This is the first ‘magic’ cake I have made in months. It was a bit tricky finding the resources I needed while travelling throughout Europe, so for the most part I just surrendered and went with the flow. And when I first came home, my sciatic injury, which had flared up due to travel, drained me of any spare energy I might have had for creating magic in the kitchen. I eased my way in slowly, first with some tahini ice-cream biscuits, then some vegan cheese and finally this, a return to form with a new creation.

“What shall I make it for?”, I asked my husband. Sometimes, when I make desserts, they are just desserts. But I was in the mood for a little kitchen spell-craft.

“Structure. Support.”, he replied.

“Do you mean physically, on a musculoskeletal level?”, I asked, “For my hip injury?”

“Yes. A healing cake.”

I agreed, and set this intention as I gathered the ingredients, but as I went along, it felt like there were other layers or aspects to this cake. It needed to be simple and humble. It needed to be wholesome and to feel like comfort food. It also needed to have a light-hearted, uplifting mood to it, something that gave me hope.

I like the word wholesome. It seems innocent and mature at the same time, full and round without being pretentious or too self-conscious, luscious without being cheap and tacky, simple yet satisfying.

When I eat this cake, I feel like I am reconnecting with the simple things in life, as though I am following a trail of crumbs back into my centre, back into the warm light within that sustains me.

When I made it, I used brazil nuts for the base because they are so solid and strong. This seemed to match nicely with my husbands ‘structure and support’ intention. While making it, I visualised my auric field and my musculoskeletal system realigning themselves.

I pre-soaked the dates. This is the first time I have soaked anything. I instinctively felt as though I needed the softness of the water and I loved the way the dates swelled in the water, like an oasis in the desert drinking in nourishment. When I de-pipped the soaked dates, the flesh parted gently in my hands, as though I were peeling back layers of the aura and removing blockages with great ease. I kept the bulk of the soaked dates for the body of the cake, which needed to be softer, smoother and more moist, but I added three of them to the base to tie it all together.

If you would like the recipe for this cake, please visit my vegan site. 

I have been having a love affair with bananas lately, so they had to be in the cake. They fit the brief: simple, wholesome, light-hearted and nourishing!

There is something almost buttery or pancake batterish about this mix. I really enjoyed licking the bowl afterwards! The sunflower seeds are the really special ingredient here. They added a chewiness and body to the cake that it might not otherwise have had. Sunflower seeds full of sunlight to go with my yellow bananas. Delicious. As with the brazil nuts in the base, this ingredient is honouring the ‘structure and support’ intention for this cake. When I was a child, we had giant sunflowers in the garden and I loved harvesting the seeds.