TORTA DOLCE CON FRAGOLE

I have been to beautiful Milan last week and this inspired me to whip up this amazing dessert for you: a torta dolce con fragole. Milan is an incredibly vivid and sunny city with lots of parks and green areas and even more fresh, super ripe, juicy fruits. Today's recipe is my rawified version of a classic Italian treat and I am excited what our Italian friends in this community will say about it.

This dessert combines a soft, sponge cake like dough with a rich citrus-infused (I used lemon and kumquat) vanilla cream and layers of juicy sweet strawberries. It is sweet, it is rich, it is fresh and even only made of raw fruits and nuts. If you love (used to love) Italian desserts, give this one a try. It amazes me all the time how easy it is to create a healthy yet super delicious treat!

TORTA DOLCE CON FRAGOLE
Makes 2 small cakes (I used 2 4 inch forms)

Sponge cake
1/2 cup almonds, soaked overnight
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 t liquid sweetener (I used agave) or 2 pitted dates
few drops pure vanilla extract
pinch of sea salt

Citrus-infused cream
1/2-2/3 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight (amount depending on how thick you want the cream to be)
juice of 1 lemon
juice of 3 small kumquats (or juice of 1/2 orange)
few drops pure vanilla extract
1/2 t ground cinnamon

1 cup sliced strawberries

For the sponge cake, pulse almonds into flour, add coconut, sweetener, vanilla and sea salt und pulse until losely sticking together. Press into two small cake forms. Place in the fridge for 5 minutes. Place two layers of sliced strawberries on top of the dough.
For the citrus-infused cream, blend cashews with lemon and kumquat juice, vanilla and cinnamon until smooth. Layer cream generously over strawberries and dough and place cakes in freezer for 2 h. Add a final layer of sliced strawberries and thaw for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!