Sprinkle the gelatin over 3 tbsp of the nut milk and let it sit 5 minutes, then warm it gently until fully dissolved. Gelatin added dry won't set and can clump. Let it cool to warm, not hot, so the raw honey stays raw.
Blend. Make sure your ingredients are at room temperature. Place all the filling ingredients (except the cacao butter and lecithin) in a high-speed blender, including the dissolved gelatin, mesquite, and lucuma, and blend on high until completely smooth and creamy, 1–2 minutes. Taste and adjust the sweetness and spices.
Add the cacao butter. With the blender running on low, stream in the melted cacao butter, then add the lecithin, and blend until fully combined. Adding the cacao butter last, to room-temperature ingredients, keeps it from firming into little flecks when it hits anything cold.
Pour. Pour the filling into the crust. Hold the pan tightly with both hands and tap it firmly on the counter a few times to release any air bubbles.
Freeze. Smooth the top with a spatula and freeze 4–6 hours, until firm.
Add the vanilla cream layer
Blend the soaked cashews, coconut cream, maple syrup, vanilla, and salt until silky, then blend in the melted cacao butter. Pour it over the set filling, smooth the top, and freeze 1–2 hours more, until firm.
Add the ganache
Gently warm the coconut cream until steaming (don't boil it), pour it over the chopped chocolate with the coconut oil, and let it sit 2 minutes. Whisk until smooth and glossy, then whisk in the maple syrup and salt. Warming the chocolate with coconut cream makes a true ganache that won't seize, which can happen when a little maple syrup is stirred straight into melted chocolate. Let it cool slightly, then spread it over the frozen vanilla layer. Freeze 30 minutes to set.
Serve
Unmold. Run a thin knife around the edge of the pan, release the springform, and lift off the ring.
Slice while frozen, with a sharp knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between cuts.
Decorate. Dust the top lightly with ground espresso, cacao powder, and a pinch of cinnamon, and decorate with whole roasted coffee beans. Let the slices sit 20–30 minutes before serving, until creamy but still holding their shape.
A note on "raw": Every cashew sold has been heat-treated to remove the caustic oil in its shell, even when labeled "raw," and the espresso is brewed, so "raw" here means no-bake. The raw honey stays truly raw, since nothing it touches is heated.
A note on caffeine and honey: This cake contains caffeine from the espresso and chocolate, so enjoy it earlier in the day, and serve kids and anyone pregnant a smaller slice, or make it with decaf espresso. Raw honey shouldn't be given to babies under 12 months; use maple syrup if little ones will be eating it. With the gelatin, this cake isn't vegan; leave it out for a softer, plant-based version.
Storage
Store the whole cake or slices in an airtight container in the freezer up to 3 months, tightly wrapped, or in the fridge up to 3 days (the avocado holds its color best when frozen). Thaw slices 20–30 minutes before serving.
Nourishment Notes
Avocado — monounsaturated fats, potassium, folate, and fiber, plus a silky, creamy body with no dairy.
Cashews — magnesium, copper, and zinc.
Macadamias — monounsaturated fats, including palmitoleic acid (an omega-7 fat), and manganese.
Walnuts (if using) — ALA omega-3s and polyphenols.
Medjool dates — potassium, magnesium, and fiber, with natural sweetness.
Cacao butter — stearic acid, a saturated fat that research shows has a neutral effect on cholesterol, plus a rich, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
Espresso — chlorogenic acids and other polyphenols.
Chai spices — cinnamon's polyphenols help moderate blood sugar, and cardamom, ginger, and nutmeg are traditionally used to support digestion.
Mesquite powder — ground from the pods of the mesquite tree, it adds a malty, caramel-like sweetness along with fiber, calcium, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.
Lucuma powder — from a Peruvian fruit with a maple-butterscotch flavor, it brings beta-carotene, niacin, iron, and fiber.
Grass-fed gelatin — glycine and proline, the same building blocks found in bone broth.
100% cacao chocolate — magnesium, iron, flavanols, and theobromine, a gentle stimulant.
Raw honey — its enzymes stay intact in the no-bake filling.
Sunflower lecithin — phosphatidylcholine, which supports cell membranes.
As a circadian treat, this cake lands best at midday or in the early afternoon, when your body handles sweets most gracefully in daylight and the caffeine won't interfere with your sleep.
Sourcing
Cashews — organic (every cashew sold has been heat-treated to remove the caustic oil in its shell, even "raw" ones)
Macadamias — organic, from Hawaii or Australia, or organic walnuts, kept in the fridge so their oils stay fresh
Medjool dates — organic, soft, and plump
Avocados — organic Hass, ripe but not overripe
Espresso — organic, freshly roasted, single-origin beans, freshly ground, ideally from a roaster that tests for mold toxins, or Medicine Flower coffee extract
Nut milk — homemade, or an organic nut milk with no gums or added sugar
Raw honey — organic, local, and unfiltered
Maple syrup — organic Grade A dark
Cacao butter — organic and raw, in wafers or chunks
Sunflower lecithin — organic and non-GMO (sunflower lecithin is extracted without the chemical solvents often used for soy lecithin)
Grass-fed gelatin (optional) — from grass-fed, pasture-raised cattle, with nothing added (Great Lakes Wellness is one example; certified organic gelatin is rare)
Mesquite and lucuma powders — organic; Navitas Organics makes both
Coconut cream — organic and full-fat, with just coconut and water; Native Forest Simple comes in BPA-free cans
Coconut oil — organic, virgin, and unrefined
100% cacao chocolate or raw cacao paste — organic, single-origin, and tested for heavy metals (a 2022 Consumer Reports investigation found concerning levels of lead and cadmium in many dark chocolates); Pascha makes organic 100% cacao chips
Spices (cardamom, Ceylon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg) — organic and non-irradiated; buy whole nutmeg and grate it fresh
Vanilla — organic pure vanilla extract with no added sugar, or whole vanilla beans
Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall