I’m not normally a raw-carrot person, but the above was as dreamy as it looks. And now I’m still dreaming about it! I almost didn’t make it, though. When I looked through the cookbook, Raw for Dessert, 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.
Raw Carrot Cake
(Reprinted with permission, 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)
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 frosted my carrot cake with Raw Cream Cheese Frosting and cinnamon.
Emi says
I’m new to being vegan and since I’ve discovered your blog I’ve been dreaming about this cake. I miss desserts for breakfast, but I think this will do the trick:)
Mary says
commenting specifically for the coconut butter giveaway… but can I just say I LOVE carrot cake?? Can’t wait to try this recipe!
Maya says
I munch on carrots all the time to satisfy low-blood sugar mood swings. This will DEFINITELY do the trick 🙂
Andy says
oh my bejeezus–this looks so unbelievable, and raw too?!. and carrot cake is my bf’s FAVORITE dessert. I gotta win me some coconut butter so I can give it a try. 🙂
sophie says
oh man i would make this is a heartbeat if i won the giveaway!!!
Heather says
I think I just stumbled across dessert for tonight- YUM!….and breakfast and lunch and dinner.
Devan says
i think I have book marked.. about 10 pages since my last comment.
haha <3 YUM
Ashley says
katieeee! this is so yummers! thanks for sharing, i will make it again and again!
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
ooo I’m so excited you made it!!
Elizabeth A. says
Oh wow the Carrot “Cake” does look way awesome!!! I am so excited to try it!
Cakes Port Elizabeth says
With havin so much content and articles do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement?
My website has a lot of unique content I’ve either written myself or outsourced but it looks like a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my authorization. Do you know any techniques to help reduce content from being ripped off? I’d definitely appreciate it.
Chocolate-Covered Katie says
Unfortunately, I run into it almost daily. Especially with tumblr, there are hundreds of blogs that copy/paste others’ recipes and photos with no credit :(. You can fill out a DMCA takedown form or contact host providers, but if your blog gets big enough there are just too many instances for you to be able to even know about them all, let alone do something about every one. It’s really unfortunate, but I don’t have a solution for you. I wish I did!
Deidre says
Hi Katie!:) I tried this recipe today!:) just wanted to say I loved it! You’re a genius:D
Rebecca Berg says
Can you replace the pecans in this recipe with more walnuts or almonds?
Emily says
Hi Katie,
If I omit the 1/2 Cup shredded coconut (like you did), do I need to substitute anything else in its place? (since it takes up 1/2 cups…)
I want to make this for my friend’s birthday tomorrow and I’m kind of freaking out about this!
Emily says
1 more question: will I need to double the frosting recipe for this? (I noticed you wrote that the frosting makes a small batch)
Thanks a bunch