Raw Vegan Failure - Sorry VeganLisa

I love the idea of being a raw vegan but have never committed to it.  Every now and then I like to pretend so when I saw a recipe for Raw Apple Streusel Bars on Vegan Lisa's blog, I had to have a go.

First thing was to check the list of ingredients:

For the Cashew Crust: 2 cups of cashews (check), 1/4 tsp sea salt (check), 2 tbsp agave (what??)

I decided, purely by guessing, that golden syrup was a suitable substitute for agave.

For the Raw Apple Butter: 2 cups of apple (check, although I will have to work out how much a cup is), cinamon, ginger, clove, dates (check), ground chia (errr. no, I used some sunflower seeds), lemon juice (check).

For the Streusel: walnuts (check), coconut sugar (seriously??, coconuts have sugar? - brown sugar substituted), salt and cinamon (check).

For the Cashew Icing: cashews, lemon juice and water (check, check, check).

Ok.  Let's get started:

looks like my usual helper is having a power nap.  

Perhaps for the best because she doesn't like the 'whiz, whiz' (food processor).

my best guess at a cup measurement

Whiz 2 cups of cashew nuts and 1/4 tsp of salt to make a fine breadcrumb then add the agave (or in my case golden syrup) until combined.  Press into a tin.

the cashew crust ready to be pressed into the tin.  It looks really dry here but I think I made it too wet.

pressed in and rolled out.

Then you blend all the ingredients for the apple butter and spread it evenly over the top.  Mine looks a lot more 'rustic' and 'wholemeal' than Lisa's.

Next slice an apple really thinly and layer over the top of the apple butter:

apple layer in place.

Then whiz up the walnuts and other ingredients for the streusel and spread over the top of the apple layer.  I had to use about twice as much as it says in the recipe but then I wasn't confident about how much a cup was.

Finally whiz up the ingredients for the cashew icing.  My helper woke up at this point so I had to stop using the whiz whiz before I would have liked.  This meant that the icing wasn't as smooth as it could have been.

I had extra cashew icing so I used it all up.  That's why the lines are so thick.

This is where my version deviates radically from Lisa's.

Next you realise that the whole thing is too wet.  So you put it in the oven and bake it for half an hour, totally failing in the concept of making raw food snacks.

the finished (and baked) product.

Absolutely delicious.  If you are going to try this, I really recommend that you follow Lisa's recipe.  She seems to be able to do it a whole lot better than me.