Carrot Cake!

[sarahfae]

I have to give HUGE props to The Sage Avocado for this one.
Her recent post (in addition to our comments/conversation) on Carrot Cake made me almost instantly RUN to my kitchen because I wanted to try my hand at making my own version of raw Carrot Cake.

I have never considered myself to be anywhere close to a "baker", and have never been successful in the kitchen when it comes to baking sweets. Even boxed cakes have turned out horrible when in my hands.
But in spite of my fears I took on the idea of a raw Carrot Cake, and pulled out all the stops.

The results? Well, just wow...


   raw carrot cake - paired with frozen chocolate-banana fudge



Yeah. If you think it looks good, I swear to you it tastes even better! My Mom didn't believe me when I told her it was raw. Eeeeee! I just can't seem to stop being all giddy about this one!!


Not too bad for my first home-made from scratch cake eh?


This may look big, but it's actually only about a six inch cake. Perfect size because it's very decadent and rich.



Raw Carrot Cake with Vanilla/Coconut Frosting
 
2 C Finely ground Carrot - do this in a food proccessor, be sure to squeeze away any  access liquid from the ground carrot - set Carrot aside in a bowl 
1 C finely ground Sunflower Seeds - do this in a coffee grinder if you can - set aside ground sunflower seeds in a bowl

In a food proccessor place: 
5 Medjool dates - pitted
Half of a Coconut - just the meat - (You could sub 1 cup dried coconut instead of the fresh if you'd like to - I will next time because getting the meat out of a coconut is NO fun)
1/4 C raw cane sugar /// or 2-3 tbsp Stevia 
2 tsp All Spice
1 tsp Nutmeg
3-4 tsp Cinnamon
Dash of salt

- Blend/Chop all of the ingredients very well in the food proccessor. 
- Empty contents of food proccessor into a mixing bowl, add the Carrot and ground Sunflower Seeds, folding in until evenly mixed.
- Divide cake batter in half and form into equal sized patties, roughly one inch in thickness.
- Place cakes into food dehydrator for 5 hours, turn them over and dehydrate for another 5 hours.
- Place the cakes in the fridge over night to chill --- while they are chilling they will firm up perfectly.  

Vanilla-Coconut Frosting

2 C raw cashews
4 Medjool dates (pitted)
4 Tbsp Coconut Butter
2 tsp Lemon juice
1/4 C Agave
3 tsp Vanilla
Dash of salt
3/4 C water 

Blend well in food proccessor (for roughly 5 minutes)

 

Comments

[langelbleu.livejournal.com]

OH MY GAWD!
That looks DEEVINE!

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

eee! coming from you that means a lot! :)

[blushingmad.livejournal.com]

Ooh. yummmy. My mom loves carrot cake, I might just have to make this.

Do you also happen to have the recipe for the chocolate banana fudge?!

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

thank you!! :) please let me know if you do!

i'm going to post the recipe for the chocolate banana fudge in a different entry because i haven't quite got it perfected. *sorry to tease with the picture of it* i promise to post it soon! :)

[pigeon-master.livejournal.com]

Ooooo that looks so yummy and I love how it's not very nut-based like a lot of raw things :)

Is there anything you can substitute raw cane sugar with?

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

thanks!
i think stevia would be fine - just be sure to not use the same amount as you would sugar, stevia is super-duper heavy sweet. any other non-liquid sweetner would most likely do fine i think. :)

[synchronaut.livejournal.com]

That looks amazing. Nice touch with the floral accent; it really complements the cake.

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

thank you! it's a sprig of wild geranium from my yard :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/hajari_/]

Is there a way to make this without a dehydrator?

[lizardphunk.livejournal.com]

I've made raw cakes before, and I think it should be fine without it. Just a little bit more mushy. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/hajari_/]

Excellent. =)

[lizardphunk.livejournal.com]

I'll be making it without one today, so I will update these comments with the results. Let's compare notes. :p

[http://users.livejournal.com/hajari_/]

I will make it this weekend if I remember. Do you think putting it in the oven at very low temperature would work?

[lizardphunk.livejournal.com]

I doubt it! From my experience, raw cakes are firm because of the oils in the seeds and the coconut oil. When put in the fridge, these make the cake firm.
edit: runny at room temp, firm when chilled

If you bake it, they will just melt all over. :)

I'm planning on just making by just skipping the dehydrator step. I'll update you on how it goes. :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/hajari_/]

Ah, makes sense.

[lizardphunk.livejournal.com]

I made the cake and while it tastes wonderful, it's REALLY mushy. :/ I guess you need that dehydrator!

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

wow! that was fast! one thing i did after frosting the cake was place it in the freezer for about an hour. this chilled the cake and frosting very well...since the frosting is fairly warm after being in the food proccessor for five minutes or so.

i wonder if partially freezing the cake would be a better alternative to not dehydrating it as you've done? it may be worth the try...

and thank you for making it!! i'm always wanting feedback - good or bad, so keep me posted! :)

[lizardphunk.livejournal.com]

It tastes really good. :) Unfortunately I can't fit the plate in my tiny freezer, haha. But you might have a point. It would work very well as an "ice cake". :)

[crescentmuse.livejournal.com]

hmmmm... "mushy" I wonder if this is why Ani Phyo used carrot pulp instead of the whole carrot since she didn't use a dehydrator...

[lizardphunk.livejournal.com]

I'd think so! It would be much better if I'd gotten rid of the carrot-water.

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

ohhh! thank you for reminding me!! i am so sorry that i forgot to mention that you needed to squeeze away any of the "carrot liquid".
i'm editing the recipe now. :)

[lizardphunk.livejournal.com]

Not problem, it made for a healthy and tasty carrot-pudding-cake. Topped it with some machapowder. :3

[lizardphunk.livejournal.com]

Holy crap!

And I even have the ingredients lying around! :D

[pippappip.livejournal.com]

hello! i hope you don't mind, but i just added you. not to be offensive, but i could never eat the way you do, however i just LOVE looking at your food photos. every time you post in food_porn, it amazes me how creative you are.

i will say one thing though - this carrot cake looks ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

aww! thank you! i really appriciate your honesty :) and the cake is SUPER good. i think any non-rawfood eater (who likes carrot cake) would really enjoy it!

[lyn-lyn.livejournal.com]

as soon as I get a decent food processor [come on, bridal showers!], i'm so making this!!! gosh, it looks DIVINE.
i second blushingmad... where can we find the recipe for the fudge?

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

thank you!!! :)

i'm going to post the recipe for the chocolate banana fudge in a different entry because i haven't quite got it perfected. *sorry to tease with the picture of it* i promise to post it soon! :)

[sotepetsenu.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, and I'd been wondering what to do with those carrots in the fridge! I only bought them because they had the greens attached and carrot greens are my bunnies' favourites...

I also want to mention, I've made two of your raw cheeze powders and HOMGZ are they delicious!!!!!

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

WOW! thank you SOOO much for the feedback! i love to hear that my recipes actually work! :) I'm always a little terrified that i didn't write things down properly.

[laceyslostlove.livejournal.com]

does your dehydrator run constantly? which one do you have? how has it affected your electric bill?
also.
which food processor do you have? i have a cuisineart and though it's from Williams-Sonoma and has great consumer reviews, it sucks.

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

No, not constantly - maybe a few days out of the week. i try to schedule what i need and when i need it so that i can do most, if not all of my dehydrating around the same time. it helps to have a big dehydrator! this is what i have: http://www.storeitfoods.com/lequip-food%20-dehydrator

i use the cuisineart and i LOVE it - i seriously don't know what i would do without it! sorry to hear that yours isn't up to par. :(
i'm holding out for a vitamix come this christmas...hopefully my hardworking cuisineart won't give out on me before then!

[xseitanistx.livejournal.com]

You are amazing.

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

gosh! :)

[emilyrugbrn.livejournal.com]

Not to be a party pooper, but raw cane sugar does not fit into "raw food" as it is heated and processed. It's a nice recipe, but the cane sugar is what ruins it and makes it a cooked recipe.

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

you can always sub with stevia instead.
sorry if i've offended. :)

[emilyrugbrn.livejournal.com]

of course im not offended :) I added you anyway to get more recipes. But if I used stevia instead would it throw the consistency off?

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

cool! :) thank you!
i think it should be fine - in fact I bet you could add a couple more dates and it should turn out fine. let me know would ya?
and thanks again!

[crescentmuse.livejournal.com]

This sounds so much better than Ani's recipe that I made mine from. I'm going to have to make your recipe and tell you what I think. I think using the whole carrot instead of the carrot pulp is a MUCH better idea. Also the coconut butter in the icing sounds so delicious!!

It looks absolutely divine too!

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

thanks lady!! :)

[dolmadez.livejournal.com]

I want this.

[beatle2102.livejournal.com]

I'm not big on random LJ friending, but you cook such amazing food that I can't help myself! It's so wonderful to see yummy food that is both raw and vegan AND is natural -- thank you!

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much! I try to post new recipes and food pics at least once a week.
I'm excited to make new friends too! :)

[sarahfae.livejournal.com]

p.s. i agree with and enjoy what you wrote on your most recent lj post, and your profile too.

[lilhappyfamily.livejournal.com]

That's your FIRST CAKE? Wow! It looks like it's out of a magazine. Gorgeous!

[anotherjen.livejournal.com]

I'm not remotely a raw-foodie, though I do try to eat healthy (lots of produce, whole grains, etc). I was cruising the LJ community out of curiosity, and I am going to copy your recipe to make myself. It looks delicious.

Edit: Oh whoops, I see it requires a dehydrator. Hmm, maybe I could borrow one.