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Raw Gingerbread Cake with Cashew Cream Cheeze Frosting

December 10, 2013 / 21 Comments

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I have to fit in as much holiday cooking and baking as I can before I leave for New Zealand in 16 days! I have been experimenting over the past little while with gingerbread, as I attempted to make raw gingerbread men. If you follow me on Instagram, you will have seen an attempt where I used almond pulp (leftover from making almond milk) and the dehydrator to make little gingy men. Well…it didn’t work!

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Not everything is a success in Koko’s Kitchen, and those tasted seriously nasty haha! But I’m not the type of person to let that get me down, so with attempt number two I decided to try a base of nuts, dates, and raisins. The flavour was perfect, but there was no way that this sticky dough was going to be cut out into gingerbread men. And there you have it….the creation of a Raw Gingerbread Cake with Cashew Cream Cheeze Frosting.

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This cake is totally to die for! It has perfect Christmas-y flavour with nuts, and dates, and lemon, and gingerbread, and a rich, tangy cashew frosting to take it over the top. I think this would look stunning decorated with pomegranate seeds….but…I only had dried cranberries. I really hope you try this if you are looking for a decadent but healthy holiday dessert. I really don’t think anyone would know that is totally raw and vegan. Even my bird wanted some! I was worried little Peaches was going to fly right onto this cake….it’s irresistible 😉

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If you don’t have coconut sugar, you can find it here, or you could always replace it with a bit of raw honey. If you don’t have xylitol for the frosting, you can find it here, or replace it with extra maple syrup. The rest of the ingredients are easy to find at the grocery store 🙂

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A raw vegan cake bursting with gingerbread flavour and cashew cream cheese icing. No refined sugars or flours.
Ingredients:

  • Raw Walnuts – 1 cup
  • Raw Almonds – 1 cup
  • Medjool Dates – 1 cup, pitted, soaked in for 10 mins in warm water
  • Raisins – 1 cup
  • Gingerbread Spice – 1 tsp
  • Salt – 1/8
  • Lemon Zest – 1 tsp
  • Coconut Sugar – 1/4 cup
  • Water – 1 TBSP

–
Cashew Cheeze Frosting:

  • Cashews – 1 cup, soaked 2 hours
  • Lemon Juice – 2 TBSP
  • Coconut Oil – 2 TBSP
  • Vanilla Powder – 1/2 tsp
  • Xylitol – 1 TBSP
  • Maple Syrup – 2 TBSP
  • Lemon Zest, to garnish

Instructions:
In a food processor, process almond until roughly chopped. Add walnuts, dates, raisins, salt, gingerbread spice, lemon zest, coconut sugar, and water. Pulse until mixture just starts to ball up. This took me about 5 minutes of pulsing and scraping the processor down, pulsing and scraping the processor down, etc. If you overprocess, too much oil will release and the mix will be too sticky. You want the nuts to still be visible- not a puree. When correct texture is reached, press into an 8 inch round pan. I used a parchment-lined springform for easy removal.
In a high speed blender or food processor, blend all of the topping ingredients until smooth. Spread over nut mixture and garnish with lemon zest, and any other desired topping such as dried cranberries, cacao nibs, pomegranate seeds, etc.

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21 Comments

  • vegan miam

    December 13, 2013 at 12:18 am

    Wow, you leave for NZ in 2 weeks, I’m so excited for you guys! I saw these gingy men on your Instagram, they look amazing and I’m afraid I will eat them quickly! Your raw cake is more than totally to die for yet beyond gorgeous! I love a tangy cashew “cheese” frosting, I am imaging the tastes now! I’ve been using coconut sugar a lot and it’s one of my favorite sweetener now! Wishing you a happy holidays and good luck with the move, safe travels, and look forward to your NZ updates (on IG right?). xx

  • inspirededibles

    December 13, 2013 at 3:02 am

    Ooh, your little gingy fellows look *so* cute!! I’m sorry they didn’t turn out taste wise. I sure make my share of flops over here — and not just on the taste side either, I would say equally challenging, if not more so, is the darn photography ;-). Like you, my attitude tends towards the ‘tomorrow is another day in the kitchen’ ;o) but I’ll admit that sometimes in the moment after a long day it can be a smidge discouraging. Anyhoot, just a little blog bonding there :), your gingerbread cake looks dyno.mite and I’ve always been over the moon with your nut creams… so delicious KoKo. Can’t believe you cats head out in just over two weeks — WOO-HOOOO! Looking forward to some great pics and maybe some culinary treats too! 🙂

  • Koko

    December 14, 2013 at 10:52 pm

    Thanks Kelly!! Oh yes, I’ve had my share of give-ups when it comes to photography, too….especially in the winter! I like to shoot in natural light and that’s pretty hard to do when I get home from work and it’s been dark since 4pm lol!

  • beyondthepeel

    December 16, 2013 at 6:33 pm

    Birdie there is too cute! The cake sounds really wonderful and with all the treats that are loaded with sugar, it’s nice to have a treat you can feel good about! Wonderful Christmas flavors! Hey, ps. I’m in town if you want to meet up for wine!

  • Koko

    December 17, 2013 at 6:35 am

    Are you!? Tsawwassen or Vancouver? I would loooove to meet up for wine. This week is absolutely NUTS for me though! Since I’m leaving the country in 5 days I have about a bazillion “good-bye dinners” and “Christmas dinners” as well as work….awwww I wish this had been a week ago, I might’ve been able to squeeze it in! Thank you for thinking of me France 🙂 I really would love to meet up in person one day.

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