I have a dear friend who recently learned she had breast cancer.  After weighing all her options, she decided to go on a cancer diet and seek an alternative treatment.  I must say, she is not only my new super hero, but one of the strongest women I have ever met!  Part of her cancer diet was to go on a raw food program.


Being a baker/chef/cook/mother-type, I wanted to do something wonderful and give her a treat.  But how to go about "baking" something for someone who is on a raw diet?


I did some research and was very surprised to see how many options there were for raw food deserts. They touched on raw and vegan diets in culinary school but there wasn't much else.  I found a wonderful website called rawguru.com and was pleased to find a lot of different options.


I decided to make their Raw Carrot Goji cake with a spicy icing.  I must say that it turned out well - I really loved the taste of the icing and will probably use it on other items as a nice alternative.


My dear friend enjoyed the cake too, and was happy that I had thought of something special that would aide in her healing...


Here is the recipe for Carrot-Goji cake from rawguru.com:

Carrot goji Cake:

4 large carrots

1/2 cup Coconut Oil

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

pinch of salt

9 pitted Medjool dates

3/4 cup raw coconut flour

1/4 cup goji berries + additional for garnishing, if desired

Spicy Icing:

1-1/2 cups pecans, soaked for 4 hours, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup water

1/4 cup Coconut Oil

1/4 cup raw honey or agave

2 vanilla beans

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger

pinch of salt

Methods/steps

For the Cake:

1) Peel and roughly chop the carrots.  You should have around 1-1/4 cups after chopping.

2) Place the carrots in your food processor fit with the s-blade.  Process to finely chop.

3) Add the Coconut Oil, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, nutmeg and salt to the food processor and process until smooth.

4) While the processor is running, add the dates, one at a time.

5) When the batter is smooth and all ingredients are evenly distributed, add the coconut flour and process well.

6) Scrape into a bowl and mix in 1/4 cup of goji berries.

7) Press the cake mixture evenly into an 8-9" round silicone or spring form pan.

8) Place in the freezer for 2-3 hours to set.

For the Spicy Icing:

1) Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend on high until very smooth.

2) Place in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to set.

To Assemble:

1) Remove the cake from the pan and place on a serving platter.

2) Frost the top and sides of the cake evenly with the Spicy Icing.

3) Decorate with goji berries in a way that inspires you.