Raw Vegan Poppyseed Pastry from Brigitte Mars's "Rawsome" Book

Raw Poppy seeds.  You don't want to pick these up from your supermarket, most likely because they don't sell them in bulk.  You need one cup just to make one recipe, so order them in bulk from somewhere!  I use Mountain Rose.

Sometimes I have a book that I know is awesome, ha ha, like Rawsome by Brigitte Mars, & I "forget" to use it for awhile.  And then I keep browsing through the pages & realize that the recipes are super easy & don't call for crazy stuff & make a list of ingredients I mean to pick up when I go to the store.  Then I lose the list, sometimes in the store.  Etc....Well,  there were SO few ingredients in this amazing dish, that I couldn't mess up too badly.  Oddly enough, I actually had a pound of poppy seeds that had gotten through Mountain Rose Herbs.  

Poppy seeds remind me of childhood because one of the cakes my mom made most often was the Lemon-Poppyseed Bundt cake.  Thick, dense, with a touch of sweetness.  Perfect with a strong black tea or coffee.  Then there were the kolaches.  Bohemian flour cookies with centers of cream cheese, jams, or poppyseeds.  Of course we used the "Solo" brand of "poppyseed mixture" most times.  Filled with stuff I consider icky now.  But I haven't really been able to enjoy those desserts since I really have sworn off sugar, gluten, & "junk".  So I have been "eyeing" this "Poppyseed Pastry Recipe" for some time now.

Raisins.  Soaked.  I buy organic because Raisins are really grapes, and grapes are really sprayed.  But I buy the purple box at Whole Foods, which is marketed for kids I think!  The raisins in the "Produce" Section in the cylindrical containers are much pricier!  

A 3 ingredient crust.  This is EASIER than the Bundt cake that I remember from my childhood!

You are supposed to soak & dehydrate the walnuts.  I actually did!  It leaves this "airiness" in the middle.  It's a step though, that I often skip with raw recipes.  Sometimes I just grind the raw nuts, without having soaked them.  I guess I am just kind of an enzymatically imperfect kind of girl.

You have your soaked dates & orange rind.  I don't always buy Oranges organic, but for "Orange Rind", yes, I bought one organic oranges.  

Food Processor.  In a few seconds you have a crust.

I don't think the recipe mentioned a pie plate size, but I went with 8 inches.
There's a joke in there somewhere.

And the size was perfect.

You spread the Poppyseed/Raisin Mixture over crust (This goes in food processor also).

Honestly I was kind of "concerned" at first because the filling is ONLY poppyseeds & raisins!  And it seemed awfully "seedy" and I tried not to use the entire amount of raisins.  It seemed like it wasn't really "sticking together" properly.  But it did taste great.

Somehow I managed the discipline to put the pie in the fridge and let it "set".  

I was totally blown away by this pastry!!  It managed to "set" beautifully and it seemed the filling has transformed into something a little less strange & seedy to a filling that was held together beautifully.  The orange rind made the crust taste amazing to me.  Super fresh!  

I ate the entire recipe in 2 days!!  My hubby did get a few little bites, but he had some "junk" food of his own that he was "working on".  I don't know if other "non-raw" peeps would love this pie as much as I did!  It was still "seedy", but for me, it was perfect.  It was always the fillings in the Kolaches that made me crazy for them.  So I was in heaven eating a "poppyseed" mixture.  Just super easy to make as well.  I will definitely be making this one again!!

This video is of Brigitte preparing 6 super easy raw dishes.  Staples like almond milk, Kale Salad, Jicama Fries, Zuchinni Pasta, Flax Crackers & Cacao Nibs Dessert (these days the Agave might be replaced by something less controversial).  I love Brigitte because she is kind of a "Nature Girl" Herbalist who carries herself with such a simple elegance & grace.  She has lots of books and one that really like as well is her  "Beauty as Nature" book that has lots of homemade recipes for mouthwashes, body oils, toothpastes, etc.....You might know her daughter "Rainbeau" from her yoga videos.




Allen Ginsberg.  "Father Death Blues".

Does anyone have any "Raw Vegan Kolache" recipes??  I might try to "recreate" my favorite "Kolache", but don't know if the "walnut" base is too thick & heavy.  Buckwheat imparts kind of  a strong flavor.  Maybe a raw ground Quinoa flours??  Let me know if you have recreated my favorite Bohemian treats "Raw Style"!  My mom has perfected the "Vegan Kolache" but it has flour & sugar....I know I am a difficult daughter, as I keep making her recipe "evolve"!