Tamara Lord and Candi Coonan's new shop is further evidence that raw food has shifted from the far fringes to mainstream.
The Geebung cake shop opened on November 7 and sells only cakes that are raw, vegan, paleo, dairy-free, gluten-free and free from refined sugar – pretty much covering the spectrum of dietary restrictions and lifestyle choices.
Lord is a vegan and part-time raw foodist, while Coonan is a vegetarian. Both have an interest in health and nutrition and are new to professional cooking and hospitality. Nutri Hitt started out with a stall at the Eagle Farm markets in August.
"There wasn't a lot of raw food around Brisbane and we wanted to create something tasty and nutritious. It just took off and we started to get requests from cafes and then from people who wanted to buy the cakes retail.
"We had found a gap in the market for when someone wanted to get a last-minute healthy birthday cake. We consider ourselves like a healthier version of the cheesecake shop," Lord says.
How do you create a cake that is both healthy and tasty without the use of traditional ingredients such as butter, flour, sugar and eggs?
"We've developed the recipes through trial and error. At the start we spent a couple of months recipe testing," Lord says. "Now we play around in the kitchen about once a month, taking flavour inspiration from things like chocolate bars and trying to recreate them in a healthy way."
Sweeteners are kept to a minimum, with sugar eschewed for dates and maple syrup. A light mousse is made from soaking and blending cashews and coconut oil, and cakes are coloured naturally using beetroot and carrot powders. Other ingredients may include cacao, almonds, fruit and white and dark chocolate.
Nutri Hitt makes a dozen different cakes starting at $45 (serves eight), with the bestsellers "death by chocolate" and lemon lime coconut cake. While Nutri Hitt sells only whole cakes, the pair are continuing to sell smaller cakes and slices, such as their popular raw "iced vovos" through Brisbane cafes.
"We're hoping to spread our wings all over Brisbane and have people coming from all over to see us and taking the message out there about the healthy alternatives," Lord says.
Open Tue-Thu 9am-5pm; Fri-Sat 9am-noon.
8/328 Newman Road, Geebung, 0414 736 375, nutrihitt.com.au
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