Raw Carrot Cake Bites

I love carrot cake. Our recipe has pecans and cranberries and all sorts of good stuff. You can check it out here - Carrot Cake With Cream Cheese Frosting.

Thing is...in order to make said cake you have to turn on the oven and...well...it's a million degrees right now so the oven just isn't happening.

So, what's a girl to do?

I need carrot cake that does not involve using the oven. 

Enter Raw Carrot Cake Bites. I found this recipe over at Raw Food Bites and decided to make some tiny changes and downsize the recipe a bit. This includes a vegan cashew cream for frosting and the cake itself is also vegan. 

Okay...let's be honest here.... this isn't carrot cake with delicious cream cheese frosting. 

This is a healthy alternative that doesn't involve the use of the oven. Will you love it so much you will abandon "regular" carrot cake forever? Ummm...no. It's not that fantastic. It is, however, very tasty and a super-de-duper alternative when it is so hot you just want to live in your refrigerator. 

Give it a try.

Come oooooooooon.....

You've got nothing to lose here and carrot cake-like treats to gain.

Raw Carrot Cake Bites

(Slightly adapted from Raw Food Bites)

Ingredients

Cake

1 1/4 cup carrots, shredded

1/2 cup pecans, chopped finely

1/2 cup dates

1/4 cup coconut, shredded

2 Tbsp pineapple, crushed

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ginger

Cashew Cream

1/2 cup cashews, soaked in water overnight

2 Tbsp water

1 1/2  Tbsp maple syrup

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted

Directions

Line a small loaf pan with parchment paper OR these can also be made in tart pans with removable bottoms.

Place shredded carrots in a bowl. 

In a food processor, process pecans and dates until mostly smooth with a few small chunks. Add in coconut, pineapple, and spices and blend together. Add in carrots and process until well combined - be sure to scrape down the sides often. 

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

While this is chilling, prepare cashew cream frosting.

Drain and rinse soaked chews. In a food processor, blend together cashews, water, maple syrup, and lemon juice until very well. Be sure to scrape down the sides often. 

Be patient, this can take more than 10 minutes, depending on your food processor.

Add in coconut oil and blend to combine.

Spread onto the chilled cakes.

Freeze at least 2 hours. 

Remove from freezer and let thaw 10 minutes. If you made in a loaf pan - cut into slices; if you made it in a tart pan - push up bottoms to remove cakes. 

Let thaw another 10 minutes OR return to freezer until ready to serve. (Let thaw about 15 - 20  minutes when ready to serve)

These taste very carrot cake-y. 

The cashew cream is surprisingly good. You want to make sure you process the heck out of it so it is nice and smooth.

NOTE - If you didn't soak your cashews overnight but still want to make this, you can cheat -- Simply put cashews in a pan full of water, bring to a boil, shut off heat and let the pan sit for an hour. Proceed as normal after that.

Now....here is my problem with this recipe.

It tastes fantastic. True... BUT...it's kinda mushy. I'm a big texture freak and I like my carrot cake to be moist and crumbly. It's just a bit weird to have the taste of carrot cake but not the texture. 

It confused my brain.

Seriously.

*Kaboom*

Brain explosion.

Try it...see what you think!

Looking for some fun and tasty links? Stop by Ms. enPlace and Carole's Chatter