Carrot cake is such a good recipe when trying free-from baking as it is already dairy-free (apart from the frosting depending on which recipe you’re using) and it is much easier to replace any other ingredients to adapt it to your dietary needs. Plus it’s delicious! Have a look at this incredible vegan, gluten-free AND sugar-free version!
By Emily of This Rawsome Vegan Life.
We all love(d) the classic dessert version, but I’m not crazy about the processed ingredients like white sugar, refined flour, pasteurized butter and cream cheese. I decided to remake this baby with healthy whole foods! Consider it DONE.
Most recipes ask for carrot pulp (after putting carrots through a juicer) but I just shredded a couple carrots and used them whole. This way you can keep the flavourful juices in the cake. Having said that – carrot juice is freaking delicious. Dang. Now I want carrot juice. Wait a minute – perhaps other raw carrot cake recipes ask for the pulp alone because it gives the recipe makers an excuse to drink a bunch of the juice. Clever…
This cake is a bit less dense that my other raw cake recipes because it’s not 100% oats and nuts. As one might expect – it’s mostly carrots. These crunchy orange characters are not only delicious, they have an abundance of health benefits! Not surprising, seeing as how they are a plant – and also not surprising, they are most nutritious and easy to digest when they are eaten in their natural form: whole and raw. These guys will give you great skin, improved vision, a clean mouth, and keep you young – in spirit and body!
I decorated this cake with pistachios, walnuts and dried edible flowers. I recommend also sprinkling on some cinnamon and maybe coconut. I forgot to do so but I’m sure it would make it even more lovely in taste and appearance. One last thing – cashew cream cheese is dangerously delicious. If you haven’t made it before – watch out. If you have made it – you know how amazing it tastes. Thank the universal mother (or whoever is running this place) for cashews!
This recipe is vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar-free and dairy-free
Ingredients:
Cashew frosting:
- 2 cups cashews, preferably soaked for a couple hours
- 1-2 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons liquid coconut oil
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- Water, as needed
Cake:
- 2 large carrots, peeled
- 1 1/2 cups oat flour or buckwheat flour
- 1 cup dates
- 1 cup dried pineapple (or more dates)
- 1/2 cup dried coconut
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Method:
- To make the frosting: blend all ingredients in your high speed blender until smooth, adding as little water as possible. Taste it – mmm. Put in a bowl and set aside.
- To make the cake: cut the carrots into small chunks. Then throw all the ingredients (including the carrots) in your food processor and pulse until it’s all in really small pieces and sticks together.
- Assembly: Press half the cake mix into the bottom of an adjustable spring-form pan, mine was about 6 inches. Then spread on about 1/3 of the frosting. Put it in the freezer until the layer of frosting is hard. Then press on the rest of the cake mix. I let it set in the fridge overnight, then frosted the whole thing, but you can do it right away if you want. Take it out of the pan and use the remaining frosting, cover with whatever garnishes you like. Enjoy!
About the author: Emily is a vegan, plant-based foodie blogger over at Rawsome Vegan Life, documenting her inventive recipes as she experiments with raw foods. She believes in eating for happiness, and eating what you want.
You can visit her website, or say hello on Facebook and Twitter.
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