Raw Vegan Salted Caramel cheesecake

It was P’s birthday last week, and even though I knew what to get him for ages already, I really struggled deciding what cake to bake him.

P. is more a savoury kinda guy (except for Ccramel, he could have that on EVERYTHING), but I really believe there should be cake on every birthday. So after a long think through, I went for one of his all time favourites: NY style cheesecake and decided to top it up with a salted caramel frosted sauce.

Since we both eat mainly vegan,  I created a raw vegan, sugar free recipe for this, and I have to admit, it did work out really well!

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RECIPE

Crunchy base:

• 1 cup macadamia nuts (soaked)
• 1 cup almonds (soaked)
• ½ cup pitted Medjool dates
• bit of agave nectar

“Cheese” layer: 

• 1 ½ cups cashews
• ½ cup pitted Medjool dates
• 6 Tbs. coconut oi(gently warmed)
• a couple of Tbs. of lime juice
• bit raw agave nectar
• vanilla seeds

Salted Caramel Sauce:

• 1 cup soft Medjool dates, pitted
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup almond milk, 
• 2 Tbs. raw agave nectar
• 1 Tbs. coconut oil

1. Place the nuts and dates in separate bowls and let soak for a couple of hours.

2. Pulse macadamia nuts, almonds, agave nectar and dates in a food processor or blender to a sticky crumb-like consistency. and press the mixture into a cake shape.

3. Mix cashews, coconut oil, lime juice, agave nectar, vanilla and 6 Tbs. water in a blender until smooth. Pour mixture onto crust, and freeze for around 3 hours (or until firm). Remove from freezer,  blend all the caramel sauce ingredients and spread over the chilled cake. Done! The cake stays good for almost a week, when kept in the fridge!

Healthy foods and sunny moods

I’m on Instagram now as well. Follow me for some party/fashion/food/pineapple lovin’.

@laura_le_

@laura_le_

 

L.

DASH Magazine September Issue Launch Party

I just found some photos from last LFW: Dash magazine party vol2. I’ve got such good memories from that night ,so I thought I’d share them. (and off course cause DASH is a super inspiring magazine anyway!) With fashion week just a couple of weeks away, this might get you in the mood already!

So back in September, we where invited to their September Issue Party  at  Press Play Films in Vyner Street and after their launch party the year before (photos here), we knew this would be unmissable!

Sponsored by Jameson, Peroni, Zeitgeist, Ty Nant, TINALILIENTHAL, Ena Salon and Nail Rock and curated by Ryan Lanji, it was the perfect start of London Fashion week. Good location, good canapés, and goodie bags = a more than good evening.

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Dash is THE international fashion magazine with a strong focus on fashion illustration. Get yourself a copy!  http://dashmagazine.net/

(photos of last years party here)

L.

23 – cheetah jackets, pineapples and white sheets

It was my birthday last weekend, and I had a blast! Paul baked vegan carrot cupcakes and suprised me with champagne and presents in bed for breakfast. In the evening, he took me to the House of Wolf (amazing place in Islington, check it out here) for some ‘experimental dining’ and we went drinking and dancing after in Stoke Newington/ Dalston. Here’s some snapshots of an amazing night, thanks everyone who came out and for the birthday wishes.

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x L.

rooftop views

Nothing wrong with dreaming away with some good indian summer memories. One of my favourite ones lately is the first weekends of September. We went to the Dalston Roof Park , just around the corner of our new place, and enjoyed an amazing Southern American syle lazy lunch, organised by The Art of Dining, a young company that combines food, set design and art (anybody who knows me even a little bit would know I am a sucker for a combination like that!)

It definitely felt like the laziest lunch in London town that Sunday, with five  courses, picnic baskets filled with treasures, old romantic novels and slightly Southern American style music in the background. This all combined with cocktails, East-London views and a good, after summer sun made it an incredible, chilled day. Exactly how a Sunday should be.

 

On the menu:

–Baked beans slow cooked bean and molasses soup served in an American biscuit bowl

–Corn on the cob served Mexican style, with sour cream, parmesan, cumin, chilli and lime- Wilted bacon and shrimphot salad–Ribs’n’slaw, lamb ribs with Moroccan style slaw and pickles

– Sweet potato ice cream with a ginger bread flake

(Definitely check out their website for some more pop-up culinair fests to come: www.theartofdining.co.uk)

Went for a coffee at Beyond Retro on the way.

Dalston Roof Park:

Home-made bread and strong cocktails

Corn on the cob served Mexican style

bean soup served in an American biscuit bowl

Juicy ribs

Our picnic basket friend admiring the sweet potato ice cream

After the lazy lunch, we decided to do some low effort activities as we where too full to move. We went to check out some galleries at the Hackney Wicked Festival and just enjoyed coffee, drinks and art.

Let’s all hope for more sunny weekends to come, or just dream away with the ones we had.

L.

Egg

After a  sunny vintage shopping trip to Brighton yesterday, London looked rather grey this morning. To grey to go out for breakfast, so we decided to just cook what we had, wich was 1 egg each, spinach and loads of coffee…

In the end, our poached/boiled eggs on a bed of spiced spinach did taste surprisingly good. (although we needed a big lunch after!)

I will always love Sunday breakfasts in bed. Happy Sunday everyone.

L.

Apricot boost

I needed a good start of my new working week.

Nothing tastes better than a bowl of greek yoghurt, baby apricots and linseeds in bed after a long, Jubilee weekend (bless the Queen). With a cup of green tea (before my coffee) in the morning sunlight, it should be the start of a sunny and short work week.

 

(Fresh apricots are an excellent source of Vitamins A, C, E, and iron, and antioxidants! Health boost, yeah!)

 

Have a good week everybody

L.

Sunday Flowers

On Sunday me and Paul decided to enjoy the East London vibes and despite for the grey weather, had a nice day out. We started with a big breakfast at the Breakfast Club (to recover from our night out in Soho). We where lucky to arrive just before to queue got massive and had some amazing, filling food, just what we needed.I was wearing: Leather shorts : Zara,  Black&white top: Zara,  Boots: Topshop,  Bag: Zara,  Denim jacket: H&M (old),  Leather gloves: Primark

The Breakfast Club (Hoxton):

I had (as usual) a big portion of yoghurt with granola, fresh and dried fruits, nuts and bircher muesli, and Paul went for a veggie burrito:

Paul was clearly still recovering from our night out in Soho on Saturday:

After breakfast we walked to the Columbia Road Flower Market:

Bumped into Jesus:

And a dying Killer Whale:

Tried on some hats, as I am looking for a nice one for those bad hair days:

After wandering around for a while, we met up with James at the The Old Shoreditch Station. A (coffee)bar + shop+ exhibition space that I very much like, as it reminds me of all my favorite coffee places in Antwerp.

More about The Breakfast Club here and The Old Shoredtich Station here.

Have a good week everybody!

L.

Roka London

After spending Easter with my family in Belgium (which was so lovely!), me and Paul decided to treat ourself on some good food to celebrate I was back in London. We decided to try out Roka, a contemporary Japanese restaurant in Charlotte street that we passed so many times and what has apparently been a celeb hotspot just around our corner for a long time (have been spotted here: Angelina and Brad, Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow, J-lo and more)

So our hopes on some good quality food where high, and we definitely didn’t leave disappointed, or with an empty stomach (of wich could not be said of our wallets)

As we couldn’t take our eyes (and hands) of the  food, no celebs where spotted.

We had some spicy edamame beans first:

Followed by some soft shell crab (my favourite dish of the evening):

Some asparagus and brocoli on the side:

I went for grilled fish as a main, and Paul had these juicy baby back ribs:

Off course we couldnt leave without a dessert, and went for a chocolate sundae with caramel and vanilla ice cream.

Good food, good vibe, would definitely recommend this for a special occasion.

More info about Roka here.

L.

Song Saa Private Island

This is my last post about my trip to Cambodia a few weeks ago. I decided to dedicate a whole post to Song Saa, as this place has made an enormous impression on me.

I was a bit sceptical when I heard we where going to a private, luxurious resort at the end of our trip. Cambodia is an amazing country, but it is still in full development. A lot of people are still living on the streets or getting under paid. So when I heard about our last place of residence of our trip, I didn’t know this would be very ethical correct after traveling through the country and seeing some amazing, but also worrying things

But all my prejudices disappeared when I arrived at the beautiful Song Saa Island. Not only does everything look part of the nature and blends in perfect with the Island flora, the idea of the island, besides being a resort, is research and the owners are protecting the whole area.

They have a team of 4 people working with government and non-government organisations, conservation authorities and community leaders to ensure Song Saa Island never loses the things that make it so special. (including a marine reserve covering one million square metres, where it’s forbidden to fish and is used for research)

To ensure their guests realize the value of what they see when they visit, they currently have two researchers, linked to Australia’s James Cook University, working on a field guide to Song Saa’s marine life. (read more about its sustainability here)

Besides  all of this, another thing I noticed is how beautifully every little detail on the island is designed. When I talked to the staff about how much I loved all the materials used and that I clearly saw there was thinking behind the interior of our villa, they told me Malita, one of the owners is actually a Interior Designer. She clearly has an amazing eye for detail and material and I really admire how she created not only a luxurious resort, but a whole experience  with these pure, natural materials, without losing any of the islands features.

As you can tell ,I could talk about Song Saa for ages, (and I didn’t start about the amazing food yet!) but I recommend to go to their website to read more (and definitely check out the resort photos, as I feel I didn’t capture enough of its beauty on mine)

We had our own jungle villa, with private infinity pool, sea view, outside and inside showers, an amazing kitchen and much more:

Breakfast on the water:

View from the jungle:

Diner (all the food was cooked by star chef Neil Wager ,who has cooked for the likes of Prince Andrew, the King of Spain, Sarah Ferguson, David Beckham and Brad Pitt) 

Chilling with a drink at the bar:

Lunch on the beach:

Last diner, BBQ in/by the pool:

(To see more about Song Saa Private Island, click here)

L.