Raw Carrot Cake “Cheese”cake

Vacation begins as soon as I finish this post! We're heading out on our first excursion today to Jhonston Canyon, one of the prettiest places in the mountains; if you ask me! But first, to the dessert I made for us last night after our ribs + potato salad. Warning: this is more like a meal than a dessert. Marco and I were able to polish off our cups, after about an hour of nursing them. You just can't stop eating it once you start. I picked up 2 mini springform pans at Sears earlier this week, but underestimated how much this mixture would make. I improvised by using a couple of my verrine cups for the remaining ingredients. And thankfully, it worked perfectly!

Raw Carrot Cake "Cheese"cake

Vegan, Gluten free, Grain free, Dairy free, Sugar free, Yeast free, Corn freeA raw carrot cake, sweetened with dates and apricots and topped with a cashew vanilla cream "cheese" Inspired by: End of the week detox carrot cake + my cashew glaze

Ingredients

Cream "cheese"

• 1 1/2 cup raw cashews, soaked in water for 4-6 hours
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 4 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup coconut/palm sugar, ground fine – I used a coffee grinder
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Carrot cake

• 2 cups shredded carrot, unpeeled [about 4 carrots]
• 1/2 cup medjool dates, pitted [about 8 dates]
• 1/2 cup raw walnuts, divided
• 1/3 cup dried apricots [about 10 dates]
• 1/2 cup raisins, divided
• 1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp allspice

Directions

To be made the night before you plan on eating it. To make the cream "cheese": line a 4 cup glass container with cheese cloth. Combine cashews, coconut oil, almond milk, vinegar, and lemon juice in a blender. Process until smooth. Pour the mixture into the container, cover and leave on the counter overnight. In the morning, place cream "cheese" into food processor bowl, add powdered coconut sugar and vanilla and process until smooth.

To make the cake bottom: place dates, apricots, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt in a food processor and pulse until pureed but still chunky. Add in remaining ingredients and pulse until combined.

Bringing it all together: separate the cake mix among 4 - 3" spring form pans, no need to oil or line. Press the mixture firmly to the bottom. Top with cream "cheese", cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least 2 hours. Makes 4 - 3" cakes. I'm so happy there are still 2 of these in the freezer! I will however, cut it up into a couple of pieces and enjoy it in small doses. Okay, off to the gym before we head to the mountains. I'm gonna miss you guys. But, we have some great guest bloggers coming at you starting tomorrow! Have a fantastic week, I'll see you all on Monday!