Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Vegetable Love

Over at Fatfree Vegan Kitchen, Susan is running a Valentine's Day contest called Vegetable Love. I imagine that there is going to be all sorts of lovely savory dishes. I would love to be able to create one of those, too. I can follow a recipe with the best of them but when it comes to expermentation I get afraid. With sweets it's much more simple in my mind.

To be honest, the first thing I thought of was a raw vegan volcano brownie. You know with the fudge that oozes out of the middle. That seemed like a neat challenge to set myself. However, the only "vegetable" that I would be adding would be avocado. Yes, technically a fruit. In my mind it's a vegetable but the husband disagreed.

Moving on. I decided to look up a list of aphrodisiacs to see if any inspiration struck. For some reason I had my heart set on a raw dessert. When I saw that carrots were supposedly an aphrodisiac I had my mind made up.

Raw Vegan Carrot Cake with Cashew Cheeze Frosting and Caramel Sauce

I'm not so good at decorating the plate. That and agave is runny.
Cake
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup pinenuts
2 Tlb. cashews
1/t tsp. cinnamon
pinch nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ginger
3 prunes, soaked for 5-10 minutes in warm water
3 dried apricots, soaked for 5-10 minutes in warm water
2 Tlb. raisins, soaked for 5-10 minutes in warm water
1 Tlb. shredded coconut, unsweetened
1 medium carrot

In your food processor grind up the nuts and spices until crumbly. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until a sticky mass. Oil a heart cookie cutter and fill with cake filling. Put in the fridge to cool while you make the frosting.

Frosting
1/4 cup cashews
1 Tlb. agave nectar
1 tsp. coconut oil

Process until smooth. If you'd like a smoother consistancy cashew butter would work instead of cashews.
Slide the heart cookie cutter up but not all the way off. Frost cake and then remove cookie cutter.

Walnut Caramel
2 Tlb. agave nectar
1/4 tsp. vanilla
generous pinch cinnamon
2-4 Tlb. walnuts

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

Makes 2 small cakes.

18 comments:

Susan Voisin said...

Oh, this looks heavenly! Thanks so much for entering.

veganmomma said...

I can attest that this cake was delicious. Thanks for sharing it with me!

Anonymous said...

Lyndsey,
This looks absolutely fantastic! My mouth is watering. I've been wanting to do a week of raw for the past couple of months, and am just about ready to start--what better way to make it appealing than something amazing like this? Great recipe.

And funny, my contribution to Veg Love IS a vegan molten chocolate cake (though baked, not raw, as you wanted to do!).

I really enjoy reading about all your recipe adventures--so many I'd love to try!

Wendy Wagner; said...

Oh my stars! This looks fantastic. I can't wait to make it.

And just in case you ever do come up with a raw molten lave cake, I'll be watching your blog!

Alicia (Vegan Guinea Pig) said...

This makes me sooo hungry! I'm going on a raw fast in about a month and I have a feeling this will be breakfast one day. Thanks!

Anniebeth said...

I need a drool cup next to my computer. This looks absolutely delicious and I will definitely be trying this out in the future.

Thanks for posting the recipe!

Anonymous said...

Hi!
This is my first visit to your blog- I'm checking out the entries in Susan's Veggie Love contest (I'm discovering so many great blogs this way!). Great blog! And so many yummy ideas!! I am definitely going to try this! Maybe today...
Cheers,
Shellyfish

Dana said...

This looks lovely and SOUNDS delish! I'm going to make it for St. Valentine's day for my DH.
Question: Are the apricots dried to begin with?
THanks for sharing your recipe! I love this blog.

lao80 said...

Woops, good question. That would be dried apricots.


I love getting so many comments. Thanks everyone!

Jennifer said...

Thanks for the comment but HOLY yummy raw cake! I've been eyeing some raw baked recipes for a little while now, but this may be the one I attempt first!

Deb Schiff said...

That looks amazing! I'm definitely going to have to try making it. Love working with agave.

Desert Dogs California said...

Ah shoot. Well, I missed the voting. However, for what it is worth I would have definitely voted for this! Sounds amazing!

Anonymous said...

Wow, this looks so delicious! I'm definitely going to make this, I'd love to see the recipe for raw molten brownies too =) This is my first time reading your blog, I got the link from the Vegetable Love competition.

The Part Time Vegan said...

I wanted to say that I made this yesterday, Valentine's Eve. To be honest I was so skeptical and I didn't want to be disappointed on the big day.

Holy cow, though! This was amazing, and WAY easier than I thought. I could only buy heart cookie cutters in packages that contained, like, 7 other shapes so I look forward to butterfly shaped carrot cakes, star shaped, fish shaped...

lao80 said...

The raw molten brownie is still only a thought in my head. When I get to it, I'll be sure to post the recipe.


Part time vegan, I'm so glad that you liked it. :)

Rafael V. Rabinovich said...

It looks delish... I am definitely trying a hand at making that, a dessert to share with friends and family.
Thanks for posting it!

LisaRene said...

Hi, I found your blog via Diet Dessert & Dogs. This is an amazing dessert!

Laya said...

I did a search for vegan raw frosting and love that you also posted a yummy cake too. Thanks for sharing with the world! <3 Laya