Sweet and Spicy: Raw Carrot Cake

Tell me if this sounds familiar:

When looking through a new cookbook, you fold down every single recipe that looks yummy, then feel overwhelmed at the number you’ve selected and end up making none of them! It happens to me all too often.

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When I looked through the cookbook, Raw for Dessert, lemme tell you I folded down a lot of recipes! Cashew Cream, Crème Brulée, Chocolate Pudding, and on and on. These recipes seemed simple enough, with few ingredients and steps. And anyone who knows me knows that I am intimidated by long-winded recipes. But this time, I decided to challenge myself: find a long recipe that sounded good, and go for it! This is how I settled upon the Raw Spice Cake, a recipe I normally would’ve shied away from due to its extensive ingredient list.

(Above, raw carrot cake from Jennifer Cornbleet’s book, Raw for Dessert)

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Raw Spice Cake

(with CCK’s carrot-cake addition)
Yield: one 6-inch cake (8 servings)

Ingredients
1/2 cup raw almonds (unsoaked)
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded dried coconut (CCK omitted)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 cup raw walnuts (unsoaked)
1 cup raw pecans (unsoaked)
8 pitted medjool dates
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/2 cup raisins
1 tablespoon maple syrup or dark agave syrup (CCK omitted)

1/4 to 1/2c shredded carrot (CCK special addition)

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Place the almonds, coconut, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cloves, and nutmeg in a food processor fitted with the S blade and process until finely ground. Add the walnuts and pecans and process until finely ground. Add the dates and orange zest and process until the mixture begins to stick together. Add the raisins, maple syrup, and carrots, and process briefly to incorporate. Line a 6-inch cake pan with a parchment-paper round. Pour the nut mixture into the pan and distribute it evenly. Press down with your hand to compact. To serve, run a knife around the edge of the pan to loosen the cake. Place a serving plate upside down on top of the cake pan. Invert, then lift the pan off. Remove the parchment round. Covered with plastic wrap, Spice Cake will keep for 5 days stored in the refrigerator or for 2 weeks stored in the freezer.

I ate my cake on the piano??? No, not really. I just liked the backdrop.

I frosted my yumlicious carrot cake with raw cheesecake whip and cinnamon.

Now go make like Bugs Bunny and eat some carrot cake! 🙂

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