Raw Vegan Carrot Cake

This past Sunday, I attended a Boston Localvores potluck. There were so many good eats and I had a great time!

I decided to make a raw vegan carrot cake based off of this recipe, and it received rave reviews! At first I was worried that the cake was too sweet, but I found out there is no such thing! Here are the ingredients and directions that I used, and as you can see I just made a few substitutions (pecans instead of walnuts, and dates instead of prunes) and doubled the original recipe so I could fit the cake into a 9 by 5 inch pan.

Cake

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup pinenuts

1/4 cup cashews

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch cloves

1/4 tsp ginger

3 dates, soaked for 5-10 min. in warm water

6 dried apricots, soaked for 5-10 min. in warm water

1/4 cup raisins, soaked for 5-10 min. in warm water

2 tbsp unsweetened, shredded coconut

3 medium carrots

*A pinch of nutmeg and/or allspice would work great, too!

Grind up the nuts and spices in a food processor, blender, or Magic Bullet until it's crumbly. Add the rest of the cake ingredients and blend until everything is a sticky mass. (Don't be afraid to do some mixing by hand, as well!) Oil a 9 by 5 inch pan and fill with the cake filling. You can put the cake in the fridge to cool while you make the frosting.

Frosting

1/4 cashew butter

1 1/2 tbsp agave nectar

2 tsp coconut oil

-Process/blend/mix the ingredients until it's well combined. If you only have cashews on hand that can also work, but the frosting may not come out as smooth.
-Frost the cake.

Caramel Sauce

2 tbsp agave nectar

1/4 tsp. vanilla

pinch of cinnamon

~2 tbsp pecans, as desired

Mix together the vanilla, agave, and cinnamon. Stir in the pecans to coat. Place the pecans on the cake and drizzle the cake with caramel.

Makes 1 (9 x 5 inch) cake.

Yum!

Agave is a nectar made from various species of agave plants, most often Blue Agaves- spikey, desert plants that resemble cacti but are actually more closely related to the plant aloe vera (1, 2). Agave tastes sweeter than sugar, and is made by extracting the juice from the agave core, and then filtering, heating, and treating it with enzymes to convert the carbohydrate inulin into sugars (1).

Many people love agave for its taste. Some also choose to use agave because it has a low glycemic index, meaning that when it's eaten alone, it has a low effect on your blood sugar levels (1, 2). (When you start combining and cooking foods, the effects of them on your blood sugar levels are a whole other story). Although agave is a popular sweetener among raw foodists, there may be some controversy over whether or not agave is raw when it's labeled as such. (In the raw foods world, the enzymes in foods that can benefit digestion are destroyed at 112°F).

I am not a raw foodist, although I love and am really interested in the concept of raw and living foods! Look for more posts in the future about raw foods!

Rice Dream's Strawberry Ice Cream

When I visited the Harvest Co-Op this week, Rice Dream Non-Dairy Frozen Desserts were on sale for $3/pint! I had never had it before, but via recommendation from a friend, I knew I needed to try it and decided to go for the strawberry flavor.

The verdict: it was very good. I finished the pint in two days, and had to restrist myself in order to prevent finishing it in just one. Although the taste is definitely non-dairy, I was very impressed by this rice ice cream! It was creamy, rice-like (Asians love their rice), smooth, not too sweet, and had just the right amount of strawberry flavor!

Pros: It is sweetened only with unrefined sweeteners, including brown rice syrup, fruit sweeteners, and agave syrup. It has 0 g of cholesterol-raising saturated fat per 1/2 cup serving, compared to 8 g in Ben & Jerry's Dairy & Organic Strawberry Ice Cream!

Cons: The price, and my (lack of) self control.

Although Rice Dream's ice cream isn't the same as getting some fresh vegan ice cream from Wheeler's Café and Ice Cream Bar (which makes vegan ice cream from a soy and nut base, and which will be the topic for another post), it is highly recommended! I need to try their other flavors, which you can look at here.

Nutrition Information: 1/2 cup (85 g): 150 Calories; 5 g total fat; 0 g saturated fat; 25 g total carbohydrate; 0 g dietary fiber; 12 g sugar; 0 g protein

Flour Bakery + Café

So I feel a little hypocritical about having my first food post on dessert- but who can live without it?

When my family and I were in the South End, we knew we needed to stop by Flour Bakery + Café. With two locations, this bakery is now green certified at Washington St., with its Farnsworth St. location soon to follow suit. Flour has high quality desserts, with their sticky buns so popular that it's recommended to order them in advance! Or you can order them online- but there is a hefty $50-$70 overnight shipping fee.
When we went inside I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had vegan muffins! However, my family opted for Flour's acclaimed oreo, which had two crunchy, chocolate cookies sandwiching a cloud of creamy filling. We also ordered a slice of Boston Cream Pie- the light cake was interspersed with layers of whipped cream and covered with a chocolate ganache, which had a slight but pleasant tinge of coffee. And the sugar was caramelized to perfection in the creamy crème brulée , providing a crunchy contrast to the soft and creamy custard.

I will definitely be stopping by Flour Bakery again! I hear their cookies are amazing, and I need to give their sandwiches a try! Check out Flour's menu here.