Raw Carrot Cake with Lemon Cashew Cream

Directions

1. Begin by making the cake. First, grate your carrots on the smaller side of a box grater. Gently squeeze out the excess liquid from the grated carrots. You will end up with quite a lot of carrot juice. Save it for smoothies or add to soup. Once the carrots have been squeezed dry, measure them until you have about 2 cups.
2. In a food processor, or high speed blender, grind the oats until the begin to make a coarse flour. Set the mixture aside.
3. Next, grind the walnuts until they begin to turn into a flour, but not so much that they turn into nut butter (that's another recipe). Mix into the oat mixture along with the coconut, spices, and salt.
4. Next, add the carrots and dates to the food processor/blender, and mix until the dates become well chopped. You may need to do this step in batches. If you have a Vitamix, I recommend using the tamper.
5. Once the dates are chopped, combine the wet mixture to the coconut at oat mixture. Mixing well to combine.
6. To make a cake press half the mixture in a small 15 cm (6 inch) pan (or if you're like me and don't have a small pan, try forming them into a symmetrical patty) which has been lined with cling film. Remove and repeat with the other half. Set this mixture in the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up. Alternatively, you can press into a lined 20 cm (8 inch) square pan.
7. Once the two cake have set up, they are ready to ice with the Cashew Cream (recipe below). Reserve 1/3 of the Cashew Lemon Cream to sandwich the two cakes together. Ice with the remaining cream. The bar on the other hand, can be iced right away. Once iced garnished with pumpkin seeds, chopped crystallised ginger, walnuts, or coconut.
8. To make the cashew cream, combine all the ingredients in a high speed blender. If you haven't had time to soak the nuts, add the extra water. Puree until smooth. Taste and adjust the amount of lemon or maple syrup if needed.