GUEST POST: RAW EASTER CAKE POPS BY ELENORE "EARTHSPROUT"

Photo: Elenore Bendel Zahn.

It's time for Guest Post number two! The idea with this Guest post series is to introduce you to awesome foodie people that inspire me. Some of them are already super big in the food blogosphere, so you might know of them already, and some are a bit newer. I'm SO thrilled to have today's particular person as a guest here on Cashew Kitchen, cause I've been following her for a long time and she's a HUGE inspiration! Today's interviewee and recipe contributor is no one else than Elenore of the food and lifestyle blog Earthsprout!! When I first discovered Elenores blog I quickly fell in love with her sparkling energy and Mother Earthy spirit. I subscribed to the news letter and found "The Greenilicious Manifesto" in my inbox, and I desperately wanted some of that superhero vibe that Elenore projects. Plant based food and green fingers seems to be her recipe, and when reading her blog posts you just want to move out to an old house somewhere and start digging your hand into the soil!

Btw Elenore has also released an awesome Raw breakfast app called "The 30 Raw Breakfast App" that for example inspired me to try cilantro in smoothies, and I frequently (like, every day) drink different variations of the "Golden Detox Drink" before breakfast : ) You can find the app on App Store!A lot of the things I know about the health benefits, history and cooking methods of different foods, I've learnt through her "Fun & Fabulous Facts" section of each blog post. I can highly recommend you to really read those parts when you visit her blog (which you have to unless you're already familiar with it!! ;) and not just jump forward to the recipes, bc you can learn so much cool and awesome info there!Elenore also has a BEAUtiful instagram you have to check out! Her nick is @elenoreearth : )

Without further ado, I give the word to Elenore! Enjoy : )scroll down for interview :)

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Det är dags för nästa gästinlägg!! Tanken med den här serien av gästinlägg är att introducera er för grymma foodies som inspirerar mig. Några av dem är redan superstora i matbloggvärlden, så ni kanske redan känner till dem, och andra är lite mindre eller nyare. Jag är väldigt stolt över att få presentera dagens gästen eftersom det är en person jag har följt väldigt länge, och hon är en STOR inspirationskälla! Dagens intervjuobjekt och receptmakare är ingen annan än Elenore från mat- och livsstilsbloggen Earthsprout! När jag först upptäckte hennes blogg blev jag snabbt förälskad i hennes sprudlande energi och Moder Jord-utstrålning. Jag började prenumerera på nyhetsbrevet och "The Greenilicious Manifesto" trillade in i inboxen. Jag ville absolut (och vill fortfarande!) ha en del av den där superhjälte-viben Elenore sänder ut. Vegans kost och gröna fingrar verkar vara hennes hemlighet, och när en läser hennes blogg så vill en massa flytta ut till ett gammalt hus nånstans och stoppa ner fingrarna i jorden och börja plantera!Elenore har förresten också släppt en helt grym Raw frukostapp som heter "The 30 Raw Breakfast App" som bland annat inspirerade mig till att testa koriander i smoothies, och jag dricker ofta (läs: varje dag) olika varianter av "Golden Detox Drink" före frukost : ) Appen finns i App Store. Hett tips!Mycket av det jag vet om hälsofördelar, näringsinfo, historia och tillagningsmetod av olika livsmedel har jag lärt mig från "Fun & Fabulous Facts" sektionen i Elenores blogginlägg. Jag kan verk.ligen rekommendera er att läsa de avsnitten när ni sen efter den här intervjun kollar in hennes blogg (vilket ni måste göra om ni inte har sett!! ;) och inte bara hoppar direkt till recepten, för en kan verkligen lära sig så himla mycket häftig info därifrån.Elenore har också en suuuperfin instagram som ni kan kolla in! @elenoreearth heter hon där : )För att inte babbla på för mycket lämnar jag här ordet till Elenore! Trevlig läsning : )Ps. Intervjun är på engelska!Photo: Elenore Bendel Zahn.Hi Elenore! Can you tell us a bit about yourself?Hiya glorious Cashew lovers.. and thank you Agnes for inviting me into your beautiful nook on the interwebs! I’m Elenore Bendel Zahn, an all-things-earth obsessed Swede and founder of www.earthsprout.com. I began my Greenylicious journey by all of a sudden (believe me, I surprised myself as well as many others) making the biggest vegetable garden and from there on came studies in organic gardening. This inevitably sparked an interest in what I was growing and so studies in natural nutrition, a passion for whole foods, recipe developing and sharing what was in my heart came next. I guess that sounds more like an answer to ’what do I do’ and not ’who am I’ but truth be told, I am lucky enough to say that all things Earthsprout are, are really such a major part of my soul and my mission here on this planet. I am a sassy, fun and slightly food obsessed tree hugger and the fact that I get to spread the word on the Greenylicious lifestyle - well, that’s just awesome. This aside, I am a mother to a little (not so much anymore) 18 month old boy, Caspian and living with my husband, Fabian in the very south of Sweden (close to Ystad).I can totally relate to that. The blog and everything within it as well as the food blogger community is such a huge part of my identity too, that it is sometimes hard to separate your "being" from what you are "doing". Can you tell us a little more about the story behind how Earthsprout came to be? : )Well I guess I just reviled all that above.. BUT adding to the story one of the things I always tell people. Don’t be afraid to combine your passions and see where it may lead. I was living in Spain for a while, working in an organic vegetable garden and during that year I had a lot of time to explore myself and my options. As crazy as it sounded in my head, creating a platform where I could spread soul-shaking inspiration was what I wanted and combining my love for this earth and gardening with my romance with whole foods and nutrition, my thing with styling + beautiful spaces, a passion for photography and the things you’re able to convey through it and being in touch with your intuition, spiritual growth and that in tuned passionate living. Well.. let’s just say my head was skeptical but my heart? Oh my heart exploded in a big ’YES’, so yeah I went with it and have never looked back.That's so amazing! Wow, I hope this help more people to have the courage to believe that they can do it! Photo: Elenore Bendel Zahn.How would you describe your food philosophy?Eat with joy, presence, intuition and passion. Preferably seasonal. I personally eat plant-based, veggie-loaded and fresh produce packed meals. They are wildly delicious and happen to be healthy too. Win win!I love that! It's such a simple and awesome mindset. I'm actually really trying real hard to be present and sit with both feet on the floor when I eat my meals nowadays after I read your post about eating with intention :)I'm curious: typically, how does your process from idea to finished recipe and blog post look like?I have a gazillion ideas running through me all the time, some of which are for bigger and more long term project that require a lot of work and planning and some are more short term plans, maybe for a recipe or an article. I keep documents of ideas on my phone, computer, notepads - there’re everywhere! If it’s a specific recipe I’ll then shop/forage/harvest ingredients, think about what feeling I wish to convey and then style + shoot thereafter. I’ll edit the photos, research, write my heart out and publish once it’s ready for the world.Photo: Elenore Bendel Zahn.Which 5 ingredients will one find in your kitchen? Lemon, avocado, fresh veggies, steel-cut oats (..and so many other things).Do you have an all time favorite recipe you keep coming back to? :)I rarely make the same thing twice except when it comes to snacks, desserts or breakfasts. In those cases I love making my Powerful Porridge Mix (soon to be published on Earthsprout) seasonal variations of my Greenylicious Super Smoothie and some easy to whip up raw chocolate treat like the Raw Love Bar or a raw superfood-y chocolate mousse/ice cream.Tell us something about the recipe you are sharing today! Why this particular recipe?I’m sharing a recipe for Raw Easter Cake Pops with you all seeing as it is that bouncy, sparkly, spring-y time of year again (this recipe is from the goldmine-like archives of Earthsprout). You can make endless variations of these cake pops (which I do that all the time). The base is a versatile 5 ingredients thing that you’ll whip up in no time at all and its one that will boost your system with so many nutrients and super boosts at that. Also.. make these and anyone receiving an easter egg from You will be so darn lucky. Get creating and Happy Spring!Photo: Elenore Bendel Zahn.Raw Easter Cake PopsNo, these cake pops are not made of Play-doh, instead we use a very simple raw food base and play around with the bouncing natural colors of wheat grass, turmeric and beet. Go crazy and find your own favorite color and taste, what about lavender/liquorice or a total chocolate covered craze?Makes around 25 cake popsBase1  1/4 cup natural cashews1 cup yellow raisins4 tbsp cacao butter, melted (coconut oil works fine)1 tbsp firm raw honeya pinch of good quality salt1/2 tsp pure vanilla (ground)1. Soak the cashews for at least 5 hours or overnight, rinse well.2. Add the cashews to a food processor and blend until a butter is formed, add the rest of the ingredients and blend until fully combined.3. Divide cashew dough in 3, add the coloring and flavoring ingredients, decorate, put on sticks and let sit in the freezer up until 10 minutes before serving.Red cake pops2-3 tsp juice of beet root (Tip! Peel, grate and squeeze)3 tbsp dry goji berries, ground – for decorationYellow cake pops1/2 tsp turmeric1/2 lemon, zest and juice3 tbsp bee pollen – for decorationGreen cake pops1/2 tsp wheat grass powder10 mint leaves, finely chopped5 mint leaves, finely chopped – for decorationPhotos and recipe in this post courtesy of Elenore Bendel Zahn.