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!

raw vegan cranberry bliss bars

A reader told me about these Cranberry Bliss Bars that Starbucks sells. She said I should make them healthy - so here you go! I actually didn't know what a Bliss Bar was - I don't go into Starbucks unless I need to get a cup of water or pee - so I had to check it out on their website. According to their description, it is a vanilla cake topped with cream cheese frosting, dried cranberries and an orange drizzle.

Sounds delicious, but I felt bloated just by looking at the ingredients list: 

"Enriched flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), brown sugar, white pastel (sugar, palm kernel & palm oils, whey, nonfat milk, soya lecithin, titanium dioxide [as color], natural flavor, vanilla), cream cheese (pasteurized cream & milk, milk proteins, natural acids, salt, xanthan, carob bean gum & guar gum), cranberries (cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil), unsalted butter (cream [from milk]), eggs, canola oil, sugar (sucrose, cornstarch), ginger (ginger, sugar), water, salt, coconut oil, orange peel (orange peel, sugar, orange oil), maltitol, palm oil, vanilla, cornstarch, baking powder (sodium acid pyrophosphate, sodium bicarbonate, cornstarch, monocalcium phosphate), baking soda."

AH!? WHAT!? Why is there a paragraph of refined and concentrated sugars, oils and chemicals where a short list of ingredients should be? Oh wait. Those ARE the ingredients. If the cost of indulgence is consuming "sodium acid pyrophosphate" - I'd rather just not indulge. 

But luckily you don't have to eat titanium dioxide to enjoy the sweeter side of life, thanks to biological diversity and the kindness of the plant kingdom. I am ALL FOR indulging, I just think we can do it without killing the planet (palm oil... yikes) or breaking out in acne (hey, sugar and dairy). Agree? 

Let's create whole food treats that we can feel proud of eating; for ourselves, our earth and our animal buddies! These healthified (it's a word, okay) bars are chock-full of fibre, protein, and healthy fats. They are pretty dense though, so I'm guessing you'll just need one. I had one for breakfast and it gave me loads of energy for the day. If you want more than that - go for it. Then have a dance party to stay sexy. 

cranberry bliss bars: makes 8 large triangles

Blondie cake base:

1 cup oats

1 cup buckwheat groats

1 cup dates

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon orange zest (optional)

Sweet cream cheese icing:

1 cup cashews

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (more or less)

1 tablespoon melted coconut oil

1/3 cup agave nectar (or 1/2 cup dates)

White orange drizzle & cranberries:

3 tablespoons melted coconut oil (or cacao butter)

3 tablespoons orange juice 

1/4 teaspoon stevia, if desired (to sweeten and thicken)

1/4 cup dried cranberries 
1 teaspoon orange zest

To make the base: pulse the oats and groats (LOL) in your food processor until they become a rough flour. Add the dates and vanilla and process until it forms a ball. Press into the bottom of a lined baking pan. Set aside, or if you want it to be more like baked cake - dehydrate for a couple hours or use your oven at its lowest temperature. 

To make the cream cheese icing: blend all ingredients until smooth. It's more flavourful if you let it sit a day or two but using it right away is fine too. It's gonna be delicious either way. Spread this over your cake. 

To make the drizzle: blend the melted coconut oil and orange juice together. Add stevia if you want. Sprinkle the dried cranberries and orange zest onto your cake then drizzle on the drizzle. Let it set for a few hours in the fridge. Then enjoy!