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TIPS FOR MAKING RAW CARROT CAKE
INGREDIENTS
These key ingredients make this warm, cinnamon-spiced raw carrot cake moist, light, and even a little healthy.
CARROT CAKE
Carrots are the star of the show. Because this carrot cake is raw, the flavor of carrots is quite prominent and their natural sweetness really shines through.
Dates naturally sweeten the carrot cake and bind all the ingredients together. Medjool dates work the best here because they are soft, juicy, with a melt-in-your-mouth feel. If your dates aren’t soft, soak them in warm water for 10-20 minutes before you add them to the cake, so they break down easily.
Walnuts: when you think about walnuts, you probably imagine a complex taste that’s earthy, fruity, and tart — maybe with hints of astringency. Even though walnut flavor is very mild, it does include some sharp notes. However, the astringent taste is great for balancing out sweet dishes. Walnuts have a soft, rich, almost buttery texture, which makes them perfect for recipes that need that light, flaky texture – like raw cakes! If you are out of walnuts, pecans are the best substitute.
Coconut: desiccated coconut fills this carrot cake with rich, buttery flavor, and adds a chewy texture. I usually use both desiccated coconut and coconut flour to give this raw carrot cake more of a flour-like texture.
Spices: it’s not uncommon to see carrot cake titled as a “spice cake”. Indeed, a carrot cake does contain a lot of bold spices with heady flavors and scents, including cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, and ginger. Make sure the spices are fresh because spices are what you’ll taste the most in this cake.
FROSTING
Cashews: the most frequently used nut in raw cake fillings and frostings is cashews. The reason is quite obvious. Cashews have a neutral, slightly sweet flavor, and a smooth and creamy texture when blended. Although it can be hard to get exactly the same results when substituting another ingredient for these nuts, macadamia nuts – while more fibrous and not as smooth – are probably the best option.
Maple syrup: any liquid sweetener works in this frosting. However, if you have access to maple syrup, use it! The reason maple syrup works so well in this recipe is that carrots have flavor affinity for sugars as they are already sweet themselves. They have a woody and herbal notes, which play off the “brown”, caramel-like notes associated with maple syrup, creating the perfect combination.
Coconut oil is an essential ingredient in raw frostings. It helps the frosting set and creates a texture that melts in your mouth. Coconut oil is also one of the reasons you should keep this cake in the fridge because it becomes liquid at room temperature.
Lemon juice: lemon is the secret ingredient that makes everything taste better. Acidity cuts heaviness and sweetness, and provides a fresh, bright taste.
HOW TO MAKE RAW CARROT CAKE
Grate the carrots finely. Finely grated carrots meld seamlessly into the moist, spiced cake, while shredded carrots create a less uniform texture. The finer the carrots, the more evenly distributed they will be, and the more cohesive the cake slices. So, Select the finest holes on a cheese grater and grate the carrots into fluffy pieces. Alternatively, attach a shredding blade to a food processor to grate the carrots faster. Squeeze out any excess juice from the carrots. If the carrots are wet, they will make the carrot cake too dense.
Pulse the carrot cake ingredients. The order in which you add the cake ingredients into the food processor is important. Walnuts go first to ensure they are finely ground, but still have some texture to them. The rest of the dry ingredients, except the coconut flour, are next to have all the ingredients well combined. Dates come last to bind all the ingredients together. The carrot cake mixture should be a little bit crumbly but stick together when pressed with your fingers. If the mixture is too dry, pulse a little bit more. If it’s too wet, add a little bit more coconut flour.
Fold in the coconut flour and carrots. By folding as opposed to pulsing the coconut flour and carrots in a food processor, you can keep a lighter, less dense, more “cake-like” texture. If you do not enjoy the texture of grated carrots in a carrot cake, you can add them to the food processor together with the dates. The pulsing action of the food processor will turn the carrots into even smaller, less detectable, pieces.
Shape the cake layers. To make a traditional style layer carrot cake, you will need at least two cake layers. The easiest way to shape the cakes layers is to use a springform pan as a guide. So, divide the carrot cake mixture in half, and press it into a greased or parchment paper-lined pan (this particular recipe calls for a 6-inch/15-cm tall springform pan). Make sure the sides are even and the top is leveled. If a layer cake seems like too much work, you can turn it into a simple two-layer cake with frosting just on the top.
Chill the cake. Place the cakes in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. I typically have the cakes in the freezer while I’m making the filling.
Prepare the filling. Starting with room-temperature ingredients, blend all the ingredients in a high-speed blender until completely smooth.
Assemble the cake. (See tips above)
RAW CARROT CAKE VARIATIONS
Carrot cake can be a personal thing. If you like yours with raisins, feel free to fold some into the cake mixture. If you like yours with pineapple, add it in. Love coconut? Sprinkle more desiccated coconut over the frosted cake. I like my carrot cake plain although I always try to add a few decorations to transform the cake into something wow-worthy.
Other than add-ins, you can also choose your cake size and shape. The recipe below makes any of these:
one 9-inch round cake
one square 8×8 cake
a layer cake using two 6-inch/15-cm cake pans (pictured)
24 carrot cake bites
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