The Feel Good All Day Carrot Cake

This raw vegan carrot cake is great for breakfast. It’s packed with a few natural anti-depressants (coconut and mesquite), and several glycemic regulators (cinnamon, carrots, mesquite), plus it’s sugar free and has a decent fiber content.

Vegan. Vegetarian. Raw. Lactose Free. Gluten Free.

Allergy warning: Nuts
Budget: moderate
Cooking difficulty: easy, but there are a few steps

Utensils:
Food processor (or/and a good blender)
Grinder
Shredder


Preparation Time:
The night before (or 2 hours before): 5 minutes
On the day (or the hour): 20 minutes preparation + 1 hour refrigeration.

Ingredients:

 For the cake batter:
3 large organic carrots, peeled
8 dried back mission figs
1/4 cup flax seeds + 3 tablespoons for flax seed flour
2 teaspoons bee pollen
4 tablespoons mesquite flour
2 teaspoons minced orange peel
1/3 cup raw cashew nuts
1/4 cup raw unsalted pine nuts
1/3 cup raw unsalted walnuts
3 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon clove
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
the meat of half a young coconut
1/4 cup coconut water
1 pinch sea salt
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon maca powder
For the icing:
1 tablespoon mesquite flour
1 teaspoon maca powder
3 tablespoons coconut water
the meat of half a young coconut
1 pinch vanilla bean or extract
2 teaspoons minced orange peel
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 tablespoons rice bran solubles with tocotrienols


The night before (at least 2 hours before):
1-Stem figs. Place them in a jar with fresh water and a good pinch cinnamon. Close jar and place in the fridge.
2-soak nuts for the icing in water, place in fridge.
3- mix nuts for batter (walnuts, pine, nut, cashews) with flax seeds (aside from those for the flour), cover with water and place in fridge.

Making the cake batter:
Shred the carrots. Grind the other flax seeds into a flour. Drain figs and nuts of water and rinse. Put nuts, figs and carrots in the food processor with the other ingredients and pulse until you have a smooth yet dense/thick batter.
Layer this batter into a cake dish.

Making the icing:
Drain and rinse the nuts for the icing. Place all icing ingredients in a blender (or a food processor if you don’t have a good blender).

Assembling:
Gently pour and spread the icing on top of the batter. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

This raw cake is best served cold with a cup of warm “reading” cacao (see recipe below). It actually tastes better the next day, but should be eaten within 3 days!