Carrot & Ginger Cake

[Richard]

At the Spring Fair in Lymington on 21st May I demonstrated making a raw carrot cake and it went down well and several people asked for the recipe....so here it is.

My version uses the pulp from juiced carrots but if you haven't got a juicer you can finely grate both the carrots and the ginger then squeeze out as much of the juice as you can by hand.  I'd slightly increase the amount of oat flour too to soak up the extra wetness or the cake might end up being rather soggy!

 

Ingredients:

For the cake

Pulp from 4 large carrots

2cm ginger peeled and juiced

1 cup oat flour (put oats into a blender for a few seconds until powdered)

1 cup chopped or ground nuts (I generally use almonds and grind them in a blender)

1 cup finely chopped dates

1 tbsp honey (or any other unprocessed sweetener of choice eg Agave Syrup or Maple Syrup)

 

For the icing

Half a cup of cashew nuts

1 tsp honey or other sweetener

3-4 tsp of fresh orange juice

 

Method:

Simple! Just put all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well by hand.  Knead thoroughly then shape into whatever shape you want you cake to me.  You can form the mix into cup cakes if you prefer.

For the icing grind up the cashew nuts (a blender or coffee grinder will do) - don't overdo it or they will start getting into a sticky lump!  Add the sweetener and a teaspoon or two of juice and mix.  Add more juice if necessary - you want a smooth paste that you can then spread on the top of the cake.

You can eat the cake straight away but it's best left overnight in the fridge and the flavours improve with age.  Keeps for at least a week in the fridge - possibly longer - I've never managed to keep one longer than that!

This is a basic recipe - you can add anything you like such as dried apricots or prunes and spices such as cinnamon etc.....enjoy!!