raw gluten-free vegan carrot cake

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Can you believe I’m actually posting something that’s raw, gluten-free, and vegan? I barely believe it myself! But it’s so good!

I mean that it’s good enough for dessert. But! If you go into this thinking it will taste just like carrot cake with all the eggs and dairy and gluten, you might not like it. But it’s tasty in it’s own way, and if I had to avoid gluten and egg, and dairy, I’d definitely make this all the time for dessert!

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Maybe it’s because I like Moby, and how he opened a vegan restaurant and featured similar dishes to this. In fact, I think he did have a carrot cake on the menu.

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Or maybe it’s because I like to cater to friends, and one of my friends was coming over and she eats mainly raw and vegan when she can, and so I made this for her.

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Carrot Cake (taken exactly from The Sweet Life)

Ingredients:

cake part:

2 1/2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup raw walnuts

1 cup pitted dates

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch salt

cashew nut frosting:

1 cup raw cashews, soaked in water overnight

1/4 cup water

3 Tablespoons raw agave nectar

1 teaspoon vanilla

juice of 1/2 a lemon

pinch of salt

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted but not hot

cinnamon for topping

method:

Line a 9” springform pan, 8×8 square pan, or equivalent sized loaf pan with parchment paper so that the edges hang over the sides of the pan.

By hand or in a food processor with the grating attachment, shred carrots. Place in large bowl and set aside. With the blade attachment, blend together walnuts and dates until mostly smooth, with a few smaller chunks. Add coconut, spices, and salt and blend together. Add carrots and blend until well combined, scraping down the sides often.

Scoop cake into prepared pan, smooth top, and chill.

To make cashew cream, drain and rinse soaked cashews in clean water. In a food processor or blender combine cashews, water, agave nectar, vanilla, salt, and lemon juice. Blend VERY WELL, scraping down the sides often, until VERY SMOOTH. Depending on the strength of your blender this make take up to 10 minutes. Add melted coconut oil and blend to combine. Spoon onto chilled cake and smooth the top. Freeze for 2 hours.

Pull from freezer and remove cake from pan by pulling up the sides of the parchment paper. Let thaw 10 minutes. With a hot, sharp knife cut cake into (approximately) 1 x 2 inch pieces. Decorate with walnuts and dust with cinnamon. Let thaw an additional 15 minutes before serving or return to freezer, thawing 25 minutes before eating.

9 responses to “raw gluten-free vegan carrot cake”

Through Oana’s Lens says:

April 30, 2014 at 2:55 PM

So nice of you to make this for your friend! I have yet to try any raw vegan desserts so I am really curious how it tastes. Looks yummy!

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- davegon says:
  
  April 30, 2014 at 3:02 PM
  
  I think the cashew part gets fairly smooth, as long as you follow the recipe that says you may have to process it for 10 minutes. It did take almost 10 minutes for me, but then it wasn’t gritty, and I think the fat in the cashew as well as the other flavors combined with it to simulate frosting really work in this. But like I said, if you go in expecting a traditional carrot cake with frosting with all the egg, dairy, gluten, it will not taste like that.
  
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tinywhitecottage says:

April 30, 2014 at 7:32 PM

I appreciate raw foods and go on a “kick” a few times a year. I’m keeping this handy for the next raw binge. Looks great!

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- davegon says:
  
  April 30, 2014 at 7:59 PM
  
  Yeah, I could probably benefit from going on raw and vegan “kicks” a few times a year, also. Thanks for stopping by! BTW, great weather in Seattle, huh? Would you believe I’m actually baking cookies in this weather? Baking cookies for someone’s birthday celebration tomorrow.
  
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  - tinywhitecottage says:
    
    April 30, 2014 at 8:20 PM
    
    No, I can’t believe you actually turned your oven on in this heat! 🙂 Such a beautiful day today! You are so kind to make cookies for someone’s birthday celebration.
    
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  - davegon says:
    
    April 30, 2014 at 8:28 PM
    
    🙂 It’s crazy! Plus, our apartment is the top corner unit of the building facing south. But the cookies are for a potluck celebration, so I feel a need to share…plus, these are one of my favorite cookies!
    
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Jone’t says:

October 27, 2014 at 5:02 PM

Dave, This looks really tasty and I appreciate the healthy twist on a dessert fave. Looking forward to trying out your recipe. Yum! ~ Jone’t

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- davegon says:
  
  October 27, 2014 at 6:17 PM
  
  Hi Jone’t, It’s not my recipe, but I think I know what you mean! Thanks for stopping by!!
  
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Elaine @ foodbod says:

February 6, 2015 at 12:46 PM

My kind of cake!

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