Let’s celebrate healthy living in the most delicious, festive and beautiful way possible! Enter this Black Forrest Rice Cake Treat that looks like an elegant Parisian confection with zero baking required! The perfect gluten-free, vegan, oil-free, nut-free, fruit-sweetened dessert treat for when you want something easy and healthy to treat yourself or someone you love.
Whether you’re nutritarian or just looking for an interesting low-calorie dessert I think you’re going to be surprised by this decadently delicious treat.
What makes this Black Forrest Rice Cake Treat special?
It requires minimal effort for amazing results!
It’s pretty enough to present for a party or celebration (it was my 43rd birthday cake this year) and you don’t need to bother with an oven in those hot summer months.
It uses basic whole-food ingredients and is easily adaptable to fit your personal tastes and style.
Plus, at just under 150 calories and 2 grams of fat per “slice” you get a lot of bang for your caloric buck! (Um, more dessert is always a good thing.)
Create a show-stopping, no-bake dessert that will impress your friends and family, keep you on track with your healthy eating and tastes absolutely delicious!
I say it’s about time for a rice cake “cake” revolution, so, let’s do this thing…
What ingredients do you need?
- a batch of my Chocolate Cherry Dessert Hummus (or sub with store-bought chocolate hummus)
- three salt-free rice cakes (I used these Lundberg Organic Brown Rice Cakes)
- fresh strawberries and/or cherries
- coconut “sprinkles” (optional)
Make sure to make the Chocolate Cherry Hummus the day before you assemble the cake to ensure the best results when piping the “frosting.”
What equipment do you need?
You’ll only need the items I recommend below if you want to pipe the dessert hummus onto the rice cakes. Alternatively, you could simply frost the cakes with a regular knife or spatula (see directions for the non-piping method below).
- large star decorating tip (this is the one I use by Wilton)
- piping bag (I like this reusable version by Wilton)
- optional: off-set frosting spatula (I use this set)
How do you make the Black Forrest Rice Cake Treat?
STEP 1: Prepping the ingredients
Start by making a batch of the Chocolate Cherry Dessert Hummus and chilling it overnight.
When you’re ready to assemble the cake, add 1 cup of the chilled chocolate dessert hummus into a piping bag fitted with a large open-star tip. You’ll only use about 1/2 cup of the hummus but I find it’s better to pipe with more hummus than less.
I like to keep my hummus-filled piping bag in the fridge while I wash and cut the fresh fruit.
Select 4 strawberries that are similar in size and circumference. Wash and pat dry the 2 whole cherries and 4 strawberries. Slice one of the cherries in half and remove the pit, leave the other cherry whole. Cut the tops off the strawberries and cut each berry into quarters.
SUBSTITUTION TIP: You can use all strawberries or all cherries. If you want to use all cherries you’ll need 6 cherries in total. If you’re using all strawberries you’ll need 3 1/2 in total.
STEP 2: Assembling the layers
Place one rice cake on your serving plate. If you want to secure the rice cake in place you can pipe a small dollop of hummus onto the plate and press the rice cake down on top of it.
Pipe a small 1-inch swirl of the chocolate hummus near the edge of the rice cake as shown above. Then add a quarter strawberry beside the swirl with the cut side of the strawberry face down on the rice cake and with the larger part of the strawberry facing outward. The goal is to have five wedges of strawberry and five swirls of chocolate around the perimeter of the rice cake.
Finish with one more 1-inch swirl of the hummus-icing in the middle of the cake and press a halved cherry face-up into the center swirl.
Place the second rice cake on top of the bottom decorated layer. At this point make sure that the new rice cake layer fits flat and level. Turn and adjust placement as needed–you may need to move the berries around or trim them to get it flat.
Repeat the decoration process, referencing the bottom rice cake for icing and berry placement–you want the pattern to line up in each layer.
STEP 3: Decorating the top layer
For the top of the cake, pipe a dollop of frosting and use a knife or spatula to smoothly coat the surface. Hold the sides of the rice cake while you’re smoothing the icing.
Place the coated cake on top of the stack.
Now, you can pipe a classic shell boarder along the perimeter of the top rice cake (as shown above). Here’s a quick how-to video if you need guidance.
Top with a 1-inch swirl of frosting in the middle of the top layer and adorn with a fresh whole cherry.
How does the Black Forrest Rice Cake Treat taste?
It’s a very satisfying combination of textures and flavors.
Each bite of the bottom layers will have creamy chocolate frosting contrasting with fresh fruit and a satisfying crunch from the rice cake. The top layer benefits from having more fresh fruit to add to it when serving.
Can I make more than three layers?
Yes, but I don’t recommend going higher than four layers.
You will also want to ensure that each layer is level. You may need to cut the strawberry quarters down or rearrange the berries until each rice cake layer rests flat.
What if you don’t have piping equipment?
You can still make this treat beautiful!
I’d recommend spreading a 1/4-inch thick layer of the hummus-icing onto each layer of the “cake” and cutting the berries and cherries into smaller pieces and putting an even layer of fruit on top of each chocolate layer.
It will still be visually beautiful with alternating white, brown and red layers.
More moisture will be released from the fruit the smaller you slice pieces so that will cause the layers to stick together more. Keep that in mind when serving.
How do you serve the Black Forrest Rice Cake Treat?
You can’t cut this as you would a traditional cake. As you might imagine, trying to make wedges out of rice cakes would be a messy crumbly nightmare.
Instead, you simply lift off each layer and serve with extra fresh fruit on the side!
The strawberries act as platforms for each layer which results in easy separation and service after you “present” your little cake.
Can you make the cake ahead of time?
Yes, but I don’t recommend making it more than 4 hours before you serve.
You can store the cake uncovered in your fridge before serving. Don’t use plastic wrap on the top layer as the icing will cling.
The rice cakes will begin to soften from the moisture in the hummus-icing. It still tastes great and some may prefer the less crunchy texture, so it’s a personal preference.
How do you store leftovers?
I don’t recommend storing leftovers for more than 1 day in the refrigerator. Again, the issue is moisture changing the texture of the rice cakes.
How to decorate this cake for a birthday:
Everything is more fun with bright, beautiful sprinkles!
Instead of topping your Black Forrest Rice Cake Treat with a classic red cherry you a place a birthday candle in the middle icing swirl and decorate with homemade coconut sprinkles.
I also love to add a few rice cake crumbles to the serving plate to make it even more visually interesting.
How to make the optional all-natural coconut sprinkles:
Start with shredded coconut. But be careful because different companies will call this shape coconut different things. You want the longer thinner cut of coconut (see above for reference).
You can choose to cut the coconut down into sprinkle-sized shapes like I did or leave it long (both ways look beautiful).
For this cake I used defrosted frozen dragon fruit to “dye” the coconut shreds pink. Simply defrost one dragon fruit cube and add 1 tsp. coconut flakes. Stir well and let sit for 5 minutes. Drain the excess “dye” with a napkin or paper towel and allow the drained flakes to dry for about 5 minutes before handling.
Then, I used purple sweet potato powder (like this brand) for purple and blue spirulina (like this brand) for the blue sprinkles.
When making the colored sprinkles with powder, add 1 tsp. powder to 1 tsp. in a small bowl and mix together well so the coconut is coated. Use a spoon or small sieve to remove excess powder. Powder-dyed sprinkles may leave some residue when decorating.
You can store the coconut sprinkles in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Are rice cakes okay to eat on the nutritarian plan?
You can eat rice on the nutritarian diet, but there are some caveats.
According to Dr. Fuhrman’s article, Arsenic: The Dark Side of Rice, rice should be eaten occasionally only with an emphasis on black, purple, red and brown over white rice varieties because they have intact fiber and higher levels of antioxidants.
Since this recipe is a celebratory dessert it should only be enjoyed occasionally when you’re following the nutritarian lifestyle.
How much of this treat can you eat on the nutritarian plan?
If you’re following the Aggressive Weight Loss Plan you need to keep your whole grain intake to one cup cooked whole grains per day. Dr. Furhman also recommends no more than 2 dates used per dessert serving and a total of 2 ounces of nuts/seeds consumed daily.
After the recommended serving of this desert you’ll still have allotment remaining in all three categories.
I recommend one serving of this dessert when you’re in your weight loss phase.
One brown rice cake is equivalent to approximately 1/3 cup cooked whole grains. You will also have consumed .5 mejool date and .32 ounces of seeds from the hummus icing. This can help you plan allotment for the remainder of your meals accordingly.
If you’ve reached your ideal BMI (under 23) you can enjoy whole grains, dates and nuts and seeds more liberally. You could have 1.5 to 2 servings of this treat in that case.
Black Forrest Rice Cake Treat
Create a delicious, show-stopping, no-bake, fruit-sweetened dessert "cake" that will keep you on track with your healthy eating!
Ingredients
- 1 cup Chocolate Cherry Dessert Hummus (or sub with store-bought chocolate hummus)
- 3 fresh strawberries (similar in size)
- 2 fresh cherries
- 3 salt-free brown rice cakes
- 3 tsp coconut "sprinkles" (optional, see notes)
Instructions
STEP 1: Preparing the ingredients
-
Make a batch of the Chocolate Cherry Dessert Hummus and chill it overnight. This will serve as the cake frosting/icing.
-
When you're ready to assemble the cake, add 1 cup of the chilled chocolate hummus into a piping bag fitted with a large open-star tip. You'll only use about 1/2 cup of the hummus but it's better to pipe with more hummus rather than less. Keep the prepared piping bag in the fridge while you wash and cut the fresh fruit--this will keep the icing cool and stiff, making it easier to pipe.
-
Wash and pat dry the strawberries and cherries. Slice one of the cherries in half and remove the pit, leave the other cherry whole. Cut the tops off the strawberries and cut each berry into quarters.
STEP 2: Assembling the layers
-
Place one rice cake on your serving plate. If you want to secure the rice cake in place you can pipe a small dollop of hummus onto the plate and press the rice cake down on top of it.
-
Pipe a small 1-inch swirl of the chocolate hummus near the edge of the rice cake. Then add a quarter strawberry beside the swirl with the cut side of the strawberry face down on the rice cake and with the larger part of the strawberry facing outward. The goal is to have five wedges of strawberry and five swirls of chocolate around the perimeter of the rice cake.
-
Finish with one more 1-inch swirl of the hummus-icing in the middle of the cake and press a halved cherry face-up into the center swirl.
-
Place the second rice cake on top of the bottom decorated layer. At this point make sure that the new rice cake layer fits flat and level. Turn and adjust placement as needed--you may need to move the berries around or trim them to get it level.
-
Repeat the decoration process, referencing the bottom rice cake for icing and berry placement--you want the pattern to line up in each layer.
STEP 3: Decorating the top layer
-
Holding the sides of the rice cake, pipe a dollop of frosting in the center and use a knife or spatula to smoothly coat the entire surface. This should be a thin coating.
-
Place the coated cake on top of the stack.
-
Pipe a classic shell boarder along the perimeter of the top rice cake and top with a 1-inch swirl of frosting in the middle of the top layer and adorn with a fresh whole cherry.
Recipe Notes
MAKE AHEAD: You can make the cake up to 4 hours in advance and store uncovered in the refrigerator. Plastic wrap is not recommended as the icing will stick to it.
SERVING SUGGESTION: Simply lift off each layer and serve with extra fresh fruit on the side.
FRUIT SUBSTITUTION: You can use all strawberries or all cherries. If you want to use all cherries you'll need 6 cherries in total. If you're using all strawberries you'll need 3 1/2 in total.
STORING LEFTOVERS: I don't recommend storing leftovers for more than 1 day in the refrigerator. The rice cakes will begin to soften from the moisture in the hummus-icing. It still tastes great but it has a less crunchy texture.
IF YOU DON'T WANT TO PIPE THE ICING: Spread a 1/4-inch thick layer of the hummus-icing onto each rice cake. Cut the berries and cherries into smaller pieces and put an even layer of fruit on top of each chocolate layer. More moisture will be released from the fruit the smaller you slice the pieces so that will cause the layers to stick together more when serving.
I’d love to know what you think if you give this recipe a try!
Your comments and recipe ratings motivate me so much to keep creating memorable and delicious recipes while helping the website get rankings in search engines.
