Carrot Cake

Ingredients

• 1.75(1 & 3/4) cups carrots, shredded

• 1.75 (1 & 3/4) cups oatmeal, ground in blender to a coarse powder

• 1.5 (1 & 1/2) cups soy milk, unsweetened, unflavored

• 5 ounces pitted dates, chopped finely

• 1 very ripe banana, mashed

• 2/3 cup raisins

• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon nutmeg

• 1 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Notes: I only had 3 oz of dates, and had to sub in 2 oz of pitted prunes, and it worked fine. I believe you could use regular oat flour, and I intend to try that next time, but I suspect it would make a heavier, denser texture. This came out beautifully just as it is.

Method

Preheat oven to 350. Use a square silicone baking pan, about 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 or equivalent.

1. Put the dates, well chopped, the raisins, and the milk into a bowl and let them stand for 15 minutes.

2. Add the vanilla, and the banana and stir well.

3. Blend the oats in the blender with the baking powder, baking soda and all the spices. I might take a few rounds. You want it ground to a coarse flour.

4. Transfer oat mixed into large bowl.

5. Pour the date mixture into the blender and blend until smooth.

6. Add the date mixture to the oat mixture in the large bowl and mix well

7. Pour into the silicone pan and bake for about 40 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

8. Cool upside down on a wire rack, and then remove from the pan.

9. Frost with peanut butter frosting, which is a bit of a cheat. See below.

Peanut Butter Frosting

Notes: I don’t really measure for this. So here’s what I do.

Ingredients

1 big spoonful peanut butter
About 2 cups Confectioner’s Sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons or so hot coffee (decaf) (You can substitute hot water.)

Method

1. take a large spoon from your silverware drawer. It’s a large tablespoon or small serving spoon.

2. Scoop a big spoonful of natural peanut butter (no added salt, no added oil) into a smoothie blender or mixing bowl.

3. Add about 2 cups confectioners sugar.

4. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla

5. Add 2 tablespoons hot, strong, black coffee.

6. Blend

Now, you just test the consistency. If it’s too thick, add more coffee. If it’s too thin, add more confectioner’s sugar.

When you get it just right, it should spread easily, but it shouldn’t run immediatly down the sides of the cake.

Frost the cake when it’s entirely cool. The peanut butter flavor goes great with this cake.

When finished you can scatter a few more chopped walnuts on top, or place whole walnuts like I did, just to make it pretty.

Enjoy!

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