Episode 162 of the Womb Centered Healing podcast is called Pleasure Herbalism with Monarda Thrasher.
Pleasure herbalism. I love this term. I frequently find myself making infusions and tinctures, but my favorite way to get to know herbs is by getting creative in the kitchen. In the kitchen I feel the lines of communication really opening. My thoughts dance with possible flavor combinations. Some simply prompted by the way names sound together... juniper & jasmine. How melodious. It's as if I can taste them in my mind.
I hear herbs in the back of the spice cabinet whispering... "me. me. I'm the flavor you're searching for". I search through the rack, smelling and shaking, until I find the scent that matches the voice I've heard.
I love watching the way colors melt and meld into each other. How the pigments of turmeric paint anything they come into contact with. How cacao melts, slowly and gracefully, undoubtedly taking charge of whatever liquid she is being melted into.
Everything comes alive in the kitchen.
It wasn't always like this. I spent most of teenage years living with an eating disorder where walking through the kitchen was akin to walking through a live minefield.
How fitting that so much of my healing occurred in a space I once deemed treacherous. What was once barren has now re-birthed my creativity. Rekindled my ability to revel in sensuality- the tastes, flavors and temperatures of food.
I have found a lot of enjoyment in creating recipes and dishes that fuse the flavor and functionality of herbs... my form of pleasure herbalism!
The recipe I'd like to share today is for the YONI CAKE- an edible embodiment of the Vagina. Filled with flavors optimal for women's health... not just physical, but spiritual health too. Created and adorned with ingredients that nourish the feminie spirit- raspberry leaf, damiana, maca, cacao and rose. Rich, sensual flavors, dripping with sweetness. Ingredients birthed by plants (nature is the ultimate vagina). Overwhelming and complicated, but complete and able to fill you with a certain sense of awe (as all women are 😉).
** Note: when it comes to the herbs included in the recipe, I encourage you to add based upon your intuition. I use a different amount every time. For this reason, I didn't put a measurement in front of the herbs. However, if you are uncomfortable eyeballing in the kitchen, I added a guesstimate in parenthesis.***
THE CAKE
1 3/4 C flour
1 C sugar (I like to use coconut sugar or maple syrup... or a mix between the two)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt]
Maca powder (Guesstimate- 1 tbsp)
Crumbled damiana leaf (Guesstimate- 3 tsp)
1/2 C full fat coconut milk (sometimes I substitute with almond or hemp milk )
1/2 C chaga tea (if you don't have chaga, double up on the milk)
3 tsp of vanilla extract
1/3 C liquid coconut oil (other oil will work too)
1.5 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)
Cacao powder (Guesstimate- 3/4C. Omit if you'd like a vanilla cake)
Directions: Preheat oven to 350F or 180C. Add dry ingredients to a large bowl and mix. Add wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour into greased pan(s) and bake for 30 mins or until it passes the toothpick test.
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FOR THE FILLING- Date Caramel
25 pitted dates
Pinch of salt
Coconut cream (to thin)
Crumbled raspberry leaf (Guesstimate- 3 tsp)
Crumbled rose petals (Guesstimate- 1 tbsp)
Directions: Boil water. Remove it from the stove allow the dates to take a bath in it. This softens them. I usually let them soak for 15-20 minutes. Add the softened dates to a food processor. Pulse until only small bits remain. Then add in the pinch of salt and herbs. Pulse again. Slowly add in coconut cream (a splash at a time). JUST enough to thin it. Continue to pulse. It will begin to take on the consistency of caramel.
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COCONUT FROSTING
1 can coconut cream (refrigerated overnight)
Honey to taste (maple syrup or agave will work too)
1 tbsp red fruit jam or jelly.
Directions: Scoop the solidified part of the coconut cream into a cold bowl. I like to leave the bowl in the freezer for a bit before baking. Whip the cream until it begins to fluff into frosting consistency. Add honey, to taste. I prefer mine on the sweeter side. Add in the red fruit jam and continue to whip. The fruits will give the frosting a pink or red tinge.
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OTHER ADORNMENTS (the REALLY fun part): Remember, this cake is am embodiment of the VAGINA. Of the YONI. What does that mean to you? What flavors, colors, textures remind you of the vagina? Of this sacred, feminine space? Here is where you tap into your inner knowing, your creativity, your divinity. How will you embody the sacred feminine in your cake?
I chose to make chocolate truffles, cookies baked in the shape of vulvas (well, I tried my best) and rose petals. I arranged these adornments in the shape of a mandala.
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