A Carrot Cake for the Health Freaks in Your Life

By the way, by no means do I use the term ‘health freak’ in a negative manner. Hopefully we’ll all be a little more concerned with what is our food supply, what is economically friendly and eco-conscious, what our bodies need for movement. So  if you’ve ever been called a ‘health freak’ in a semi-serious manner before, wear that as a badge of honor for caring about the general upkeep of your physical well-being. If spiritual well-being is included in this term, I guess every saint is a health freak, so let’s all be more of that!
Getting back to the physical well-being area for this moment, I promised you previously that I had a fantastic carrot cake recipe to share here, and though I do not (yet) have photos, I’d like to make the recipe again and add some this weekend. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 c. fine blanched almond flour

1/2 c. coconut flour

1 c. granulated xylitol

4 tsp. aluminum-free baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tablespoon Cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

6 ‘chia seed eggs’ (6 tablespoons chia seeds well mixed into very warm water for 3 mins)

1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (unsweetened coconut is a good one!)
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

6 large carrots, grated

4 tablespoons melted coconut oil

1 c. chopped walnuts or pecans, added into batter just before diving batter into two pans

Raisins, if desired, in batter at end just before pouring into two pans

(Hack): just buy the frosting perfectly healthy-sh pre-made: Simple Mills vanilla is GREAT for this (found here but cheaper at Whole Foods, surprising that WF would be cheaper than ANYTHING or ANYWHERE, right?)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease two 8 1/2 inch round cake pans with coconut oil, cut unbleached parchment paper into circles and line bottom of each pan.
3. In large mixing bowl, sift together almond flour, coconut flour, sweetener, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
4. In medium mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, almond milk, vanilla extract.
5. With electric beaters (or your arms) on medium speed, add wet to dry and mix until incorporated. Then add in grated carrots and finally melted coconut oil.
6. Spoon batter into prepared pan and smooth.
7. Bake for 40 minutes or until cake springs back when lightly touched.
8. Invert on cooling rack and remove from pan immediately.
9. Once cooled, create a frosting layer in between the stack of the two round cakes and frost the borders and top of cake, then enjoy! (My tip: toast unsweetened coconut flakes from Trader Joe’s and literally throw this like confetti right at the frosted cake, all over, until it’s looking pretty awesome like the image above that is not mine, though soon soon soon I’m hoping to take some photos of my own! Extra great: add sprinkles of ground cardamom because, why not?)

*Photo credit to featured image from the following blog post (in case you’re looking for coconut cake under all that toasted coconut): https://livforcake.com/coconut-cake/

 

A Breakfast Favorite: the Smoothie // La colazione preferita: il frullato

Sometimes, you finally make a smoothie SO GOOD you must share it right away:

 

-1/2 bunch of fresh spinach, rinsed

-1/4 inch of fresh ginger, peeled

-1/2 packet of unsweetened acai fruit

-1/2 to 1 cup of unsweetened almond milk

-1 T Cacao powder (NOT cocoa powder…very different in nutrients)

-A sprinkle of stevia powder

-1/2 cup frozen strawberries

 

Blend and serve with your favorite nut butter on the side! Even more tasty if you add two dark-chocolate covered macadamia nuts given to your by that sweet friend Claire (all the way from Hawaii)! Great memories to cherish over a great smoothie bowl…even if the color concerns you (dark green), the taste will allow you to know it’s worth the off-putting color of the smoothie- it’s a good one, I promise!!

A volte, finalmente fai un frullato SO GOOD, devi condividerlo subito:

-1/2 mazzetto di spinaci freschi, sciacquati

1/4 di pollice di zenzero fresco, sbucciato

-1/2 pacchetto di frutta acai non zuccherata

Da -1/2 a 1 tazza di latte di mandorle non zuccherato

-1 T Cacao in polvere (NON cacao in polvere … molto diverso nei nutrienti)

-Una spolverata di polvere di stevia

-1/2 tazza di fragole congelate

Mescola e servi con il tuo burro di noci preferito sul lato! Ancora più gustoso se aggiungi due noci di macadamia ricoperte di cioccolato fondente regalate da quella dolce amica Claire (proveniente dalle Hawaii)! Grandi ricordi da amare su una grande ciotola di frullato … anche se il colore ti preoccupa (verde scuro), il gusto ti permetterà di sapere che vale il colore del frullato che spicola, è una buona scelta, lo prometto !!