As a kid, my favorite holiday was Easter. Every year my parents would fill up brightly colored plastic baskets with handfuls of neon colored plastic "grass" and top it with all sorts of candy, coloring books, bubble, and sidewalk chalk. They were beautiful and amazing. It was like getting a basket of fun and a bunch of sugary candy to keep you going to have all that fun all day long. And the egg hunts. Plastic eggs full of candy hidden all over the house ans yard. We would all have our emptied out baskets running around full of excitement, ready to take out any sibling in our path just to be the one to get the next egg. We were ruthless and I am pretty sure every year someone would end up crying. Now, as an adult, I am not allowed to participate in the egg hunt. (but I still try to make my sibling cry) Nope, now I get to hide the eggs and sit back and watch the new generation of littles tripping each other and stealing eggs from one another. The carnage!
And also at Easter there is cake. Is there a rule that says you have to make carrot cake for Easter? I think there must be because it is when everyone and their moms busts this cake out. And everyone's carrot cake it the best because they made it the right way, like with raisins or pineapple or walnuts. There are so many things that can be added to this cake that it's a little overwhelming. So I made a carrot cake that was mainly about the carrots. Nothing added, no nuts raisins or coconut (although you could add i if you wanted) and it's made into a pretty bundt cake, which in turn makes mine the best.
This here cake was destined for tomorrows Easter table. I made it with no nut produces cause the nephew has the deadly nut allergy. But when I went and made the date sauce, I kinda let that slip and used almond milk. Oops. So now I have a whole big carrot cake sitting on the counter with it's destiny shattered. So sad, but I think its will survive cause the mris really into it and has already eaten a few pieces. I figure that because it's a carrot cake, he can eat a few more. It's almost like eating a vegetable....almost. And now I need to make a new cake to bring over or I might just stop at the store and buy some oreos on my way over tomorrow. The littles will like that.
The stuff. A bowl containing flour, salt, baking powder ans baking soda. Also need a few really big carrots, a bit of brown sugar, and ground up cinnamon and ginger. Coconut oil, soy milk, an orange (for it's zest) and a little apple cider vinegar are going into this cake too.
Start by chopping up 2 of the biggest carrots and tossing the into a pot with about an inch of water. Stick the pot on the stove and cook until the carrots are nice and tender. Then blend those tender carrots up.
I had a hard time not eating all of the carrot puree, so maybe if you want, cook up a few extra carrots ans have yourself a pre-carrot cake carrot snack.
And while the carrot puree is still warm, add in the coconut oil and the sugar. Mix it until the oil is melted ans it's one cohesive mixture.
And take that last carrot ans grate it up into the flour. Also add in the spices and the zest of the orange.
Note. I used a small holed grater so that the carrot shreds would be small and add texture to the cake but not make it too chunky. But use a normal grater..it's all about your carrots chunk prefernce here.
Now dump the wet carrot mixture into the dry and start to mix
Adding in the soy and the vinegar to complete the batter.
And scooped that batter into a oiled bundt pan and get it into the (preheated) oven to bake.
After about an hour, the cake is ready, golden brown and smelling like any good carrot cake should. Remove from the oven and turn the cake out from the cake pan and stick on on a rack to cool. This cake is waiting for me to decide what, or if I want to frost, drizzle, or sauce it up..... I think it wants as little something.
Ok, I figured it out. Date sauce.
The stuff. Fresh medjool dates, almond milk and sea salt.
Date (pits removed) into the food processor along with the milk and a good pinch of sea salt. Blend until it turns into a nice smooth, fluffy sauce.
Take that sauce and spread it all over the cake. As much or as little as you want (you might have left over date sauce but its ok, you can just eat. It will last for about a week in the fridge and goes great with just about anything) Once fully sauced, sprinkle the cake with flaked sea salt.
Sliced, plated, and ready. It's carrot cake time.
Have a great weekend, eat all your candy at once!
-C
Carrot Cake with Salted Date Sauce
Makes a bundt cake (but could be made into a 9x13 sheet cake)
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 coconut cup oilany oil works)
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 3 large carrots (makes about 2 cups carrot puree and 1/2 cup of raw grated carrot)
- 1 heaping tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ginger
Salted Date Caramel
- 1 cup medjool dates (pitted)
- 1 cup almond milk (or any milk you want to use)
- sea salt
Start by chopping up 2 of the biggest carrots and placing them into a pot with water about an inch of water. Stick on stove and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until the carrots are fork tender. When done, puree them with any means nessasary (hand blender, regular blender, food processor) Add the coconut oil and sugar to the warm carrot puree and mix until oil is melted.
Preheat oven to 350
In a large separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and powder, salt, and the spices. Grate the smallest carrot in with the dry.
Take the wet carrot mixture and dump into the dry and mix, adding in the soy milk and the vinegar as you mix. Once everything is completely incorporated, pour mixture into a well oiled bundt pan and stick the cake into the preheated oven
While the cake is baking, make the date sauce. Just take the dates, remove pits if they have any and place in a food processor with a good pinch of sea salt and the almond milk. Pulse a few times, scrap down the sides, and keep blended, stopping to scrap sides if needed, until a nice thick smooth sauce is formed. If you want a thinner sauce, just add more milk til you get your desired consistency.
Now check cake. Once it's golden brown and a tester comes out clean (between 50 minutes to an hour) remove from oven. Let cool for a few minutes in pan the then turn it over onto a wire rack to finish cooling off. Once the cake is cool, dump the date sauce all over it then sprinkle with another good few pinches of the sea salt.
And now eat it. This is a cake that needs no fork, but you can go ahead and use one if you must.