raw carrot cake with cashew cream cheese frosting

I promised carrot cake - I deliver carrot cake (in cyberspace, anyway). This is a delightful recipe that I think everyone can appreciate. 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! 

carrot cake with cashew cream cheese frosting, pistachios & walnuts:

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 

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!

juice fast: day 2

Today is swell so far! Woke up, worked out (not too much though, gotta keep my body in a relaxed state to detox efficiently), cleaned my room, took a shower, then made this giant glass of juice. It is pretty sweet so I am now looking forward to making a savoury dinner juice for me and the boyfriend. Speaking of which - he is joining me in this juice fast! But only for the weekend. Then we are both back to school and work after the holiday. Hmph. 

I feel really good; I have lots of energy, am feeling clean and sense that my body is working to get out any toxins that have accumulated in my system. Tonight I will take it easy and watch a movie or something with my beau while we sip some kale & garlic concoction. I know many of you are joining me on this fast, and some of you were fasting already. How are YOU doing? 

pink lady juice:

1 large beet

2 carrots

1 meyer lemon

1 orange

2 green apples

2 pineapple slices

1 bell pepper

1 cucumber

Peel and slice as needed. Juice and drink. 
Have a wonderful Friday and listen to this song!

glorious juice

i've been at my boyfriend's place this weekend so i took these photos before i left to share them with you now, since otherwise i'd have nothing to show ya today. sadly his little kitchen does not have the room nor does he have the budget for all the wonderful equipment my family has in OUR well-endowed kitchen; like an omega juicer, vitamix blender, dehydrator, food processor, mandoline, and so on.

i mean, technically you don't NEED any of those semi-expensive appliances to enjoy a raw vegan diet, but it sure makes it more fun and interesting. case and point: raw pasta. they're all worth buying if you can afford them, but if not - simple fruit bowls and salads rocks too! personally, i gotta have my juice... and so does my cat, sugar, apparently.

enjoy this recipe and the good health and happiness it brings!

colourful concoction juice: serves one or two

3 carrots

1 cucumber

chunk of ginger

1 tomato

1 lime

1 bell pepper

4 beets

1 green apple

1 orange

wash, cut, slice and peel as needed. juice it and drink! mmm... live 4 juice; juice 4 life!

 one last thing - don't you love everything about compost? (except maybe the fruit flies...)

juice fast: day 3

today was busy but i am still feeling really good, mentally. physically, all my muscles are sore and feel tired, as if i had a hard workout but then didn't eat enough afterwards. i am also having a bit of trouble sleeping, slight headaches, and an occasional light-headed feeling. oh, detox... what a love-hate relationship we share.

i've had three delicious juices today: a simple carrot and apple based one for breakfast; a replica of my current fave juice for lunch; then a delicious beet pink juice for dinner. i'll have some tea later and maybe some prune juice (the soak water from prunes).

admire the lovely bouquet my mother made from our garden plants in celebration of the fall season. oooh boy do i love the colours of fall. the trees in our city are just mesmerizing and i cannot help stopping what i am doing and taking a breath (and moment) to appreciate the glorious and elegant universe we are blessed to live in. PLUS i have the best juicer ever. what more can a girl ask for?

i spent most of today driving around with la copine and all his belongings, helping him move into his new place. exciting! then i had to watch my whole family eat sushi - GRR. oh well. i was PERFECTLY satisfied drinking my beet juice... yum? 

but seriously, it wasn't that bad. yes, my brain was telling me to dig into those heavier calories but my mind knew i didn't need to and that in the long run continuing on this juice fast will be best. it's all about remembering the big picture. if you do - fasting is easy! especially when you get to drink delicious and luscious beet juice on a daily basis...

 earthy tones beet juice: serves one or two

4 beets
3 carrots
1 apple
1 orange
1/2 cucumber
1 bell pepper
4 pineapple slices

peel, slice and cut as needed. juice it up and drink it down. 

juice fast: day 2

today was farmer's market day! it was (tragically) the last one of the season for our neighborhood. BUT - and what an important "but" - there are three winter farm markets in our city area so i don't have to go without local, organic, love-filled produce all through the chilly season. PHEW.

today i'm feeling great. last night i had sore muscles which is a sign of mild detox. yahoo! i had a tasty carrot-apple-orange juice with my parents for breakfast, fed a butterfly that has been finding comfort and safety in my room (until my cat attacked it today!) during the rainy weather, then went to the market.

we loaded up on EVERYTHING. when you're on a juice fast you are actually getting more nutrients then you normally would because you can without feeling full. the fiber is mainly what produces that full feeling and when you juice - you take that out! so although i wouldn't normally eat 4 apples and 2 cucumbers in one sitting, i can with juice. thus i bought a ton of veggies and greens today for the next few weeks of juice fasting; i know i will be able to consume it all.

when we got back i made THE MOST DELICIOUS REFRESHING AMAZING AWESOME JUICE EVER! seriously. this is in my top three fave juice recipes now. i bought some peppermint with the idea that it might make interesting juice, especially if i mixed it with citrus.

i was right. 

pineapple peppermint love: serves one or two

4 small carrots
1 apple
1 orange
4-5 pineapple slices
handful fresh mint leaves
1/2 cucumber 

cut, slice and peel as needed. then juice it. hurry up and JUICE IT.
be prepared to have your mind blown (as well as your taste buds).

the plans for the rest of my saturday are pretty great. my juice fast partner-in-health (get it? instead of "in crime"... okay fine i'm not funny) is heading over soon and we're going to make some savoury juice for dinner. the boyfriend is coming over later too and it's also my friend's 19th so we might go out to dinner to celebrate.

i DO need to get some school work done at some point... hm.

juice fast: day 1

first juice of the day was rather late. i thought i would be home earlier so unfortunately my energy was running pretty low. i am feeling better now though and warming up too (got pretty chilly sitting outside reading for two hours). plan for my friday afternoon? watch a movie with my juice-fasting buddy and generally just be cozy.

last night i went to see cadence weapon at fortune sound club and it was really fun. i went with all my favourite people (my boyfriend even came out!) and danced until 2 am. then drove to the naam for tea (and food for some). i had a great time, but sweating the whole night then passing out at 4 am probably isn't the smartest way to start a long fast... lesson learned. woke up today and had a headache and sore muscles.

my feelings are mostly excitement right now. for the past several days i've been looking forward to this. i am very ready to let juice and other liquids (tea, broth, strained nut milks, lemon water, etc.) become my diet for the next little while. as i've said - i'm not giving this a pre-decided time span but i'd like to go for three weeks or so. we shall see.

pink dream juice: serves one or two

1 beet
2 carrots
2 apples
1 orange
3-4 pineapple slices
1 cucumber

wash, cut, peel and slice as needed. then juice 'em up! mmm so sweet. i would have added spinach but i couldn't lose that gorgeous colour from the beets so i left it as is. 

new omega juicer

oh lawd. i am so excited about our new juicer. it is an omega vert 350 and i love it almost as much as i love dante (my cat).

random: check this out.

as i have already told you, i was planning to go on another juice fast as soon as it arrived in the mail! so the next few days will be smoothies, juice and raw snacks. then i go into 100% juice mode for... who knows how long. i want to fast until i feel my body should stop. the human body doesn't identify calendar dates or week-long time periods, it runs on it's own watch and i plan to monitor it carefully. i will know when to stop.

this time is really special for me because my friend is doing the juice fast with me! i've never had someone want to join me for one of these things so i'm looking EXTRA forward to this; maybe even... double extra? 

i know. double. woah.

the first juice we made was carrot, apple and lime (as you can see in the photo). it was SO DANG GOOD. you can literally taste the difference a good quality juicer makes. this thing is my new baby. i am going to use it so often and for everything. i can finally juice my own wheat grass! be jealous. BE JEALOUS.

the juice was so flavourful (more nutrients available because of the difference in juicing process so there is more to taste) and the pulp was so dry! cleaning it is easy too. if you're serious about juicing, or know you will be, or just WANT to be: get this juicer. 

perfect first juice: serves one

2 apples
1 peeled lime
4 peeled carrots

juice. drink the juice.